Australian Hapkido Association

Black Belt Gradings in 2012 - pregrading at the Summer Camp

At last Sunday's Black Belt Class Master Brown explained the process for pregrading for Black Belts intending to grade at the end of 2012 for the higher Dan grades.

All Black Belts intending to grade for 2nd Degree or above must do a Pre-Grading to demonstrate to the grading panel your commitment to training seriously towards your next grade.

The next pregrading opportunity will be the Summer Camp at Myuna Bay on the last weekend of April (27-29). This pregrading will be conducted thorughout the entire weekend with more of a focus on learning, preparing and perfecting, rather than as a grading test. Your progress will be assessed through a range of activites throughout the enitre weekend.

End of 2011 Fun Day in Tyalgum from Northern NSW Hapkido

Tyalgum, Mooball & Murwillumbah held a fun day at Tyalgum hall at the end of 2011.

The day started with a Hapkido class. After class we held games for the kids & big kids at heart.

Santa Claus came giving out gifts & treats to one & all, even Mark Fendley was given a present from Santa. It was a can of WD Forty for his squeaky joints (LOL) we ended the day with giving out awards to the student for there hard efforts & achievements in Hapkido this year.

Click here to see many photos taken on the day.

We would like to say thank you to all that came participated in the day events. A special thanks for all that helped on the day. May next year be as good as this year Merry Christmas & a happy new year.

Yours truly, Mark Bergquist, Terry Turner and Mark Fendley - instructors at Mooball, Tyalgum and Murwillumbah.

Historical Photos uploaded

Over 60 photos from the Hapkido in Australia from the early 80s have been uploaded on the web site.

Joseph Kim doing a jumping turning kick - who is that person sitting down?

Click here to see the photos.

Hapkido Newsletter from 1997!

Here is a link to download the Hapkido News - Volume 1 Issue 3 from September 1997.

At this time in our history the committee was based in Northern NSW with key people like Barry Restall and David Middleton looking after the association. For example, as can be seen from the photo below, we did a demo at the SGC in front of 36,000 people!! Who can remember being there?

As can be seen from the newsletter - it was being run very smoothly with lots of things happening. Check out the club listing on page 8 - we had 10 clubs in Sydney and 12 clubs out of Sydney, we had a club in Brisbane, Bundaberg, Adelaide and Norfolk Island. Check out the Humour on page 13 - quite funny.

Click here to download a PDF version of the newsletter. Enjoy!

Would you be interested in attending sparring workshops in 2012?

We are thinking of running regular sparring workshop with a focus on providing drills, strategies and techniques to improve your sparring.

The main emphasis would be to encourage co-operation with your partner to improve your abilities. We would like to continue on the path Scott Wetherell had started for us in the area of trying to develop excellent skills in sparring, in particular how to integrate wrist locks, arm locks, throws along with regular strikes to produce an effective approach to sparring against any one from any style.

Who would be interested? We would try to have these workshops in the Sutherland and Central Coast clubs to get away from doing everything in Brookvale. Probably on a Weekend, around the middle of each month. Cost would be around $20 to cover hall hire. Protective equipment (gloves, shinguards, mouthguard of headgear) would be required.

Instructors would be people like Master Brown and Mitchell Wetherell. We may even try to bring in sparring experts from other styles to broaden our knowledge.

Click here to tell us what you want. You need to log in to vote or comment.

Sydney Black Belt Classes for 2012

Following the huge success of the more structured delivery of black belt classes last year, we are going to divide the entire Black Belt Syllabus (1st - 4th Degree) into parts and allocate these parts to each Black Belt Class throughout 2012.

At each Black Belt Class about half of the class will be devoted to teaching Black Belts what they have to learn at their own level. Black Belts with specific knowledge and experience in each area will be asked to help teach this material. The class will be divided into groups by degree so each of you will get more personalised tuition.

This is the material to be covered during the Syllabus section of each Black Belt Class.

Sun 29 Jan

Core Techniques 1 to 15

- 1st Degree - single attacker – static single hand grab – 50% resistance

- 2nd Degree - single attacker – dynamic single hand grab – 75% resistance

- 3rd Degree - two attackers (one at a time) - dynamic lapel grab – 75% resistance

- 4th Degree- two attackers (one at a time) - dynamic grabbing or punching - 100% resistance

Sun 26 Feb
Knife defence - level 2

Sun 25 Mar

Sword (Kom) Patterns 1, 2 & 3

- 1st Degree - standing
- 2nd Degree - kneeling
3rd Degree - Poong Ryu Kom
4th Degree - Defence against Sword (Kom)

Sun 29 Apr Myuna Bay Camp - no black belt class for April

Sun 27 May
1st Degree - Sparring Techniques 1-5
Pole (Jangbon)
- 1st Degree pattern #
- 2nd Degree - pattern # 2
4th Degree - Self-defence with the Belt (Po Bak Sul)

Sun 24 Jun
Short stick (Danbon) Self Defence

- 1st Degree – with a partner
- 2nd Degree - multiple grabbing
- 3rd Degree - defence against Sword (Kom) – 8 Strikes
2nd Degree - Pole (Jangbon) 1-step sparrg
3rd Degree - Double short swords (Dan Kom)
4th Degree - Self-defence with the Fan (Bu Chae Sul)

Sun 29 Jul
1st Degree - Advanced Wrist Techniques (10)

2nd Degree - Arresting Techniques (10

Sun 26 Aug

One-step sparring lockup
- 1st Degree – against grabs
- 2nd Degree - against jab/cross
2nd Degree - Sparring against 2 opponents
3rd Degree - Walking cane
3rd Degree - Self Defence against Self Defence

Sun 30 Sep

1st Degree - Defence Against Throwing
Momentum Self Defence

Sun 28 Oct
Breaking Techniques
- 1st Degree - Double front kick or Turning kick off a wall
- 2nd Degree - Jumping Back Kick (2 boards) or Scissor Kick (2 boards)
- 3rd Degree - drop board punch and stepping side kick.

Sun 25 Nov
Groundwork/Grappling
Syllabus Revision – time to ask seniors for specific assistance in areas you find difficult.

These monthly Black Belt Class are critical to your progression - if you attend each of the sessions you will be taught everything you need to know

Groundwork Games at Nov Sydney Black Belt Class

At the Nov Black Belt Class the AHA introduced the new Groundwork Games. The class was well attended and many students showed good skills and knowledge in groundwork.

Trying the Shoulders Game - have to pin the shoulders for 3 secs

This Groundwork Games are not part of the AHA Syllabus. They are a series of 5 games that take Hapkido students through a series of games that increase in complexity and provide a safe environment for improving their groundwork skills and knowledge.

A primary strategy against any grappling attack should be to do whatever you can to escape and stand up as as soon as possible. Against multiple attackers it is dangerous to focus on the one person on the ground, leaving yourself open to attack from the other attackers.

Trying the Pinning Game - have to pin the person for 10 secs

The objective of the Groundwork Games is to equip the Hapkido student with an understanding of ground scenarios that will allow them to use their Hapkido knowledge to escape from a committed attack by a grappler.

Trying the Submit Game - have to make the person tap

These groundwork games are great as a warmup or at the end of a class to get everyone’s heart pumping before they go home.

Paul and Troy just having fun!

Hapkido has always adapted to meet the challenges presented by the environment in which we live and the problems we face in that environment. The tradition that should remain is the 3 core principles (non-resistance, circle/redirect, water/flow). That is the challenge – how can you use these principles to deal with groundwork situations?

A document explaining these games is available for free download here. It is hoped that all our students will start exploring groundwork through these games and as our instructors become more skilled in groundwork we should expect seeing groundwork becoming just another scenario in which to try out your knowledge and skills.

Daniel showing some nasty Hapkido tricks on Mitchell

Grading results - Central Coast - 10 Dec 2011

The following students successfully graded at the Central Coast Grading held by Master Brown on 10 December. Click on the photos below to see more photos from the grading.

Cooper Magri Yellow Tip
Blake Connolly Yellow Tip
Ahryana Cabrales Yellow Tip
Faith Sherman Yellow Tip
Antonio Cabrales Yellow Tip
Dylan Baxter Yellow Tip
David Leha Yellow Tip
Irene Simpson Yellow Belt
Joon Ho Hyun Yellow Belt

Millar Lloyd Green Tip
Dylan Villa Green Belt
Mason Ellis Blue Tip
Max Ellis Blue Tip
Wolf Ganzeboort Blue Tip
Joanna White Blue Belt
Joshua Smedley Red Tip
Keira McMahon Red Belt
Karla Zuluaga Red Belt
Nathan McMahon Red Belt

After the grading there was a BBQ with Korean and Australian style food and Master Brown helped present some club awards.

Master Kang fishing in Sydney!

During their recent visit to Australia, Master Kang Jun, founder of Gong Kwon Yusul, and his trusty assistant Instructor Shin, were taken out for a brief fishing trip by his host family (Andrew and Steven Bory of the Brookvale Dojang) and Master Kim from the Hapkido College of Australia.

It was cold an windy, and no-one caught anything (Master Kang demonstrated his excellent use of English by saying he managed to "catch a cold") but they were rewarded by a nice breakfast and coffee at Balmoral Beach after the early morning fishing. After the breakfast they took a ferry ride over to Circular Quay and looked around the historical sites around the Rocks.

Click in the link below to see photos of the adventure in Picasa.

Great workshop today at Brookvale with Korean Masters

Today, instead of the regular December Black Belt class we had a special Hapkido workshop with two talented Korean Hapkido instructors. Master Ryoo and Master Kim from the Hapkido College of Australia. They gave us a fantastic Korean Hapkido Workshop at the Brookvale Dojang.

This 2 hour workshop covered Hapkido self defence principles and defence against self defence. We also had a great step-by-step explanation of how to do the spectacular tornado kick.

Many thanks to Master Ryoo, Master Kim and their assistants (who also demonstrated some spectacular kicking and falling abilities) from the Hapkido College of Australia - their headquarters are in Croydon.

Click on the image below to see a larger version of the image.