Some Hapkido styles have forms and some don't. It seems to be down to the individual style and teacher. Most styles don't teach them though and prefer techniques and technical applications, as opposed to patterns.
In the IHF Hapkido I am ranked in, we have forms: Cho gup hyeung (low level form) Choong gup hyeung (Middle level) Go gup hyeung (high level) Tae Ryeon Hyeung (sparring form) (then the dan hyeungs...) In the ICHF, we don't have forms. Personally, I like the IHF forms... they look good and have lots of neat stances, strikes and movements.
Heres another question for you people to answer me the little know-nothing of martial art :S how do forms help your MA training?
If you do a search on this site, you will find a bunch of threads covering the pro-kata vs anti-kata debate (see the "belt tying thread goes anywhere" for the latest) For my personal opinion on the benefits of forms, I would say: (1) They help me learn/practice kicks, strikes, techniques, and footwork within a set format. (2) I use them to warm up before a class and to wind down at the end of a class (3) They help me develop a ryhthem of movement and breathing during techniques (4) for practicing on my own at home, in a hotel room, or somewhere without access to my dojang (5) They introduce students to new parts of the curriculum as they progress in belt rank. Overall, I personally like forms (in TKD and Hapkido)... they really don't take up much time and they can help you in the above manners and they help preserve some of the essence of your style of martial arts. There are people who don't like forms, and that's okay, too.
I find that Forms are a good way of remembering techniques and their applications. I don't do forms in the Hapkido I am doing, but do do them in the Ju Jitsu that I study, where they are just a collection of similar techniques in a continuous flowing set of movements, for recapping, always done with a partner-so they are not solo kata, forms etc. I can see the arguments for and against forms, but pay no heed to either. I just do them when and if required and try to get as much out of them as possible.
Thanks for your opinions and personally i think they look like they could help, otherise why do them. But i was just asking since i've just wonderd what people thought of them. I've been looking at Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do but i'm more interested in Hapkido due to the self defence orientation and the self defence in minimal force, but thats for a different thread. Just out of interest in my first lesson of Hapkido what am i to look for? And is it a problem if the school i am interested in joining is a joint hapkido/tkd school?
The Floor! -But Sheriously Folks, do you mean, what sort of stuff will you possibly be taught? If so, then i'd say Basic safe and careful Breakfalls, some basic releases from wrist grabs (First Five) and possibly the first movement of the first coupla wrist throws, IE the stand up bit, with some very careful depositing of your adversary on the floor, maybe and vice versa. Also some basic stance work and striking techniques, Punches, Hand Strikes, Kicks, Knees, Elbows and the stances and steps as to how they are delivered. That sort of thing.
Sorry my bad, i allowed a bad pun to be made from my message. I never thought of looking for the floor though! Thanks for your help, so as long as my Hapkido class as a floor me good edit - oh and thanks for other advice, i forgot to mention originally but ah well. Time to find a class then! :woo:
There are two other threads that talk about this as well ("Hapkido/Taekwondo" and "Avoid Hapkido schools with...")... they both give some ideas about things to watch out for. In general, remember that every individual school and instructor is different. Evaluate based on the instructor and school. If you generalize and say "a hapkido instructor at a tkd school... oh no!", you may miss out on a great opportunity. Probably the biggest problem currently is that the demand for Hapkido training is increasing faster than there are qualified instructors. Traditional style Hapkido is pretty difficult to find. The ICHF (which I am also a member of) is becoming very popular and offers very practical training. The ICHF makes no bones about NOT being traditional Hapkido. If you go into an ICHF school expecting traditoinal style Hapkido, you will be disappointed (but if you like practical self defence, you'll probably like the style). Many of the TKD masters from Korea often hold rank in Korean Hapkido... some are good practioners in great practice and others may not have practiced Hapkido for years... In summation, check out the school and instructors first before making a judgement...
My dojan does forms, but not in the traditional TKD sense, we do forms like lots of jujitsu clubs do forms, we have a defense from any attack, and thats our form, so, someone grabs our wrist, we defend and lock up or incapacitate them, and thats the one handed wrist grab form.
What is the name of the form that starts out: Stepping back with the right foot making a right hand low block then an left inner forearm block then low roundhouse side kick, spin axe kick. It also has a low spinning sweeping kick. The form is pretty cool and I like it but our school doesn't do the Hapkido forms. It was just something that my instructor picked up from GM Myung's video or book or something for fun. Anyway thanks in advance for any answers.
Wol Ge Kwan forms Our hapkido style seems to be unusual in that we do a fair amount of forms 10-15% of each class typically). There are eight in all and you learn more forms as you progress. The idea seems to be that doing forms (properly) will assist you in sparring/fighting but I'm not sure exactly what the theory behind that is. Personally, it does seem to me that doing forms helps you practise complex manuevers (i.e., more than 1 or two moves) in likely combinations, which brings in different sets of skills. Try doing a form with your eyes closed, so example, and you will quickly pick out any problems with balance, etc.
