Hapkido: Introduction
Hapkido for Foreigners

 

Hapkido for Foreigners

Introduction

What is Hapkido?

On the Mat

Practice Hints

Glossary

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Hapkido: Introduction

We are all foreigners to new cultures. Hapkido is one culture I've chosen to enter, and, because I've heard the same questions asked again and again, to write about.

Cross-cultural understanding is difficult at best, fraught with dangers at worst. In the pursuit of understanding of a product of a foreign culture - whether sushi, soccer, or Hapkido - I feel it worthwhile to embrace ones outsider status (instead of the currently fashionable stratagems of ignoring or minimizing the significance and value of culture). I'm a New York Jew; I'll never be a Korean child growing up in the Far East. My teacher is Korean; he'll never know what it's like being a Jewish kid in Manhattan. Bridging the gap is possible with mindful, well-intentioned, spirited discussion. This writing is my attempt to share Hapkido with you, from my vantage point of a non-Korean native. Share, and enjoy.

The Korean word for "foreigner" is transliterated as "oegukin" (pronounced "waygukin"); I'm told that "oeguksaram" is also commonly used. So I guess an alternative title for this screed is "Hapkido for Oegukin". Say it like it's important :-)

What you read here shouldn't be considered the official canon of any dojang, school, or organization. No student, teacher, master, or administrator has given any sort of official blessing. This is a narrative of my viewpoint and my understanding of what's going on around me; all mistakes are mine. Neither is this a substitute for instruction by those qualified, something you should undertake only after getting medical clearance from your doctor. All this needed saying.

Let's now see where Hapkido came from, and thereafter head to the mat.

Mickey
February 2006

This page is copyrighted 2006 by Mickey Sattler. All rights reserved.