Hapkido - Classes & Training at Sun Bae
Offering Beginner Hapkido Classes through to Advanced Hapkido Training
Sun Bae is a member of The Korea Hapkido Federation and Hapkido Moohak Kwan.
Techniques have been personally taught to Master Instructor Bradley Tatnell by Grandmaster Sung Soo Lee 9th Dan. Mr Lee was the first Hapkido Master in Australia.
Hapkido is a Korean based martial art similar to Taekwondo. Taekwondo emphasizes explosive striking and kicking techniques usually from long range with deflective blocking and fast footwork. Hapkido emphasizes focus on hand techniques for close in defence involving holds, chokes, grabs, joint manipulation, throwing, takedowns and pinning. Hapkido kicking is similar to Taekwondo although there is more focus on lower kicking for takedowns.
Taekwondo and Hapkido are complementary and work well together in practical situations. Sun Bae conducts its normal classes as a mixture of each style. Beginners will concentrate more on Taekwondo striking and kicking techniques whilst also learning from day one the basic Hapkido techniques. Within three months, a student will have the ability to defend themselves with utilising simple techniques.
For the beginner, Hapkido techniques are difficult to apply practically and require much training to become effective. However, once mastered, they become a formidable weapon in disarming violent situations (even without having to resort to striking the attacker). Although, Hapkido is studied from day one, Sun Bae students will grade in Taekwondo first. Once they are at Red Belt level, they can then officially grade in Hapkido and attend separate Hapkido lessons which involve weapons training.