Seoul, Korea
Total Martial Arts System (TMAS), located Seoul Korea specializes in teaching foreign students WTF style Taekwondo and KHF style Hapkido.
Master Kim, Nam Su, founder of TMAS graduated from Yong-In University, Korea's most prominent martial arts institution and has mastered several martial arts including KHF Hapkido, Taekwondo, Yudo, Yongmoodo, and Teukgongmoosul (Special Forces techniques). Master Kim been teaching foreigners, both military personnel and private individuals, for several years. Together with his foreign assistant master they have developed a martial arts program designed specifically for foreigners taught completely in English. All TMAS classes are taught in English so you can learn KHF Style Hapkido, and do so in the true style of Korean martial arts, training and spending time together like a family.
When many foreign students arrive in Korea they are shocked to find that most martial arts dojangs do not have English speaking instructors and this make a students efforts far more challenging from a learning perspective.
Master Kim stated that "It is difficult for foreign students to learn the techniques properly, more often copying motion as opposed to learning the theory and practice that generates true power. This is why people continually come to train in Korea, in the hopes to learn the true practice and power of techniques from the lands where they originated. We seek to meet the needs of these students while still maintaining the quality of our programs"
The TMAS program not only furthers the students Hapkido knowledge and skills, it also stresses teaching Korean culture so that a student may more comfortably pursue their professional or personal tasks while living in Korea.
To learn more about this program please refer to the TMAS website at www.t-m-a-s.com.
Foreign Students wishing to Train in Korea
KHF Headquarters, Seoul, Korea
The KHF would like to invite anyone visiting Korea to train with some of our top masters. We will be glad to help anyone visiting Korea to find a Hapkido dojang (school). Additionally, Master Kim, Nam Je, KHF 8th dan, has offered to open his dojang to anyone visiting Seoul. Master Kim, Nam Je is on of the most respected masters in Korea and was featured on the television Show "Fight Quest" representing Hapkido as a combat art.
If you are visiting a province outside of Seoul, the KHF office will provide you with a training facility near your destination. The KHF has schools throughout Korea and has the largest membership of any Hapkido association in Korea.
18-11 Rung-Dong
Kwangjin-Ku
Seoul 143-180
South Korea
Tel : 82-2-3437-3430
Fax : 82-2-456-0953
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Moorim Hapkido Martial Arts Centre Black Belt Examination
Howick, Auckland, NZ
Master Master Shin, Jae Hwan of the Moorim Hapkido Martial Arts Center in Howick, Acukland, New Zealand recently held the schools first black belt examination. The school has been open for a little over two and a half years and is proving to be very successful.
Master Shin is determined to spread authentic KHF style Hapkido throughout New Zealand and has been very impressed with the desire and effort he has witnessed from his students. "The people of New Zealand are very keen to learn Hapkido as well as Korean culture. They are very enthusiastic about learning authentic Hapkido".
If anyone is interested in learning KHF style Hapkido in New Zealand, please contact Master Shin at Moorim Hapkido Martial Arts Centre, Unit B 239 Moore Street, Howick Auckland, New Zealand. You can call Master Shin at (09) 537-0450.
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The Passing of Master Myung, Kwan SikBy Kevin F. Donohue
July 26th, 2009
Myung Kwang-Sik was born in North Korea but lived in Seoul for most of his early life. Master Myung began his study of Hapkido with Ji Han Jae in Seoul, Korea in 1957 at the age of 16. Master Myung later received lessons from Choi Yong-Sul, who he considered his teacher.
In 1967 the Sung Mu Kwan of the Korean Hapkido Association sent 15 members of demonstration teams, including Myung, to Vietnam to demonstrate their art and to teach Korean, US, and Vietnamese troops as well as Special Forces.
By 1968, Myung published a 254-page, Korean-language book, “Hapkido,”. This was later followed by the first major Hapkido book in English, "Hapkido - Art of Masters" (October, 1976). Master Myung was not just a pioneer of using books to spread Hapkido, he was also one of the first to use vidoe tapes to assist in teaching.
He was a major force in the growth of Hapkido in the United States and Mexico and his passing will be felt by the entire Hapkido world. Our condolences to his family, friends and students.
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Oh, See Lim Retires as the President of the Korea Hapkido Federationby Kevin F. Donohue
September 1, 2008
The KHF has elected Master Kim, Jong-Yun as President Oh's successor. President Kim served as a policeman for over 33 years and was a master Hapkido Instructor for the Police Department. He is a direct student of Master Kim, Moo-Hong, one of the earliest students of Master Choi Yong Sul and founder of Shin Moo Kwan.
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LA Times Article on the Passing of Grand Master Bong Soo Han
By Jocelyn Y. Stewart, Times Staff Writer
January 14, 2007
In 1971 the American public knew little about the martial art known as hapkido. Then came the movie "Billy Jack" and an unforgettable performance by a then-unknown martial arts instructor, Bong Soo Han.
Standing nearly nose to nose with one of the movie's villains, Han, a stunt double for Tom Laughlin, the movie's star, delivers a quick kick to the man's jaw, flooring him. "Billy Jack" received mixed reviews from critics, but such scenes captured the imagination of the moviegoing public and sent some out seeking to learn the art.
Those early students found Han at his dojang, or studio, in Santa Monica, as did thousands of others. For the rest of his life, he taught and promoted the martial art through his International Hapkido Federation, earning recognition as the father of hapkido in the Western world.
Han died Monday at his home in Santa Monica from complications of cancer, said Jon Davis, a spokesman for the family. He was 73.
"He was, for me, the quintessential martial artist," said Joe Hyams, an author and longtime friend. "Master Han always handled his role as a grand master with a really profound sense of who he was and what he represented. He was an inspiration for his students."
Born Aug. 25, 1933, in On Chun, near Seoul in what is now South Korea, Han was the youngest of five children. His parents, In Suk Han and Hee Suk Han, made their living farming. During Japan's occupation of Korea, Han studied the Japanese martial arts kendo and judo in school. Later he earned a black belt in an art known as kwon bup. During the Korean War, he put his study of martial arts on hold and fought with the army.
After his discharge, Han was in Seoul one day and observed Young Sul Choi performing a demonstration of hapkido, which has been described as the "art of coordinated inner strength." Hapkido incorporates powerful kicking techniques and fluid throwing. It is based on the water principles of yielding, circular motion and penetration. "I was most impressed by its flowing, effortless movements," Han said in an interview with Martial Arts & Combat Sports magazine in 2001. "Instead of clashing, there were redirection and circular motion … the way of natural movements."
Han became a student of Choi, considered one of Korea's best fighting masters, then entered a Buddhist monastery to further develop his martial arts knowledge. In his early days as a teacher, Han trained Korean military personnel and police, as well as Green Berets in the U.S. Army's Special Forces.
Han moved to the United States in 1967, hoping to spread hapkido in the West. "In order to spread out all over the world, you have to come to the biggest and most powerful nation," he said in a 1984 interview.
On July 4, 1969, Han gave a demonstration at a park in Pacific Palisades. Laughlin was in the audience that day and later became one of Han's students. Though Laughlin performed much of his own stunt work in "Billy Jack," Han performed the more advanced techniques and choreographed fight scenes.
"I saw that and thought, 'Boy, oh, boy. That's great,' and I went over to Han's dojang and enrolled," said Hyams, a martial artist who wrote "Zen in the Martial Arts," which explores the teachings of Han and others.
"Billy Jack" led to other film work, with Han appearing in or coordinating fight scenes in "Force Five," "Kentucky Fried Movie" and "Cleopatra Jones," among others.
Han married and later divorced Christen Oh. He is survived by their two children, daughter Susan Han and son Tad Han, both of Santa Monica. In addition, Han is survived by a sister, Ok Su Han of Santa Monica, and son-in-law Kevin Riley of Santa Monica, whom Han considered a son.
Since he opened his first school in the 1960s, Han's teachings have spread through his International Hapkido Federation, which now consists of nine affiliated schools.
Though his students might have gone to him with the goal of fighting, Han taught them the spiritual and mental dimensions of martial arts.
The most important thing Han was taught was "to know oneself as a human being," he once said. The most important thing he could teach a student, he said, was "the perfection of character." In decades of teaching thousands of students, Han promoted only about 100 to black belt. "He held very high standards. It didn't come easy," Davis said.
The teacher could throw a 250-pound man easily, yet he was gentle. A charismatic figure, he radiated confidence, calm and security and set an example for what students could obtain through the study of martial arts, Hyams said. Han, a grand master, held the rank of 9th Dan Black Belt.
"There's a samurai maxim: 'A man who's attained mastery of his art reveals it in his every action,' " Hyams said. "And he was a master of his art."
A memorial service for Han is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Pierce Bros. Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary, 1218 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles.
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Victim's Neighbors Get Lesson in Defense -
New York Daily News Article on Jon Kleineman KHF Master
By Tamer El-Ghobashy and Leo Standora
Daily News Dec 1, 2005
Jon Kleineman a martial arts expert held a self-defense seminar yesterday in the Chelsea apartment building where a young woman was tortured and molested on Halloween by a fake firefighter.
Only a dozen or so residents of the large building - just five of them women - listened to Hapkido black belt Jon Kleineman, 29, talk about avoiding trouble and how to kick and punch your way out of it.
"I wanted to have some knowledge about protecting myself," said Donna Darrell, 44. "Knowing gives you a sense of power and confidence." Darrell said she was among the many New Yorkers shaken by the Halloween attack in which cops say alleged sex fiend Peter Braunstein conned his way into his victim's home by lighting small blazes and posing as a firefighter. "I felt like it hit too close to home," Darrell said. "It was sickening and I didn't feel safe any longer." Braunstein, 41, a freelance writer, has been on the lam for a month. He is was one of the city's most wanted fugitives.
The 90-minute self-defense seminar was held at the request of the W. 24th St. building's owner Linda Kleban, who said she wanted to give her tenants "something they can use." Kleban said she's installing new security doors in the six-story building but told tenants they have to do their part, too. "Someone let this creep into the building," she said. "That means we have to be more careful even it it means being rude."