[chiguy]

Can anyone please give me their honest opinions of Combat Hapkido. Thanks.

[bamboo]

Well, I've only seen one place and it was the same old forms and non resistant drills as any other art practiced with the underlying notion that sparring is somehow innappropriate. It was one of those places where all the instructors were grossly out of shape and emphasis was placed on "killing" blows but no real hard contact.

That being said, one visit to one place cannot cover the entire spectum of hapkidio dojangs.

-bamboo

[chiguy]

My two children were taking classes from a 5th Dan in Combat Hapkido. The master is in his fifties and is a bit over weight, but he has extensive knowledge in the martial arts, not just Hapkido. He also had two other 1st Dans that were both excellent.

[bamboo]

Regardless of the dan ranking, if the practice methods are subpar then the people being turned out will be subpar once they leave the system and try to actually employ thier skills.

I know 5th dans that are complete garbage, heck, we have a "sifu" in my city cough..fangshendo..cough that talks prety tough that I'm fairly certain that lowly I could take.

There is also a grappling club with a very unfortunate name that turns out better martial artists at 3rd kyu then most 2-3rd dans i've had the pleasure of playing with on the mats.

Anyway, my point is, look to the practice methods and how they fare outside the dojo environment to see how good the school is.

BTW- A little overweight is no big deal, I meant GROSSLY out of shape.

Cheers,

Bamboo

[Galaknore]

I have been to a combat hapkido seminar here in Colorado. For the most part it was very informative and I picked up some new techniques. The guy's name was Grandmaster Pelligrini I think. It was also in correlation with CQC stuff so, but overall the techniques were effective. Like bamboo said, it depends upon where you go.

[graham1]

Go on, Bamboo. What's the grappling club called? Eh? Eh? Eh? Go on! Tell us!

[bamboo]

"ninja ryu". But they have awsome grapplers.

[Hengest]

Originally Posted by bamboo

"ninja ryu"

I'm assuming that by "awesome" you mean totally sweet?

[ZDawg_KC]

First of all, Bamboo don't mean to pick on ya but Combat Hapkido has no forms. So I don't know what school was masquerading as an ICHF affiliate but they weren't. ICHF is obviously for real considering the founder John Pelligrini is the only non Korean ever to be given the rank of 9th Dan by the Koreans. I have been a student of Combat Hapkido for 5 years and currently hold the rank of 2nd Dan. All the wild flare and sporty kicks have been removed from the traditional teachings of Hapkido and we have added trapping, jujitsu, escrima, muay thai, just name a few... and have basically adopted the "study everything and keep what works" method to training. The Koreans have even accepted Combat Hapkido also called Chon tu Kwon Hapkido as being seperate from traditonal Hapkido but still recognized as a kwon. All ICHF schools are different in their focuses but the core curriculum is the same. Also I have never been in a light contact combat hapkido class. I didn't even know someone was teaching like that out there let alone masquerading as a true ICHF school. There will always be wannabes out there you just have to do the research and find a real school.