[part 1] Before Christmas I surveyed some of Chang’s Hapkido Academy (CHA) black belts to discover what keeps them coming back after achieving their black belt. I’ve received over a dozen responses now from black belts across four of our schools, which gives me quite a bit of data to start noticing various recurring themes. [...]
Training beyond black belt (part two)
By Ms Parlour on January 30, 2012 in Black belt, Learning in martial arts, Martial arts etiquette and discipline, Mental training for martial arts, Motivation for training
Training beyond black belt (part one)
By Ms Parlour on January 9, 2012 in Black belt, Learning in martial arts, Mental training for martial arts, Motivation for training
To achieve a black belt in Hapkido requires many years of practice. Practicing anything long term requires energy, passion and commitment. But like anything else, our ability to perform a technique effectively will eventually decay – that’s why continued practice, even after achieving black belt is essential if we want to maintain and hopefully improve [...]
Mentally tough Hapkido.
By Ms Parlour on December 5, 2011 in Martial arts etiquette and discipline, Mental training for martial arts
There are three factors that will influence our sporting ability: our fitness, technical skills and mental skills. Many people spend loads of time on the first two, but neglect number three. In sport however, an athlete’s mental toughness is a strong predictor of their success. So what is mental toughness? A study by Jones et. [...]
Believing it to be so.
The Guardian newspaper recently reported on a study done by Charles Lee at the University of Virginia. He took 41 undergraduates who had previous golf experience and enthusiasm for the sport, and randomly split them into two groups. The first was the control; the second group were told that the putter they had been given [...]
Do you have competitions?
When meeting someone new, and after answering the ‘What do you do?’ question, nine times out of ten the person will follow that with an enquiry as to whether I compete. My answer is always, “No”. And then I usually give the response, “Hapkido is an art of self-defence” or “we compete against ourselves not [...]
Hapkido training as we age.
How old do you feel? I often find that the way people answer this question has a direct correlation to how active they are. The greater the activity level, the greater the difference between reality and fact. If we look closely at sport, we can find many examples of athletes, supposedly past their prime, still [...]
Power and vulnerability.
Many are afraid of being vulnerable. But is vulnerability really a bad thing and something to be fearful of? When we punch, for example, we actually put ourselves into a deeply vulnerable and off balanced position; but this same body weight shift that causes vulnerability also enables us to get the most power into the [...]
Continued learning.
I’ve just finished my first year (of three) of an MSc in Strength & Conditioning. The year ended with a 10-day on-site period of assessment and intense study. It’s been a challenging year and an even more challenging 10 days. I feel exhausted. I felt at times like I was being put through a ringer [...]
Kibon dong ja
As a white belt we learn basic stances (front, back and horse riding) and spend hours simply walking up and down the mat. I remember it being the part of the class I always hated; but now as an instructor I can see how essential this exercise is. Almost thirty years since I first learned [...]
Don’t neglect the kihap!
Recently a few of my newer students have been asking why we are ‘grunting’ or ‘shouting’ during techniques. What they are referring to is the ‘ki-hap’: literally, Ki means inner power, and Hap means coordination. So the shout is an expression, or perhaps the result of the student coordinating their inner power. The shout shouldn’t [...]