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On
the 19th of
August 2005 eighteen HIA members from two Australian States set out from Sydney
on the Hapkido adventure of a lifetime. We arrived in Seoul at 7:30 that night
and after dinner settled in to our hotel to recover from the obligatory jet lag.
The next
morning the whole team was up early and keen to explore all the delights Seoul
had to offer. We travelled out to the suburbs where we attended a grading for
the Hapkido Moo Moo Kwan Association, our parent organization in Korea. The
grading was held in a large hall and was attended by more than 600 spectators
and participants. The temperature in the hall was high due to the hot summer
weather. This was tolerable though due to the distraction provided by the
Korean Hapkido spectacle before us.
This mainly
came in the form of a demonstration from the Moo Moo Kwan Demo Team who
presented a fantastic display of traditional technique and break-falling.
Our Aussie
team was then given the opportunity to present the 25 minute competition demo we
had prepared for the trip. This was a useful shake down for the championships
we were entered in the next day. Despite a few nervous mistakes the demo went
well and the crowd was highly receptive, providing a valuable confidence boost.
We enjoyed the usual Korean barbecue style dinner afterwards and rested up for
the big day to come.
Sunday 21st
of August took us to the Dongdaemungu Hapkido Championships where our team would
compete against twenty of the best Hapkido demo teams in Korea. Their entries
were predictably impressive with amazing weapon sections that included sword,
fan staff and danbong. Their team spirit was high with kiyup that shook the
building, precision technique and choreography. The height and synchronisation
of the group break-falling demos was amazing.
This was all
impressive but a little unnerving for our Australian team. They rose to the
challenge though, presenting their demo with a level of confidence and skill
that impressed the Korean Masters who were judging. Particularly in the areas
of team-work, presentation and choreography. Highlights were:
>The
"handbag snatch" defence presented by Georgia McKinnell and Brendon Pitt.
>Defence
against four attackers by Beau Forwood and friends.
>Staff fight
scene by Bianca Chellis and Anthony Kerrison.
The day
ended with presentations and a surprise announcement that our Australian team
had won first place! Captain Beau Forwood and Team Manager Scott McKinnell were
presented with the winner’s flag and trophy as the rest of the team joined them
on stage (grins ear to ear). Runners up from the Holim Hapkido School joined us
for a photo as we breathed a collective sigh of relief. The twelve months of
planning and six months of dedicated training had been worth it.
Many e-mail
addresses and photos were exchanged after the presentation as we made many new
Korean friendships that would last a lifetime. A further reward was the team's
celebratory Karaoke party that went well into the night.
Monday saw a
late wake-up call and a trip to the Everland Theme Park which is the size of a
large town. A fun day of shenanigans at the rides, roller-coasters, shows and
zoo was had by all. Despite the monsoonal downpour late in the afternoon.
Tuesday, the
23rd saw us on a very special trip to the Headquarters of the Korean Police SWAT
Team at Inchon. This was arranged over many months by a good friend we made on
our last trip to Korea (2004), Inspector Ahn.
Once there
we were treated to a movie like building assault demonstration, complete with
stun grenades, rappelling and lots of automatic gun fire. The team then took us
rappelling down their four story training house.
Now full of
adrenalin, we moved inside to the SWAT dojang where we returned the favour by
presenting our award winning demonstration. The SWAT team, which includes one
female member, then demonstrated their martial arts technique which they train
in daily. The day ended with an enjoyable outdoor barbecue, sponsored by the
local Lion's Club. Many more photos and e-mails were exchanged. Deok Jin-Jang,
Chief of the SWAT Team was highly impressed with the Aussie demo and said, "In
twenty years of martial arts experience, this is the best I've seen from a
foreign country."
Wednesday we
went to the Sehyun Kumdo sword range where Mr Park from the company allowed us
to test a number of very high quality hand made swords. Most of the team had a
go at slicing the bundles of rice weed under the instruction of our Master, Jong
Hyuk Kim. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a visit at Stunt Korea, a
Dojang dedicated to training martial arts stunt doubles for the Korean movie
industry. Several team members were treated to an impromptu stunt lesson with
the Master there.
Thursday the
25th was a special day for many tour members with us visiting IHF Headquarters
where those who recently graded back in Australia were presented with their
various Dan certificates by President Kim Kil-Hong. This was followed by a
special seven course luncheon to celebrate.
Other
activities undertaken during the trip were the obligatory shopping trips to
Lotte World, Dandaemun (clothes market) and Yonsan (electronics). We also
toured the 1500 year old palace, no longer occupied (except by tourists).
The whole
team trained hard for six months, just for this ten day trip. I think all
agreed that the many rewards were worth the effort. Our team had become
Champions for a second consecutive year. We made many new friend and shared so
many amazing experiences together.
Thank you to
Master Kim for all his hard work in organizing the trip. Thank you also to the
tour sponsors, listed below, please support them...click their logo to access
their sites where applicable.....Go
to the tour photo page.
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