Hapkido

[KYUechi]

I'm considering cross training in Hapkido. I know some Uechi-Ka such as James Thompson also train in Aikido, and since the closest thing in my area is Hapkido, I thought I may try it. Seems like it could compliment the Uechi quite well.

If any of you are familiar with it, I'd love some feedback.

Thanks!

[CANDANeh]

I studied Hapkido a couple years ago. Found it interesting mostly because the head instructor had considerable experience in Hapkido " soft style"(2nd generation student of founder Choi Yung Sool ). Also, he entered the ring quite often as a kickboxer. Therefore, plenty of contact and good strong foundation of effective principles. IMO...Every style has something to add to ones training IF it`s a good school/instructor regardless the style.

[Bill Glasheen]

I know some Uechi-Ka such as James Thompson also train in Aikido.

I have a shodan in the Tomiki method of aikido, which I picked up from a "mixed martial artist" in the true sense of the expression. He had extensive training in both Goju and aikido, and had been in special forces. It was great experience seeing how another Naha stylist integrated aikido into a stand-up style, and made it work in combat.

To some extent traditional Hapkido is a bit of a mixed style, being a blend of the Japanese aiki-jujutsu and indigenous Korean styles. However the striking part can have an emphasis on the typical high-kicking methods of Korea and Northern China. It just depends.

Every style has something to add to ones training IF it`s a good school/instructor regardless the style.

That about sums it up.

- Bill

[Stevie B]

My experience from running 2 bars and a Tattoo Parlor on Gate 2 Street, Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa Japan for more than 5 years was this.. I actually had more fights end in a less less damaging way by applying Aikido type techniques (Marine Corps Close Combat ) than at that time more than 15 years of Karate training.. BUT, the only way I was able to pull them off with sincerity and compultion was because I trained every night in Karate Do... Use what is useful for you!!! I wouldn't try to kick a 6' 10" guy in the Jaw until I broke his knee first..

[Bill Glasheen]

I actually had more fights end in a less less damaging way by applying Aikido type techniques (Marine Corps Close Combat ) than at that time more than 15 years of Karate training.. BUT, the only way I was able to pull them off with sincerity and compultion was because I trained every night in Karate Do

Herein lies an important principle that until recently was difficult to communicate to a room full of style Nazis. Several years back we had a poster or two of the "That's not Uechi!!!" mindset who just didn't get it. If what someone else was doing didn't fit in with their narrow-minded, preconceived notions of what a particular style was, then they suffered an identity crisis. Never mind that Uechi Ryu is an open-handed, Boxer-Rebellion-era, Chinese style of combat and self-defense practiced in a contemporary tournament mindset Okinawa where tegumi used to rule. To make a long story short... the grappling in your Uechi Ryu has been there all along, as it has been in many traditional Okinawan styles. But with the sports obsession of many contemporary dojos, whole avenues of study have been abandoned and, with many, even forgotten.

One of the wonderful outcomes of the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) is the rediscovery of the complete martial artist. The mindset of the Marine warrior isn't to score points. It is to control, maim, or kill - depending on the level of force permitted in whatever situation the Marine faces. That's a little different than tagging someone with a glove in a dojo duel with teacher keeping score.

If the training is correct, the style will reveal itself. Build it and it will come.

As for Stevie's experience... it goes both ways. I've seen "inbred" aikido dojos where the attackers were patsies for their dojo partners. And we've all seen the tournament dojos that are more obsessed with their trophies than they are the martial content of their kata. You cannot understand aikido if you don't know how to hit and be hit. And you cannot understand your karate kata if you don't know how to grapple. Yin needs yang, and vice versa. One cannot exist without the other.

Of COURSE Stevie's Kadena experience helped him with his MCMAP grappling. One needs the other to exist. But the truth of the matter is that yin should never be kept far from yang. They are both part of the same whole.

- Bill

[KYUechi]

Several years back we had a poster or two of the "That's not Uechi!!!" mindset who just didn't get it. If what someone else was doing didn't fit in with their narrow-minded, preconceived notions of what a particular style was, then they suffered an identity crisis.

I am happy to say each of my sons are now x-training. The oldest is doing judo/jiu-jitsu in college, and the youngest is doing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing.

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Thanks for the feedback.

[Bill Glasheen]

I am happy to say each of my sons are now x-training. The oldest is doing judo/jiu-jitsu in college, and the youngest is doing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing.

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Thanks for the feedback.

Good stuff, and you are quite welcome.

The thing that sends some of these style Nazis to drinking is when I see moves from other styles in my root style. Understand that I didn't take a "random walk" journey through martial training. I tried very much to study styles and study from teachers that could shed light on my core. As a trained scientist and as an ENTP, it is my nature to see patterns. The epiphanies came in waves. A friend of mine once accused me of being like "The Borg" (from Star Trek, The Next Generation). But if you reduce everything you do to root principles, then the patterns are easier to see. The ultimate goal is to go beyond the style molds and have the fruits of your decades of labor emanate from within.

As for the style Nazis who are want to put a label on everything, well... what-ever!

- Bill