Welcome to Hapkido in the Park!

Meaning of Hapkido
Hapkido: the way of harmonious energy
Meaning of Hapkido

Hapkido: the way of harmonious energy

Hapkido in the Park was founded by me, Wael, as a way of continuing my practice of Hapkido. I have been studying martial arts off and on all my life, including Shotokan Karate, Pentcak Silat, Hakko-Ryu Jujitsu, Shorin-Ryu Kenpo, and Hapkido.

Hapkido in the Park sessions are free. The only requirements are that you be reliable and dedicated.  This is hard and sometimes painful work so be mentally ready for that. Men and women are welcome, any age from 18 to… that’s up to you! If you have experience in a joint-locking art such as Jujitsu, Judo, Aikido or Hapkido that’s great, but if not it’s fine.

Our group currently fluctuates from two to five or six people. We meet at Oso de Oro Park in Fresno, California. Oso de Oro Park is on Forkner Avenue between Bullard and Barstow. For up to date class times, see the Schedule and Location page.

Please note that I am NOT an expert. I am a student with three years experience. I continue to study both Hapkido and Jujitsu. So be warned that there will be some techniques I cannot teach you, because I have not learned them YET.  I formed this group because I want practice partners, and I will teach you in the process. I may also invite instructors and masters from other schools to guest teach sessions from time to time.

I am also willing to learn your art if you are experienced; I’m not interested in Karate or TaeKwonDo but I would be interested in learning Jujutsu, Judo, Aikido, Silat, Arnis, Escrima or any of the internal Chinese martial arts such as Bagua, TaiChi, or Chin-Na.

If you’d like to learn Hapkido, you do not need any prior martial arts experience, or any particular level of physical fitness. In fact Hapkido is good for those who are smaller or weaker because it is a blending art, i.e. an art that uses the attacker’s force against him by redirecting it, rather than meeting it head on. Hapkido is a joint-locking, striking and throwing art closely related to Jujitsu (Japanese jujitsu, not the Brazilian grappling style). Hapkido does have a ground fighting component, but it is primarily a stand-up art. Hapkido is a modern self-defense art,  and is very comprehensive and scientific in its approach.

I practice a self-defense oriented style taught by Marc Tedeschi, which is the style I practiced in the Bay Area. You can learn more about Master Tedeschi by visiting his website at http://www.HapkidoWest.com

Although Hapkido includes high kicks, flying kicks, and certain acrobatic maneuvers, I do not wish to focus on those. The most acrobatic things you will have to learn will be simple rolls and break-falling techniques.

We will focus on:

– Energy breathing
– Flexibility stretches (primarily yoga-based).
– Defenses against grabs and chokes
– Defenses against punches and kicks
– Learning to fall safely (breakfalls)
– Low kicks mostly, high kicks to a lesser degree
– Throws

Please email me if you are interested, or feel free to simply show up at the park.

Also please check out my Hapkido network at http://www.HapkidoNetwork.com/

Wael

4 Comments

  1. I would love to learn Hapkido. I don’t work on tuesday evenings and have always wanted to learn a martial art. I will be dedicated to your teachings. My cell phone number is 559-408-8164. Hope to hear from you.

  2. Hi Donovan, what happened? I spoke to you and gave you the location but you never came by. Since then, we have moved to a new location. So please check our Schedule and Location page.

  3. im very interested in taking some martial classes please contact me my number is 559-706-2003

Leave a Reply to dave Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.