Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kimuchiii]

Hello! It seems like when I search for Hapkido I find a lot of threads about it versus other martial art styles. What I was hoping to find though is information about studios/dojos people have gone to and would recommend to a newbie in the Seoul area. Anyone know of a good place to learn in Seoul? Thanks in advance!

[roadwork]

This should seriously be a sticky. It comes up every week.

Rules for finding a martial arts school:

1. Do some research on the style you want.
2. Learn the writing in Korean (hangul)
3. Talk a walk around your school or neighborhood and look for that sign.
4. Talk to the instructor (it doesn't matter if you don't speak Korean, he knows what you are there for). All you need to know is what time to come.
5. The only classes that will be good for you are the latest evening classes as they have the fewest children.
6. Ask to watch a couple of the classes before you join. If you like it, join. If you don't like it, go to another school and start at step 3.
7. Attend regularly, pay your bills on time, and that is pretty much it.

Other options:
A) You like the school but want a different time, consider having a friend sign up with you.
B) You like the school but even the late class has too much screwing around because of the kids, go for one on one lessons -- they'll only run you 40,000 to 50,000 won extra a month

[isthisreally]

While the above advice is good, if you want to be more serious with hapkido I really recommend you do some research and find a solid instructor with decent English or at least translators at the school.

I did hapkido for 1.5 years at a small gym right next to my school. While the instructors were kind and helpful. And I came out knowing some cool stuff. It still sort of felt like I was attending a Hapkido hagwon similar to the English hagwons we teach at. Instead of pushing through a book we pushed through techniques and belts. I never practiced old techniques I had learned and I've forgotten just about everything now. I had a few other problems too.

Now let me put this experience into perspective. The guy who really owned the gym came by a few times a year. He spoke English and when he showed up he was extremely helpful, clear and I felt that just by shaking his hand I was receiving hapkido skillz. This guy worked at his main gym and I'm sure if I was there I would have come out at least 50% better than from my instructors at the small place.

I don't have any better info on how to find these places or how to go about spotting them. This added to the fact that this may be your first martial art (it was for me) and you don't know exactly what you're looking for.

Good luck though, even if you do choose one of those small places, you'll get a lot out of it.

[kimuchiii]

Thanks for the responses! Definitely stuff I will consider if no one chimes in with personal recommendations. Does anyone have a place they would vouch for?