Hapkido

Hapkido, which means “The art of coordinated power,” is a Korean Martial Art that incorporates the kicking and punching techniques of Tae Kwon Do plus the joint locks and throws of Aikido & Judo. It is a very comprehensive Martial Art that focuses heavily on the combative side of the Martial Arts. Students learn to seize and control their opponent using their opponents own power against them. Hapkido uses the principle of non-resistance to overcome an opponent and uses circular redirection in its defense skills. Students learn to fight in close and even from the ground using multiple joint locks and controlling techniques that can be used to create excruciating pain to control an opponent or dislocate or even break joints in severe situations. Our Hapkido system comes from Grandmaster Yong Sung Lee (a direct student of Ji Han Jae, who starred opposite of Bruce Lee in the movie, "Game of Death"). The joint locking techniques and throws from the art of Hapkido can be seen in some of the earlier movies of actor Steven Seagal who is a practitioner of the art of Aikido, which shares the same common techniques as Hapkido, except that Aikido teaches very few kicking or punching techniques.

Our Hapkido program is taught as a separate add-on component to sttudents enrolled in our Masters Training Program. We teach break-falling, rolling, throwing, and other techniques that anyone wishing to learn Hapkido should know. We also teach a variety of various defenses against multiple angles and types of attack. In our Hapkido program we teach self defense against the following types of attacks:

1. Straight right punches

2. Over-hand strikes

3. Wrist grabs

4. Garment grabs

5. Headlocks

6. Chokes

7. Bearhugs

8. Attacks with a weapon

9. Multiple attacker management

10. Collar Grabs

11. Wide, swinging punches (Haymakers)

12. Chest Grabs

13. Arm grabs

And, multiple other types of attack.

For safety reasons, Children are taught the same techniques as the adults but are not taught many of the dangerous "finishing" techniques that we use to keep an opponent under control.

Training in Hapkido allows a practitioner to:

A. Make a bigger, stronger person say, "Uncle!"

B. Stay in control of their emotions when dealing with a large, intimidating opponent

C. Throw an opponent, using the opponent's own body-weight or momentum

D. Increase balance and coordination by learning the principle of "keeping your center"

E. Allows a person to stop a fight without needing to strike the opponent in many cases