Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dharma bum]

does anyone have experience with the TMAS (i think that's the name of it but not sure) martial arts place in itaewon? i've done jiu-jitsu in the past but, in starting back up, am looking for something that might be a little more practical and MMA-oriented. from their advertisements, this place might be pretty good for that - but they also mention taekwondo, etc., which isn't exactly the direction i wanna go in. any thoughts or experiences?

[PINI]

TMAS offers both Taekwondo and Hapkido classes. Master Kim is a good teacher with an effieient level of English. Hour long classess run from about 5.40 - 11.20 Mon-Fri and are usually alternating (taekwondo then hapkido then taekwondo etc), which makes it easy to train both disciplines.

It's a little pricey, at 100,000W/mth per discipline, but if you do both Taewkondo and Hapkido, the 2nd discipline is 1/2 price (150,000w/month for both). Once you are signed up, you can take as many classes that you want. They classes are mixed abilities and there is a very wide range.

Go and check it out. Master kim will give you a free lesson to see if you like it.

[dharma bum]

thanks for the info. are they doing straight up TKD and hapkido there, or is the focus more on self-defense and real-world application?

[Yaya]

I think language doesn't matter in martial arts. Plenty of expats have trained here with non-English speaking instructors.

In fact, you could probably start a class for expats if you get enough people.

[dharma bum]

i agree to a certain extent and have done training at a MMA/BJJ gym in the past where the instructor spoke almost no english. it wasn't much of a problem and i speak better korean now than i did then anyway. the reason i'm interested in the tmas place is location really. i live near itaewon and all of the mma gyms i know about seem to be pretty far away from there (saejeol, seolleung, etc.), so i'm hoping to find a practical, mma-oriented place where it'd be easy for me to train almost every day without having to put up with a long commute, etc. any suggestions?

[PINI]

It's pretty much straight-up TKD and Hapkido. Not much 'real world' application at this stage.

The classes are exclusively for foreigners and are taught in English.

[roadwork]

That guy used to run a gym out in the middle of nowhere and had a pretty large student following. But that was back in 2004 and I think most of those teachers are gone now. Hapkido is the thing to learn if you really want to pick up something cool. We're always practicing some sort of wrist locks and ground fighting as well as judo moves as well.

[Golem]

Korean Top Team is alright for MMA, they are near Children's grand park, John Frankl is who I recommend for BJJ if you live anywhere remotely near Apgujoeng (which I don't). I occasionally drop in at Grappler factory near Cheonho, the isntructors English is good enough to understand.
There is really no top notch MMA place in Seoul, but there are some decent places to learn BJJ, Judo, or Muay Thai by itself. I dont know much about where to train Muay Thai though. The trainers here piss me off because its hard to get them to hold pads and they don't have classes per se but you can drop in any time.

[dharma bum]

thanks golem. cheonho and children's grand park are a bit far from me unfortunately, but i've thought about heading back to frankl's gym if i can't find anything else. the only thing is i'm really look for a more of a well-rounded experience, meaning at least some striking and more no-gi techniques, and going to two gyms would be quite expensive.

i've also heard that frankl might not show up that often anymore (any truth to that?), which makes me reluctant to dish out over 100,000 won a month to train at his gym.

[asian sensation]

I would skip the place in Itaewon if you are looking for practical training. I train BJJ at one place, wrestling at another. I am looking for a place for striking . I am commuting around the city but if you want to excel in every aspect, it's probably your best option. As far as a one stop shop, Korean Top Team and Team tackle are probably the two best in Seoul.

[Golem]

John Frankl doesn't show up everytime but I actually prefer being taught by his students personally. The purple belts are actually better at pulling out the details I need to learn. Its a bit more expensive than other gyms in Seoul but you have to keep in mind that its in Apgujeong (the most expensive area in Seoul). I dont really know of any quality place near Itaewon