This is something I wrote a while back that I thought people here might benefit from.
Hapkido is a Complete Art - Not an Add On by Alain Burrese
Often I hear the comment, “Oh, we do Hapkido too,” from someone who trains in TKD or some other art. The problem is not with people who have trained in more than one art, but in that many places teach a few joint locks and hoshinsul techniques from a Hapkido curriculum, and then claim they “do” or “teach” Hapkido too.
It seems that these people do not realize the fact that Hapkido is a complete martial art, and not something you just “add” onto another style. The schools I trained at in Korea were Hapkido schools, and Hapkido schools only. Hapkido was not a few joint locks added on the side, but the complete martial art that it is, including training in breathing, falling, blocking, striking, kicking, joint locks, throws, forms, weapons, and more. We did Hapkido every class, every day. (And for me, it was two classes a day Monday through Friday and then one on Saturday) To advance through the ranks of Hapkido, you must train in all these areas.
I do not have anything against a TKD instructor who wants to teach some joint locks or self-defense techniques from Hapkido to help his students be better martial artists and more rounded. But it should be called what it is. “We practice some techniques from Hapkido,” not “We do Hapkido too,” and advertising as a Hapkido school. There really is a big difference in adding a few things on, and training at a Hapkido school where that is all they do.
Now there are some people that have earned the rank in both arts and can teach both. The programs will be different, and not really interchangeable, since a TKD class and HKD class are different, since they are different arts with different emphasizes. And it is interesting that so many TKD schools add HKD, where I have not seen a HKD school that added TKD. I’m not knocking TKD, but it is sort of interesting, don’t you think? And it is TKD schools that seem to “add HKD on” the most.
If you are a TKD instructor, and you teach some Hapkido techniques that you have learned in the self-defense or hoshinsul portion of your class, great. Just be sure to let your students know that these are just a portion of what you would learn in a Hapkido program. If you want to learn Hapkido, I recommend a Hapkido program, not just a little added on to something else. The Hapkido program should have its own curriculum and teach all of the things listed above. Note, a school can have a TKD program and a separate Hapkido program, and if you go to both you will find they are quite different, or at least they should be. Or, as I did in Korea , and as you can do elsewhere too, you can go to a school that is Hapkido only. The main thing is to realize that Hapkido is a complete art and not just the addition of a couple joint locks and throws to something else.
Yours in Training,
Alain
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