Hey all. I just got into Hapkido. I mean, I have done it along side TSD before. And I miss it. Eventhough I can't find a dojang here, I have decided to study it on my own. I have the basics from my last dojang, so hopefully it will work. My honey wants to learn it as well, so I do have a training partner. I'm bringing this forum (Hapkido) back to life to get advice on good training material (vids, books, ect). I just bought "Hapkido" by Master Choe. Good basics, but I learned this stuff already (well most of it). Can anyone suggest good books/vids? Thanks in advance.
Although I wouldn't really suggest training Hapkido by video, if you want to do it then I'd say get Bong Soo Han's videos. From what I've heard they are the best out. Also Grandmaster Rim has some videos on his site, but neither of these do testing along with the video programs. If you are wanting rank certification, I know an instructor who has a distance Hapkido program, but I haven't seen his videos so I can't say much as to the quality of them. Rob
I'll try Bong Soo Han's vids. I did hear he is really good. Also I didn't really want a cert, but if you are willing to give up info on the distance training thing, that's cool, too. Master Choe has one, but I wasn't impressed with it. So maybe your suggestion is better.
Master Barry Rodemaker has a training program out in "Tactical Hapkido". I vaguely know him from an org. we are both with, and email/telephone discussions I've had with him. I know that he personally is a pretty good martial artist, but I haven't yet seen his vids to comment on them.
Hey Laurie. I would have to say learning it on your own is a very difficult way of doing it. There are many subtle things that are easily missed when you don't have an instructor. Even from video tapes from notable teachers these subtleties are rarely discussed. Whether it's because they don't want to give too much information away to non-personal students or it's assumed the viewer will know them or the instructor isn't aware of these subtleties. Who can say!? Many techniques that seem to break or dislocate a joint, when resistance is given by the other person, are actually very safe when done properly. This is one of the main differences in real Hapkido and people just doing jointlocks. Laurie, you are so lucky to have a live-in training partner! Just don't let it turn into a Inspector Clouseau and Kato situation. Hapkido is definitely one of those arts where you need another person to do it well. I really like Marc Tadeschi's book "Hapkido: Traditions, Philosophy, Technique". If you don't want to pick up the whole thing, he has separated his larger book into a few smaller books. They are actually sections from the bigger book. As far as video goes I haven't seen Bong Soo Han's video series yet, but I would like to. I enjoyed Joe Sheya's Traditional Hapkido series from Black Belt Magazine. Joe Sheya is Grand Master Rim, Jong-Bae's top student and the tape is advertised as GM Rim's, but Joe Sheya does all the instructing in the series. GM Rim does do a small demo in the tapes. It's also pretty nice that there is some old video footage of Dojunim Choi, Yong-Sool in each one (it's the same footage in each tape). I hope this helps & good luck with the training. Take care Laurie.
Hey Chris Long time no chat. How are you? Anyways, I'm aware that studying from books and videos are difficult, but I'm willing to try it. You know how hard I have been looking for Hapkido I will give Joe's vids, and Marc's book a look too. Thanks, Chris
yes i would say learning on your own will be hard. but Bong soo Han has great videos. the us hapkido association has a distance learning program. i know the combat hapkido has videos too. at ichf.com good luck HKD
Thanks HKD. Have you watched Bong Soo Han's videos? If so, how are they? I just want to know before I go spending the money. I know he's good, but how's the set-up of the vids and the quality? Thanks in advance.
very good probably the best i have seen. i mean tehres no flashey FX but they do slo-motion many defferent angles there really great tapes i have many of them. hope this helps HKD
Coolness. Thanks HKD. I also look into Ji Han Jae's vids, too. P.S. What org are you with and where do you study in NC? Just curious
i am a member of the national korean martial arts association and the us martial arts association. i teach Hapkido in Burlington glade i could help. learning by video is hard unless U have a good background in martial arts and even then it can B hard good luck. HKD
Hiya HKD. Yes, I think I have a fairly good "base" (as in basics) for martial arts from TSD, TKD, and some Hapkido. I know it's not going to be easy learning from videos, but I think Bong Soo Han's vids are the best to get for that, from what you told me and what I read. Thanks again everyone
Hey, My teacher Grandmaster Lee has a daughter in NY. I can see if he knows of any good HKD dojangs that are down there. Tadeschi's book is really good. You can get it cheep from Barns and Nobel .com It is more of the old style Hapkido, but still very good. It is one of the only ones my teacher likes and has approved for us to use to assist in our training. As far as learning from books or tapes, it can be done if your base in a particular system is strong enough, but keep in mind that there are so many small fine tunning type things that can make or break a technique that can't be learnt from a book. For things like that you really do need the assistance of an experienced instructor. D.
hapkido books A very good book to get on hapkido is the hapkido bible which is written by Dr. He Young Kimm.It has everything in it from beginner to 4th or 5th dan,plus weapons.I have one ,and I found the ad in a tae kwon do magazine.It is worth every penny.
There isn't in any way possible that learning from Books or Videos will help you learn hapkido. The only way to really know hapkido is to do it physically. To have the technique done on you so you know how it feels and you transfer it to what you are learning how to do the techniques. You can never really get the amount of information from a book that you would get from learning hands on. I mean sure you can give it a shot but your not gonna be able to feel the technique the way it should be done.
