There are several problems related to hapkido that I have noticed and one of them is that there are just too many organizations out there that give out the ranks and belts. What many of these organizations do wrong is that they give you the high ranks very fast. That eventually is not good for hapkido but they carry on with the practice because some organizations want to get the maximum number of member from all around the world. Because of the competition by so many organizations they don’t care about the quality that much awarding the higher ranks quickly on their members so they can keep them with them and attract new people from all over the world; this ultimately damages hapkido reputation.

Where you should get to the 7 Dan black belt after 30 years of hapkido training and to the 8th dan in minimum 40 years you end up getting their way to quickly while people don’t actually deserve that rank. So how to deal with the problem I did describe it a little bit in the end above and that is that if you want to start training hapkido you have to find out a good instructor and their training history. How long has he trained hapkido and for how long has he been training hapkido himself. If the internet age of today checking out the history and reputation of an organization is very easy via click of a few buttons. So if you want to learn hapkido get your research done and join a proper organization to avoid the problems later.

How do you define a good instructor? A good instructor is an effective instructor. Teaching self-defence principles that can be applied in real situations, teach your students to understand and adhere to “the hapkido way” principals of: (1) respect, (2) mental & physical focus, (3) loyalty, as well as manner and interpersonal skills for inside & outside the gym. Teaching hapkido is more about the physical and technical aspects of the art. It is about the instilling the concept of mental strength to overcome any short comings that a student may have physically. It’s about encouraging students to push themselves to the next level, attempt hurdles of increasing difficulty. This will assist their development of self-esteem, confidence and mental focus that will afford them the strength to achieve their goals and go beyond the mental weaknesses that others will put on them.

The origins of the term “Capoeira” itself is unclear as there are many possible sources and several meanings. One is that it came from the word ‘capao’ or castrated rooster. A pair of capoeiristas engaged in sparring in a way resembles a cockfight. Another possible source of the term is derived from two words from the South American Tupi-Guarani language- kaa and puera which put together means ‘formerly a forest’ or a forest clearing. Such an area in the middle of a thick jungle would have been an ideal place for escaped slaves to hide from their oppressors. Whatever the true origin for the word, the martial art of Capoeira is widely accepted to be an Afro-Brazilian martial art developed by slaves under oppression from South American masters.

Capoeira moves include acrobatic moves, feints and groundwork which in a way resembles the urban art of breakdancing. The latter may in fact may have been an offshoot of Capoeira with its fluid gymnastics and reliance on percussive music. Body-throws, elbow, fist and strikes using one’s head are also used in Capoeira combat although to a relatively lesser degree than leg sweeps and kicks which make-up the majority of attacks. Reason for this may be because a slave’s hands are usually manacled and only the legs are free to move around.

There are two classifications for Capoeira- traditional and modern. The traditional and thus much older Capoeira Angola has generally sneakier moves with players maneuvering their bodies in a closer distance to each other and lower to the ground compared to the modern Capoeira Regional. Capoeira grandmaster Bimba developed Capoeira Regional to bring the art to its original fighting roots, employing faster and more athletic techniques. It’s also associated less with Brazil’s criminal elements.