In our style of kicking we do not seek to strongly chamber our knee.

Front kick comes off

the ground with only enough bend at the knee to clear the floor and then half way through
its execution we change the kick into front kick, side kick or roundhouse based upon our
need. The leg is thrown long, without much knee chambering,with the intention of getting
the hips to do most of the work and to de-emphasize the role of the knee in delivering
power in the kick. The result is a kick which emphasizes power over speed.
ou can see this at work in muay thai as well, in the sense that they emphasize the hip
over the knee, although they typically pick up the roundhouse a little earlier and throw it
wider.
!!!
I have trained with aikidoka of various styles over the years and have a couple of dacades
of practise in "orean hapkido as well as having trained with the Takumakai branch of
#aito-ryu while living in $saka.
#acades ago, I passed a few fruitful months training under the late %ochizuki %inoru at
the his oseikan &ombu do'o. I was attracted to the do'o because of %ochizuki(s breadth
of practise and I was interested in how he combined the traditions he learned directly
from "ano, )eshiba and Funokoshi. I was especially interested in the areas in which his
aikido and 'udo overlapped* iriminage into singlewing chokes and so on.
+lasses were held in 'udo and aikido separately but people crosstrained freely and it was
always my impression that the 'udoka kept the aikido being performed on the mat
(honest(. They had no love for 'umping for techni,ues which they didn(t feel compromised
by.
It was my feeling that Tomiki aikido -.hodokan/ practitioners were probably very lucky
in this respect as so many of them in 0apan have very significant experience in both arts.
I let a oshinkan aikido practising friend of mine watch some footage of some of
%ochizuki(s students training back in the day and I was surprised by his reaction. 1This is
really bad aikido21 were his sentiments. 3ow I felt his waza and respect him, but I also
felt theirs and respected it more. I think what he was reacting was not the perceived
effectiveness of the techni,ue but rather the fact that it looked (ugly(.
I think that the style of ukemi that is perferred in aikido, and this goes back to prewar
footage we can view of the founder(s students as well, is partly shaped by a certain
aesthetic sense of how ukemi should be done. If one reacts early, one has the necessary
control of one(s own weight to perform beautiful arcing ukemi. The later one waits to
initiate ukemi, the more we allow our opponent to take control of our balance, the less
aesthetically pleasing the ukemi can sometimes be.
.o whereas when I look at oseikan and Tomiki aikido-ists receiving techni,ues and
perceive something which I see as more (realistic( in terms of ukemi, someone from
another tradition whose aesthetic sense differs may see what they view to be (ugly( ukemi.
I think our prior training conditions what we perceive as (realistic( and also establishes
our sense of what constitutes (beautiful( techni,ue.
4oing back to the first clips there was an argument about which clip showed better
utilization of kuzushi for the throw. 5hereas this may make perfect sense from an aikido
perspective I think from both a hapkido as well as a #aito-ryu perspective, the ,uestion
of what you do at that point in the techni,ue is really moot. The only reason that in the
first instance the uke is able to launch himself into a nice roll in the first clip and the only
reason tori is able to create nice kuzushi to uke(s rear in the second instance is because in
both instances tori has be nice enough to (suppress( his techni,ue.
In the original intention of the techni,ue the (kuzushi( will be created by the breaking of
the arm at the elbow and shoulder. This leverage will unbalance the opponent in the
direction one wishes to throw them. (Four directions( of this throw is possible only when
one has tight control of uke(s 'oints. )ke is allowed the luxury of ukemi by the grace of
tori(s generosity ... and his desire to continue to have mutually beneficial practise. 6ut if
the techni,ue is not compromised for the safety of uke, ukemi will not be possible.
I suppose this is neither here nor there from an aikido perspective but they were 'ust some
thoughts I had while reading what began as a very interesting thread.
!!!
On padded man practise
Kwon sells a a chest protector which is far better for full out striking than anything I(ve
used from Fairtex or FIST Inc. as of yet. It is about 7 inches thick. ou can employ kicks
with it with people who actually know how to kick and it doesn(t leave you feeling like
you are having an intestinal massage. It(s cheaper as well.
6etter for what I call (sitting duck( practise than having the padded man fight. The FI.T
protectors -fighting series/ are better for that.
#oing rounds unloading full force strikes on a padded man who is moving around,
pushing you, grabbing you and continuously changing distances while you are striking is
,uite an important part of my training group(s current practise. 8 great wake up call for
most, making one aware of their ability -or lack thereof / to throw down for more than 9:
seconds.
The softer the target the greater the tendency there is to (push( instead of (hit( when you
are practising. &arder protectors tend to save you from the contact but really shake you
up inside. Fairtex sells a good harder shell protector and sometimes I(ll put these over a
softer targer. The receiver can then withstand any kind of shot but really must be in a role
dedicated to training his partner rather than training himself. 4ood stuff for someone in
the role of coaching others in their striking.
!!!!.
Controlling without injury
8 couple weeks ago I was training a fellow who is a Toronto police officer. I introduced
him to the techni,ue which is referred to as onkyo -or 7th control/ in aikido -4osh I(m
constantly wishing hapkido techni,ues had universally recognized names2/ utilizing one(s
grip to access the nerve on the inside of the wrist of one(s opponent.
This officer is a ; foot <, =>; lb "orean male -5e have (affirmative action( he on the
force in Toronto/. .o not large by any means. I started showing him and a few of the
others officers this techni,ue earlier than is usual in the curriculum I learned because -a/
it is a difficult techni,ue to do really well and so one should start working on it early2 -b/
it is a techni,ue that affects control without causing any in'ury. 3o marks, no sprained
wrist, no broken elbow, nothing unpolitically correct looking to uninvolved bystanders
looking on.
5ell this officer had reason to use this techni,ue much earlier than I had planned, in fact,
I believe it was the same week that I showed it to him. &e and his partner were faced with
a very large, mentally unstable woman who was lashing out at them in a very small
office. The woman was in fact much larger than the officer and his first instinct was to
left hook her to the 'aw as she struck out at him, but wisely he chose not to follow his
instincts and instead applied the control we had been working on and pinned on top of the
desk in the office for handcuffing. 8 'ob well done.
6ut I don(t recommend this control for everyone or all encounters. ?eople in the process
of being arrested by police are sometimes intent on not being compliant but are not in fact
determined to do real harm to the officer. They wish only not to be arrested and to get
away. .ometimes when they realize that this is no longer possible they may even become
compliant.
?ain is less of an issue in a case of those truly out of touch or someone who really trying
to kill you regardless of the conse,uences. .ome people are far less sensitive on some
pressure points than others. Those on strong drugs often will be less affected as well.
They will be willing to let you break their fingers in order to get free of finger locks.
They will accept a sprained wrist in an effort to do you harm.
$ne of my associates had a friend who applied an elbow lock on a drunken sailor in
4reece. &e hyperextended the sailor(s elbow with ,uite a severe lock and felt it break.
The sailor(s reaction@ &e reached on to the table with his free hand, picked up a bottle and
hit him with it.
In'ured but not out of action.
For controlling a mentally unstable person without harming them I think it recommended
that people work in pairs to take someone down and they should train to work together in
this effort and give each other verbal cues as to what their strategy is. 8ll too often
partners work against each in fact foiling each other(s movements or helping the patient
maintain their position by pulling in opposite directions.
In attempting to control someone on one(s own I might recommend that one utilize
techni,ues which take the opponent down by taking their legs or removing their balance.
(Aear drops(, such as 'udoka call tani otoshi or a tripping take down from the back cause
one(s opponent to lose their balance without the danger of their hitting their as in the case
of a suplex which could be performed from the same set and position. %any sacrifice
takedowns may work well but in some cases it would be helpful if they were applied with
the knowledge that additional help was on its way for while they may allow you to
controll your opponent you may also find that you are e,ually pinned in the position and
committed to it until back up arrives.
I showed another officer a throw using a techni,ue where you (enter(, place your bent
knee behind your opponent and then lead his upper body backwards, upsetting his
balance backwards and tripping him over the back of your knee. if this is met with too
much resistance one can instantly turn this into a (scooping throw(, sacrificing yourself
backward and scooping his knees out from under him with your hands.
8 few days later he received a call. 8rriving on the scene he saw two officers working
against each other to control an opponent. &e slipped in, told them to let go and
gracefully unbalanced the man onto his back with the above techni,ue. &e told me later
1I always feel that things happen to me for a reason and I felt I learned that techni,ue
from you to help me that situation that day.1 $f course we can make our own luck too.
!!!!
.uffice to say that I have spent a good deal of time training under a hapkido teacher who
wasBis ,uite famous for his kicking techni,ue and yet is definitely coming from a
different place and generating power differently than conventional Taekwondo
practitioner(s do.
It may be ,uite true that +hoi ong .ool didn(t emphasize high kicking but it is also
e,ually true that his students -even his first generation students/definitely did. I think it is
fair to say that high kicks have become a part of the hapkido repetoire. I think hapkido is
also somewhat of a conceptual art and one of its concepts is about not having limitations
and thus hapkido incorporated striking of all varieties into its curriculum while bring
them in line with its concepts of how power should be generated.
I think that it may also be noted that some very dramatic kicking exercises are designed
to increased the practitioner(s body control rather than to utilized, as is, in fighting. - I(m
thinking of certain dramatic 'umping kicks that we employ. / If one is able to throw a
'umping front kickC roundhouse combination in the air it makes one(s regular roundhouse
1fly1 of its accord. 8 good abdominal core development exercise too.
!!.
I would be inclined to think that leg and ankle locks increase levels of in'ury in
competition but perhaps that is because the people I train with them are less adapt at
performing and receiving them than they are at, say, armlocks.
If one lacks sensitivity perhaps they will put them on too ,uickly or dangerously and
perhaps tap too late. I(ve limped around for a week D at times because an ankle lock,
imperfectly placed, left me feeling that while the ankle lock was hurting it was nothing
that I couldn(t take and fight out of. 8nd at that moment it wasn(t. 8n hour later was ,uite
a different matter2 .ambo players may have greater control of their techni,ue -when they
wish to/ because of increased sensitivity in working with them. The 0apanese submission
fellows seem to be able to perform the techni,ues at a very high level of play also.
8nd I think we can remember "en .hamrock vs #on Frye@ - I won the fight but my
ankles are broken2
Those techni,ues are nothing to sneeze at.
!!!!
$h, I dig .teven .eagal(s approach to waza. &e 'ust seems to have personal issues with
the world. &as anyone seen the clips floating around of him practising at his school in
$saka with the 0apanese modern drumming. Interesting no nonsense waza and great
matching of music to image.
I also like the 3ihon 0u'utsu 8ikido I have seen. I(ve seen Aobert %acEwan doing waza
and found his approach ,uite compelling.
!!.
Tao te ching
D.C. Lau
I echo +kava in that I have always found the #.+. Fau translation the most en'oyable in
terms of the way the phrases are turned. I(ve read a half dozen or so other translations but
I find many of them lack the sense of the poetic that Fau seems to capture.
.ome may be turned off that they can get it as a second hand ?enguin pocket book for a
couple of bucks but regardless I still find it to be the most en'oyable.
I cannot speak to its accuracy but I often find more careful literal translations to lose
something of the spirit in many works
!!!
%y teacher, a second generation hapkido-ist, is wonderfully skilled in ground
(submission( as may be attested to by the 'udoka and wrestlers who have practised at our
club. .ome of the techni,ues he applies while (prone( are really ,uite severe and do not
seem to come out of the 'udo or 6razilian curriculum, nor are they 'ust the basic standing
techni,ues adapted to the ground.
8nd yet...he does not seem to teach this portion of the syllabus in any systematic way. I
also ,uite fre,uently seen him move into techni,ues which I have never seen him do
before. This is ,uite surprising as I(ve been watching him for the better part of G: years
now.
I(ve come to the conclusion that he is unbelievably...inventive2
&e seems to improvise techni,ues based upon his knowledge of 'oint locking
appropriately regardless of the situation. )nfortunately this does not necessarily translate
into uniform results on the part of his students( groundwork as might be better done via a
static curriculum.
.till, (figuring things out for yourself( plays an important role in his teaching method.
That this particular portion of the curriculum is treated in such a way as opposed to be
introduced along with the basics leads me to believe that it was not considered as an
important a part of the curriculum in the past.
6y way of a historical note, daito-ryu is characterized by controlling a downed opponent
from a kneeling position rather than wrestling with both opponents prone so perhaps this
aesthetic was at work influencing hapkido(s early curriculum.
This being said we do practise groundfighting as part of our regular fighting fre,uently in
the do'ang today
!!.
web site..
http*BBwww.gongkwon.netB
Thanks for posting the above. That was nice to see.
Their throwingBgrappling seems stronger than their striking but that is an e,ually valid
choice of emphasis, I think.
5hen I was in "orea I found that lots of clubs liked to practise techni,ue -and endless
breakfalls2/ but not everybody liked to fight. ou had to look around to find a club like
this one
!!.
#ngrruss,
4ood to hear from someone who attended both events.
&ow would you rate the two tournaments if you were to compare them@
$ne of our fellows who won his division in G::7 was Aick .ethi. )nfortunately some of
his fights were left off the vidotape including a good one between himself and %aster
0ung(s son.
8nyway, Aicky was saying there was one fellow tearing through guys with nothing but
side kick. #o you know to whom he was referring. 8pparentally once he got tackled he
done for but Aicky seemed impressed with that fellow as well as with one of your
opponent(s %ike Fee. I don(t believe the fellow with the side kick was a heavyweight.
4ood luck in your future forays into competition. To me roundhouse is as big or perhaps
a bigger part of hapkido as any 'ointlock we do. 5e train to be effective with any of our
skills even if some are not allowed, practical or appropriate to the situation.
$f course I understand those who wish to specialize in techni,ues not admissable in
fighting sport but that is a choice in the same way as the choice to specialize in
techni,ues that are permissable in such events is. It is all hapkido. &apkido is broad
enough to include it all.
!!..
.ome of these reviews are a bit old but they seem pretty unbiased.
ttp*BBsfuk.tripod.comBreviewsBpoochgloves.html
I use the &arbinger bag gloves myself but I am not using them much for grappling 'ust
light hand protection.
+ombatsports.com had some good sturdy looking gloves in the catalogue they sent me
with a great selection of what(s out on the market, and $uanos would also be one(s to
look at.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
%atthew Aogers
!!!
I really like the big collared $uanos but I have never been so disappointed with the way
any company handled a problem with an order as I was with them. Ierging on insulting. I
can(t ever do business with them again.
&atashita.com carries great 'udogi(s but also a Aickson 4racie model 'iu'utsu kimono.
!!!
%y teacher, %aster &wang In-.hik, taught me in the early years of my training that since
hapkido emphasizes weight commitment and power over ,uick snapping movements that
kicking with the blade of your foot is a good way to break a bone or sprain an ankle. I can
see using the blade for special applications but we never were taught any side kick
applications formally so I have to think that it is not the orthodox way of performing this
particular kick.
%aster &wang is the +hief Instructor for the 5orld &apkido 8ssociation and was
formally the +hief Instructor at the head,uarters of the "orea &apkido Federation so I am
thinking that what he is teaching is probably considered (conventional( in "orean hapkido
circles however there is considerable variation in many hapkidoists( way of performing
techni,ues.
I, myself, sometimes employ footblade with side kicks which are meant as (checks( to my
opponent(s techni,ues but try to use the heel for any fully committed side kick. The heel
forms a straight line with the leg so it is easier to line up your full power behind it
without having your foot pushed back toward yourself on heavy contact with weight
commitment.
I don(t think that this means that footblade sidekicks cannot be effectively employed but
rather that they are more fre,uently used in arts which emphasize precision over power
and are used more typically with arts that prefer a snapping delivery rather than a
delivery with lots of forward weight commitment which is one of the characteristics of
our hapkido.
..