Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ninjamonkey]

yes, i have more questions...

i took hapkido for 3 years here in north america, and i'm definitely interested in taking it when i go to korea... do you take martial art classes in korea? what are they like? even better, do you have a base of comparison with dojans in north america?

i'm interested in anything you can tell, like dojan rules, general atmosphere, style of training, level of intensity, etc etc

[ninjamonkey]

oh ya and how the whole 'not being able to speak korean' thing effected your training

[Grotto]

Martial art classes here are a step down from Western classes IMHO.

There is no contact sparring, it is based primarily on forms and techniques here.

A good friend of mine who has his il-dan black belt from Scotland came here and they wanted to immediately bump him up to sa-dan. He refused because back home his teacher would have laughed at him for wearing a 4'th level belt.

Martial arts here are much like any other education system in Korea...you get promoted pretty much regardless of how well you do.

[ninjamonkey]

[livinginkorea]

I did Taekwondo and Hapkido for about 10 years back home but haven't had a chance yet to do it here.

I'm looking forward to it but I don't want any of that belt crap. I was trained not to think of them. I fought in the nationals back home and I barely lost to a guy twice my grade. I was asked what style was I using from so many people. I smiled and said "everything". My old trainer trained me in so many different styles but mostly in Taekwondo, Hapikdo and Street Fighting.

I really want to train again here but I have to find a trainer that can fight/sparr with me and teach me new moves and push me hard.

[trigger123]

don't worry n.monkey, grooto isn't speaking from personal knowledge here.
grooto - have you actually studied martial arts here? i guess not...
i have studied tae kwon do here for two years, usually 5 days a week, and there are lots of comparisons to be made between here and studying in the west, (in my case England).
firstly, no way are they a step down. how can practicing a martial art in its home environment be a disappointment? the atmosphere at both of my dojangs has been very friendly and welcoming. sah bom nims at both schools, although very different in approaches, have emphasised different aspects of the art and i have learnt so much from each. at my current school, classes are conducted in korean primarily, with some english thrown in. you learn a lot of korean from practice and from getting to know your fellow students, who have all been interested in me and why i am training with them. not being able to speak korean might be a barrier to start with, but if you are intending to live here i would suggest you start to learn the language anyway, regardless of whether you practicing martial arts or not.
as for sparring, well sorry grotto but you are wrong. contact is part of every session at my school, and my previous one, and those of all the other people i know. at least three times a week we get the body pads out and go through different forms of training.
promotion, at least in tae kwon do, to black belt is based on a test. livinginkorea is right, belts, and grades are not viewed the same here as they are back home. its true that most people pass this test, and that your master will not enter you unless he thinks you will. further belts are awarded after continuous practice over the course of years. 2nd dan after a further year, 3rd after another 2, 4th after a further 3 and so on...
forms and techniques are a big part of tae kwon do, thats unquestionable. maybe less so in hapkido but i'm not sure. good technique is essential, and ultimately it helps your sparring ability too.
another advantage of training here is that many masters also have studied hapkido, kumdo or other non-korean arts. at both schools i have learnt throws and holds and take-downs not present in tkd.
overall, its great! some of my best times in korea have been spent at my tkd schools, at my test, at competitions, at training. good luck, and i hope that you enjoy your time as much as i have.

[livinginkorea]

Are there many adults at the classes trigger123? I'm looking around for a class but most of them are for kiddies.

[ninjamonkey]

i'm totally psyched to be frank 123, i've been studying hapkido for a while now and i love it to death. one of the main reasons why i picked korea over taiwan or japan was to study it here.

when do they usually have the classes here? and ya, i'm interested to hear about adult classes too

[David76]

While I have not studied martial arts here, my impression of them is similar to Grotto's. I walk by buildings where martial arts classes are being held, and it seems like they are always warming up (maybe it is a matter of timing), but I heard from a Westerner who has a black belt in tkd here that it did not involve practicing techniques with other students. Very little at all in terms of technique. I have also been told by people who have studied martial arts here that class times are short (50 to 90 minutes) and classes are held five or six days a week, with little or no flexibility (such as going for a two or three hour class two or three days a week as in common in the U.S.). The classes seem to be mostly for children; the adults here who have jobs seem to work incredibly long hours and might not be as interested in taking classes as many U.S. adults. Not sure what to call it (inflation?) but people can get a black belt here in maybe 7-10 months! And that does not involve much, if any, more time spent studying than 7-10 months of study in the U.S. would.

Seems to me there are plenty of differences, but there are lots of places to study if you want to learn. Your mileage might vary, but South Korea is not nearly as intense as I feared it would be, and if you are polite you will be given a lot of leeway for being a bumbling foreigner (if you should happen to bumble).

[Cedar]

Let me qualify my opinion:

Hapkido: I am a low level certified referee, haven't had the time to take the 4th Dan test because it's not offered often and always seems to be when I am busy, but I have been increasingly higher levels of asst. instructor for years, competed from 1997-2003 before I stopped competing and switched to refereeing. Total Hapkido time, nearly 9 years now. All in Korea.

Taekkyon: I have been waiting to take the 3rd dan test since 2002, the test is 3 days long and for a variety of reasons... anyway, I am firmly doing it this September on the next test dates. I have been leading classes and competing in Taekkyon since 2000. I began in 1998.

Kongsudo: 1st dan. Several competitions.

Taekwondo: several months experience, too boring, and doing three martial arts on one day wore me out.

Wushu: 1 year experience. (in China).

So...
1. EVERYTHING depends on the school you pick. So, of course you watch classes, you evaluate based on how many black belts (if there are too few, the classes aren't attractive to higher levels, only to little kids who live in the neighborhood. You evaluate based on the quality of the teaching. Does it seem high-spirited, disciplined, and logical in progression or is it just some guy who is good or big or tough or something showing off? You evaluate the facilities...etc. etc.

2. In Korean Hapkido it depends WHERE you live. There are two primary types of Hapkido. One is more common in some areas, the other in others. One type has forms (like TKD) the other type does not. I am from the no-forms Hapkido, which is the Daehan Hapkido Federation, also called the Senghwal Chay-yuk or Sports for All Federation.

3. Some places have a LOT more fighting than others. This is usually because the parents of the kids either support or dont' support their kids getting bangs and bruises. Some think "character" others think "abuse". If there is fighting frequently it will be most common in an adult class. The adult classes can be strongly segregated (NO KIDS) or weakly segregated (kids if they are very good or if the parents insist on that time or whatever). These classes will start at between 8 pm and 10 pm (I have seen places with classes starting as late as 10:30 pm). You should ask if such a class exists BEFORE visiting on the phone. Because if there isnt' such a class, it's not really worth going. You can't do crap if your partner is just higher than your waist.

4. Can't continue writing, my friend has just called to record me for his research project. Must get off the line...

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

Wow, Cedar, didn't know how extensive your training is. I took Taekkyon for a a few months...not good by any means. But that's where I met hubbie. He's a Taekkyon instructor. I've seen him fight and he's really good (at least to me), so obviously he was trained very well in Korea. He also couples his training with kickboxing, hapkido, and something else and he has a really nice fighting flair. I think anyone can get good training here in Korea.
Anyone want to sparr against my husband? He'll give you a good workout!

[indiercj]

I'm no enthusiast to say the least of Taekwondo like many other Korean males. That's because everyone is being forced to train oneself in the ARMY! Losing interest is inevidable. And by the way, black belt means nothing. That's just where it all begins.

[lunalilo]

[Cedar]

And, yes, in case anyone didn't know, as indiercj has mentioned above, in Korea, a black belt means only that one has mastered the basics. In the west people think of black belt as "wooooo!!!!" but in Korea (from what I can tell since the belt system started) it only means "basics" and in most arts comes at slightly less than a year after beginning.

People in the west consider it to be a bigger deal, therefore, from all I've heard, Korean martial arts overseas make the "begin--> first dan" process take longer to conform to people's expectations and also because they want people to keep coming, if you have a goal ahead that means something to you, then you might be more likely to keep working out and paying monthly fees... right?

So, instead of thinking with scorn "black belts don't mean anything in Korea, Korean training is weak", it's better to think like the Koreans do... "black belt means you understand basic moves". It's not like Koreans think they are hot patootie if they have a 1st dan black belt.

PCTG, I'd love to know where you husband trains, I may have seen him before if you can describe him well enough... If he goes to a lot of competitions, even if you guys live in hicksville, I've definitely been at the same physical place as him (though due to the broken jaw, I haven't been competing since the first competition of the season, the one where the jaw got broken).

[Cedar]

Actually I am not so happy with some of what they chose to use here... I guess it's always true... especially as non-Taekkyon people it's hard for them to know how to choose among the clips they have and make a decent program... anyway... it's not the best, but if you want to see a small clip of Taekkyon... here it is. (Anyone who can't read Korean, just click on 56 or 300 under the photo to see the clip).
http://news.kbs.co.kr/news.php?id=743951&kind=p