1st Hapkido throwdown

Just got this link by my instructor, maybe some of ya'll knew about it already. Hopefully, it'll be an annual event and if so, I'll be there next year...hope to see some of ya'll.

It's like a big beautiful hapkido throwdown...just what we've been waiting for.

http://www.pro-hapkido.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1

 

The Rules:

I took a look at the site and it looks pretty interesting. I imagine you'll see some evolution within the rules... I copied what they had, but there seems to be a bit of overlap. Take a look... it looks like a pretty good start to a "Hapkido Tournament." If anyone, goes, let us know how it goes.



"Article 11. Permitted Techniques and Areas



1.Permitted Techniques



I. Punching techniques: Delivering techniques by using the front parts of the forefinger and middle finger of the tightly clenched fist.



II. Kicking techniques: Delivering kicking techniques by using the parts of the leg below the Knee bone. Knee strikes to the body will be permitted.



III. Takedown techniques: All throwing techniques including joint locks, sweeps and throws. A takedown is recognized as any technique where one contestant forces another to the ground.

Any throwing/ takedown technique done with the intent to injure or

Drop opponent on his/ her head or neck will result in immediate disqualification.





IV. Ground techniques: All submission techniques including:

All chokes including neck cranks.

All upper body wrist, arm and shoulder locks.

All lower body hip, knee and ankle locks.



2.Permitted Areas of attack



I. Trunk: Within the limits of the area from a horizontal line at the base of the acromion down to a horizontal line at the iliac crest, attack by Punch and kick techniques are permitted. However, such attacks shall not be made on the back parallel to the spine.



II. Legs: All sweeps to the legs shall be below the knee on the front of the leg and from the thigh down on the backside of the leg.



III. All locks and chokes excluding shin, forearm or hands pressing on windpipe.



Article 12. Valid Points and Scoring Areas



1.Legal Scoring Areas



I. Mid-section of the trunk: the abdomen and both sides of the flank.



II. Takedowns: Any takedown or throw exhibiting full control throughout the length of the fall. Judges must recognize the takedown as proper technique in order for a point to be awarded.



III. Ground submissions: Any tap out. Any judge may stop the contest before a tap out if it is deemed necessary to do so.









2.Points shall be awarded when permitted techniques are delivered accurately and powerfully to the legal scoring areas of the body. In the case of striking techniques visible impact and reaction must be present in order to be awarded a point. Both flag judges must agree in order for a point to be awarded for any striking technique.



3. Each striking technique shall earn 1/2 (plus half) point.

Each takedown technique shall earn 1/2 (plus half) point.

Each ground submission technique shall 1 (plus one) point.



4. Match score shall be the first contestant to reach 2 points.



5. Invalidation of points: When the following are committed, the delivered technique will not be scored.



I. Intentionally falling, immediately after delivery of the legitimate technique.



II. Committing an illegal act after delivery of the legitimate technique.



III. Use of any of the prohibited actions.



IV. Loss of control over delivered technique.



Article 13. Scoring and Publication



1.Valid points shall be immediately recorded and publicized by each flag judge by using the appropriate flag signal and recorded by the main judge by means of electronic scoring instrument or scoring sheet.



2. Valid points shall be the ones recognized by two or more judges.



Article 14. Prohibited Acts



1.The referee shall declare penalties on any prohibited acts.



2.In the case of multiple penalties being committed simultaneously, the heavier penalty shall be declared.



3.Penalties are divided into "Kyong-go" (warning penalty) and

"Gam-jeom" (deduction penalty).



4.Two "Kyong-gos" shall be counted as deduction of half (1/2) point. However, the odd "Kyong-go" shall not be counted in the grand total.



5.A "Gam-jeom" shall be counted as minus-half (-1/2) point.



6.Prohibited acts:" Kyong-go" penalty



I. Negative acts

a. Intentionally retreating out of Ring.

b. Intentionally pulling, pushing or throwing opponent out of ring.

c. Evading by turning the back to the opponent.

d. Intentionally falling down.

e. Pretending injury.



II. Attacking acts

a. Intentionally attacking the groin.

b. Intentionally stomping on any part of the leg or foot.

c. Striking the opponent’s head or neck.

d. Striking or grabbing of the clavicle.

e. Striking with the elbow.

f. Pulling on the gloves of an opponent.

III. Undesirable acts

a. Uttering undesirable remarks or any misconduct on the part of the

contestant or team members.



7.Prohibited acts: Game-jeom penalty



I. Attacking acts

a. Striking the fallen opponent.

b. Intentionally striking the back.

c. Striking the opponent’s head or neck severely.

d. Pulling hair.

e. Gouging or striking of eyes.

f. Small joint manipulation (I.E. fingers and toes)

g. Chokes using hands squeezing on the windpipe.

h. Any intentional striking while ground fighting.

i. Intentionally striking with elbow.

j. Biting.

k. Scratching, clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.

l. Intentionally throwing an opponent on their head or neck.



II. Negative acts

a. Crossing the Boundary Line

b. Intentionally interfering with the progress of the match



III. Undesirable acts

Violent or extreme remarks or behaviors on the part of the contestant or the members of a team shall result in immediate removal from contest. No exceptions!





8.Out of ring will be announced and contestants will be separated when the any of the following occurs.



When any contestant is pushed, pulled or thrown out of ring.

During stand up or ground grappling 50% of body is out of ring.

Both fighters are on the ring line.



9. When a contestant refuses to comply with the Competition Rules or the referee’s order intentionally, the referee may declare the contestant loser by penalty.



10. When the contestant receives a total of minus two (-2) points, the referee shall declare him/her loser by penalties.



11. "Kyong-go" and " Gam-jeom" shall be counted in the total score at the conclusion of the contest.



12. Any judge can immediately order the removal of any contestants showing any disrespect towards any judges or tournament staff.



Article 15. Decision of Superiority



1.In the case of a tie score by deduction of points, the winner shall be the contestant awarded more points through the entire contest.



2.In the case of a tie score other than case 1. above, (where both contestants received the same number of points and/or deductions) the winner shall be decided by the referee based on superiority throughout the contest.



3.Decision of superiority shall be based on the initiative shown during the contest.



Article 16. Decisions



1.Win by K.O.



2.Win by Tap Out



3.Win by Referee Stop Contest (RSC)



4.Win by score or superiority



5.Win by withdrawal



6.Win by disqualification



7.Win by referee’s punitive declaration



Article 17. Knock Down



1.When any part of the body other than the sole of the foot touches the floor due to the force of the opponent’s delivered technique.



2.When a contestant is staggered showing no intention or ability to pursue the match.



3.When the referee judges that the contest cannot continue as the result of any power technique having been delivered.



4.When contestant can no longer continue “Wah-Ki” Ground sparring."
(from: http://www.pro-hapkido.com/Default.aspx?tabid=24)

 

Invitational ONLY!

FWIW:

A few observations:

This event is completely RESTRICTED to those people who are members of the WHA. You must be recommended by a Master of a school which is part of the organization in order to participate. It is kind of a "in house" tournament. If you read the event rules fully you will find that it has the 'flavour' of a WHA marketing tactic.

If they are really serious, they would open it up to ALL Hapkido people regardless of their organizational relationships.

If no strikes (kicks or punches) to the head are allowed, how can a fight end by KO??

Why are no thigh kicks permitted?..These are common in many full contact karate events and are included within Hapkido.

Maximum curiousity award for reading between the lines:

We will be VERY interested in seeing if ANY of Master Hwang's own Eagle Hapkido senior students actually show up to fight!! This will be an indication as to what the actual relationship is between the WHA and Master Hwang..Considering that Master Hwang is listed as the Chong-Jae of that organization on paper.

We will see...

 

Hmmm...good point Shadow Warrior about the KO.

I didn't read the rules well enough I guess since on the main site it shows the guys using facial and head strikes. I think the good deal about this and I'm hoping I'm right is that it will catch on and we will see an "open house" Hapkido "show down".

I, for one, would love to have a forum that played by Hapkido rules.

 

From http://www.pro-hapkido.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1 ...

Division Champions
Super Middleweight
Ricki Sethi
Eagle Hapkido
Toronto, Canada

And your point is...?

Jason

 

Now those are my kind of competition rules. I wish head contact was allowed, but a hard enough kick to the solarplexus could easily end in a KO. A hard enough throw or leg kick could also stop someone from getting up as well. That would come close to counting as a KO wouldn't it now?

 

The DVD is now available

Pro-Hapkido Championship 2004 DVD
http://www.centuryfitness.com/webap...753&categoryId=13944&parent_category_rn=13756

I got the DVD and despite the intial wariness I had from this thread, I must say I really enjoyed it....

I ordered this DVD the other day and after it arrived, I watched the entire 95 minutes of it. The DVD covers matches from a Hapkido tournament with students from various Hapkido schools and guests such as GM Bong Soo-han and Kwang Sik Myung. It starts with several short clips of the demonstrations and shows skills ranging from leg takedowns, cane techniques, belt (as a weapon) techniques, multiple attackers and so on. From there it goes into several matches in various weight categories.

The rules from what I could figure out (they didn’t actually list the rules, but I did copy them onto this thread a while ago): (1) kicks and punches to any target except the groin and the head, (2) Sweeps and throws allowed, (3) Grappling was permitted and submissions allowed, except for chokes., (4) competitors had to stay within a large circle and if they left the circle, they were warned, or if they were grappling, had to be stood back up.
Points were assigned for good strikes, takedowns, submissions and warnings were issued for violations. Competitors wore normal uniforms, shin/instep guards, foot and hand protectors, cups, and mouth-guards.

What I really enjoyed about the DVD:
1. Respect and Control shown by the competitors = People were there to win but they followed the rules and showed good control. No one cried or whined about points or losing. With fairly free rules, there were possibilities of someone getting hurt and there were some instances of blood and stunning, but no serious injuries shown.

2. Flexibility of the rules = people were allowed to do just about anything and I think it really showed the uniqueness of Hapkido. I particularly liked the various lag traps/takedowns… I loved doing them in class but very rarely get to see them used on an opponent. It also showed that Hapkido guys can work standing up (great strikes shown) and on the ground. Some of the groundwork has its background inn jujitsu, but some was a different flavor as well. Violators were warned if the violation was “accidental”… and I never saw anyone lose a point (one guy hit another in the head… but he was dropping his hands and leaning in… I would have hit him myself = warning!).

3. Normal people = The competitors were standard Hapkido students, not guys who spend all of their time preparing for professional matches. As a result, it was good to see that stuff we work in class works against people in a competition. It was also a good way to see how exhausting it is for both parties on the ground!

4. The Demonstration clips were awesome and I wish they would have been longer. Most of the striking parts and throws/sweeps in the demos were also in the competition.

5. The slight differences between Hapkido styles was evident in the DVD… but also it showed that even though there are differences, that Hapkido schools share the same basic ideology and can work together.


Downside:
1. US$39.99 (plus shipping) for 95 minutes of what looked like an interschool tournament is a bit steep. Then again, it’s pretty rare to get footage of various Hapkido schools going at it with intent to win. The demo clips were good as well.

 

To correct a couple of points:
The competition is not only open to WHA members. The 2004 overall champion is not a WHA member.

I fought in the 2004 Pro Hapkido. I am aware of many fighters from different governing bodies- myself included. The demo-team on the DVD are from GM Kim's organization, and they are not WHA.

As far as the head strikes, even though they were illegal, they happened... a lot. I fired a couple and received a couple. We all seemed to train less for this competition and more for SD and it showed.

I am going to suggest to Master Jung- the tournament sponsor- to enforce head-gear and allow head strikes. This would discourage chokes and face-cranks, but those were dissallowed at the last minute on tourney day anyway for safety reasons.

I also was concerned with the lack of leg kicks. But as Mr. Mullinex- the tourney director- told me, "we don't want this to become a MT Kickboxing fight. We want to see as many lock and throws as possible as well."

Overall, it was a lot of fun- though I fought poorly due to recovering injuries and plantar faciaitis. That having been said, I look forward to next year.

 

Pro Hapkido Rules

Nice review Thomas! I'm sure thread members found that helpful.

One of our young guys (Hwang In-shik's Eagle Hapkido, www.eaglehapkido.com) went out to the tournament and did well for himself, Mr. Rick Sethi.

We were actually asked for our imput into the rule making process and I set forth a set of guidelines which will allow similar full-contact striking rules as are permissible in, for example Knock-down Kyokushin Karate tournaments, while at the same time allowing all of the techniques permissible in judo or BBJ matches (with shorter time limits on the ground ). Points to be given only for 'telling' blows and submission, not position.

The powers that be felt that such rules would not allow the participation of the wide cross section of amateur practitioners that the Word Hapkido Federation wished to attract and allow to participate in order to develop their skills.

I think that it is important that we understand the purpose of such tournaments is not just to show off our 'baddest' and most serious competitors but also to provide a sportive outlet for average people to develop their skills while under pressure.

It was also proposed by Master Hwang that perhaps for next time they might be 2 tiers of competition with differing rules to attract differing levels of practitioners with differing skills. Some of the senior teachers expressed dismay over the striking skills of many of the participants and would like to see some rules that would allow these skills to be showcased to better advantage i.e. - head strikes and leg kicks.

Also I think it is worth noting that while Master Hwang is the chief teacher for the World Hapkido organization even we are not an official affiliate of the association in that we exist and practise according to our own rules and guidelines.

The heavyweight champion also came from outside World Hapkido and from all accounts was quite impressive.

It seems like it was a very successful tournament in achieving its own expressed goals.

Matthew Rogers
www.spiritforging.com