As the Rank Test results arrived at the weekend, I have spent the week handing out new belts. It’s so wonderful to see all the new colours… Before conducting the presentations I always explain the process: When your name is
Don’t be weird.
At the end of his last Ki Seminar here in London, Master Chang said with a wry smile… “Don’t be weird”. He says they try to meditate at home when the children are playing. “Be quiet, stop playing, can’t you
Noise, noise, noise
When I started teaching in Lincoln years ago, we would do ki class on a badminton court. Obviously the other courts would be being used, so at times there was a bit of noise, or a shuttle cock would fly
The tea master.
I was looking through some old lectures of Master Chang yesterday and was reminded of the story of the Tea Master. Mistakenly bumped by him in a busy crowd, a samurai challenged an old man to a duel. This old
The story of Won Hyo.
There was a monk called Won Hyo, who lived around 600AD. The story of his enlightenment is still famous today and marked a watershed in Korean Buddhism. As was the way at that time, Won Hyo decided to travel to
The opponent within.
I was teaching at a seminar a couple of weekends ago….After performing a joint lock, someone asked me, do you then break their arm with this? Without thinking I said “no, I would never break their arm. Why would I
Transforming an enemy into a friend.
The name ‘Hapkido’ actually combines three Korean words: Hap means the coordination of mind and body, Ki is the inner power needed to create hap, and Do refers to a disciplined life. It is this concept of discipline that can
Where is your mind?
“Where your mind goes your ki will follow.” A student can often get dragged out of his own experience when catching sight of his reflection in a mirror. Often students’ kicks improve remarkably as soon as I hold up a
Attending ki class a few times is not enough.
You have a cloth which you dip in coloured water – but for some reason you only dip partially – then you take out. A little bit has changed colour but not the whole. We can do this a few
How can we re-motivate after a period of absence from training?
There comes a time in everyone’s training when suddenly it’s a little harder to motivate oneself. Even habits that have been developing over years can suddenly be held to ransom by an injury, a need to be perfect after a