hey i train under the son of your guy's art's grand master kwan sik myuang(hope i spelled it right) anyways yea he scares the crap out of me because hes looks like a nice grandpa but i know that he is the to a korean version of the terminator. anyways have any of you guys ever met him cause i have and i was wondering if he goes all around the us or something cause i only see him on testing days(i take TKD and a TKD/ Hapkido center)
Kwang Sik Myung is not THE grand master of hapkido. He is A grand master of hapkido. Thanks, J.B. Murphy
Hey Jondo.. There's allot of good history out there if you would like to know who the original Grand Master of Hapkido was. His name was Choi Yong Sul and he started Hapkido in the 1940's. If you would like to know more, then I suggest looking it up on Google or another search engine. Hope this helps. If you encounter anyone that claims to be THE Grandmaster or THE Creator of any art, I would question that strongly... You can always come here and ask.
Not trying to be negative, but be careful of who you train under. The credentials as far as rank of all or most Korean Grand masters are questionable so I don't know if you should focus too much on that. Having said that, bad, good, or great technique is important. I met him about eight years ago at his dojang in Tustin while I was in the marines!!!!!!!!!!! GM Kwang Sik Myung said he taught my GM and I went home on leave and told him, and after the phone call my GM gave him, which I witnessed while standing at the POA, I'm positive he will never make that false claim again. But anyway he is probably only there on the testing dates because he no longer actively teaches. This is pretty common with most Korean GMs these days as most are pushing seventy and they usually have there senior student teach class and they show up just for promotions. Mine still teaches five days a week and sometimes six but I don't think that is going to last more than another few years or so. I'm fairly new to MAP but this is a pretty good site to get the straight scoop if you have any questions. Fortunately, most people on here keep it real. I recommend visiting several martial arts schools before you decide on one, or if not make the best out of your situation and train hard. Good luck!
yes, I met him twice + hopefully again @ the Hapkido Games in Yong-In this year; nice GM... I can understand that everybody here goes straight into defense when someone mentions THE grandmaster instead of A GM, but I can see where the confusion came from. He is ofcourse the son of Kooksanim Myung Jae Nam, who created and developped the system of HaNkido (not HaPkido) grtz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hankido http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaenam_Musul_Won_Foundation
evilkingston, Kwang Sik Myung, is in no relation to Myung Jae Nam. They are two totally different people. Unless I'm understanding you wrong.
I think the original poster is refering to GM Myung Kwang Sik (명광식)... his store site: WHF store (some good books available and an interesting "different" sort of uniform)... Check out a bit of a bio-project here: GM Myung Kwang Sik bio or Bio with Photo
whoa, my bad, I reread it and you're right, I'm wrong I thought we were talking about Myung Sung Kwang... my bad So - 4 the record - I did meet Myung Sung Kwang, not Kwang Sik Myung, so I can't really contribute to this discussion, because I didn't meet him and my point was completely besides the point... :Alien:
man i haven't been on this site for a few months now but yea thanks for the advice. I checked out some other schools and the one im at now is fine. but they arnt very aggressive with their training. i mean i train 5 days a week for 2-3hours each. while the class is only 50 min. at first i though that they were all really good. but 3 months ago i sparred the 3rd degree black belt who was my same age(17) and i started laughing my ass off halfway through the match because he couldn't land a single hit on me and i had gotten him 3 times. now im alot better then i was back then and i feel like im getting taught the techniques properly. more so in fact then i would at another place. but if i have no one to who can spar with me if i try then whats the point. u cant even kick them in the head, im 6'2" thats what i do lol. anyways im only a red belt XD because i stopped coming into the dojo and trained more by my lonesome. should i sacrifice technique for experience? p.s. i dont mean to sound vein, i almost like losing as much as i like wining because if i lose ill get inspired by whoever beat me and work until i can return the favor
Hi Jondo, I am very happy to hear that you like your new dojang! I wish you the very best in your study of hapkido. I hope you learn a lot of great techniques as well as humility and patience. I try to learn from and show respect to all students and instructors who train in my dojang even if they can't "beat me". There are several people who study hapkido with me who inspire me, one of whom is a 60's sopmthing year old man who is new to the class. It is obvious that he is stiff and sore, yet he still gives 100% in class. I learn from this student each time he steps on the mat. I am very happy that you have found a school. Please remeber that your class mates should be like family and it is a bit rude to brag about how you can beat a class mate. I understand it is normal for a 17 yr old to boast however it does not make it ok. I wish you all the best in hapkido. Please stick with it and remember that you represent your self, your teacher, and your class mates.
Hi, Jondo: I hope I have this right, since there have been a couple of different people mentioned with similar names. For myself I have been with MYUNG Kwang Sik KJN for a bit over 16 years. His ability to teach Hapkido is exceeded only by the huge numbers of contributions he has made to structuring and detailing Hapkido through his school, seminars, tapes, DVD-s, books and articles. He is also a mentor that anyone would be proud to pattern oneself after. His commitment to teaching Hapkido using a MU-DO approach to the material has been a Life's work and has not been without its hard knocks. Not a few people have come to him in the name of Hapkido only to leave when the rank did not come fast enough, or they found that they could not bend Myung KJN to some special project or agenda. By extension, the man himself is not without his own faults, and I am guessing that he is as aware of these as anyone else. In terms of general exposure to what Myung KJN has to offer there is the World Hapkido Federation and the website with all of the uniforms, books, tapes etc etc. Most people are pretty satisfied with this. In addition there are still a number of schools around the globe that identify themselves as YON MU KWAN Hapkido. These are schools who continue to promote a traditionalist approach to the Hapkido arts, to Hapkido as MU-DO and to delve into research in the name of understanding Hapkido arts with ever increasing knowlege and understanding. All YON MU KWAN schools are World Hapkido Federation. Not all WHF schools are YON MU KWAN, if that makes any sense. Quite recently, Myung KJN has had difficulty with his health and has relied increasingly on his son and his brother to help with the organization. I don't know how much information you are looking for, but if I can offer any help, please let me know. Best Wishes, Bruce www.midwesthapkido.com
Hi I have been gone for a bit and this is the first article I read when I came back. I train in Washington State under a family whom are ranked and train in GM Myung's style. I met him at a seminar in April I think 2 or 3 years ago. Mr. Sims is right on as he had to cancel this past year which he usually doesnt do. The man is aging what can you do. I of course am biased but he taught for like 16 hours+ and talked with people for countless other hours over a weekend seminar when he came to for our seminar. One of the most interesting things I have read and discussed about his past is aside from training in both HKD and TKD for basically his entire life. He went to Mt Tibek and lived and trained and wrote books about HapKiDo. Just something I envy, that would really be a great experience. Just my 2 cents. For the record I am just a lowly colored belt with a lot of energy. See ya all around (more often hopefully).
The trick now is to work towards staying in contact, and networking together to keep the material alive and growing. For instance, over on FACEBOOK there are three sites for World Hapkido. It would be nice to have all of them working together, but each has its own agenda and that can be daunting, yes? I get concerned that so much of the material will be lost when Myung KJN passes away. FWIW. Best Wishes, Bruce
