Seoul: Taekwondo Classes for Adults Kicking Off Again in March

Although Korea is the motherland of Taekwondo it is ironically often difficult to find serious Taekwondo classes, as Taekwondo schools usually focus on children and sport rather than the original martial art / self-defence focus. For foreigners it is further challenging because it is very difficult to get instruction in English.

However, there are places in Korea where adults can train in Taekwondo with focus on martial art and self-defence, and taught in English.

The ITF Taekwondo training at 'The Way' Martial Arts & Fitness Gym in Seoul (close by Ttukseom Resort and Konkuk University) is officially kicking off again, start of March. The class is very “foreign friendly”, as instruction is conducted mostly in English.

The Taekwondo training follows the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) syllabus, following the Soo Shim Kwan philosophy. ITF style focuses on martial art, rather than martial sport, and includes practical self-defence techniques. The class is also augmented with techniques from Hapkido. Practitioners learn traditional martial art techniques based on Newtonian scientific principles. The practitioner is then progressively taught how to adapt traditional martial art motions into practical self-defence techniques. The syllabus covers a full arsenal that includes strikes and punches, elbow strikes, various kicks and knee attacks, throws, joint-locks and escapes. The instructors have decades of martial arts teaching experience and have presented seminars internationally. Both Master Kim Hoon (8th Dan) and Instructor Sanko Lewis (5th Dan) have received honorable mentions (“citations”) from the Taekwondo Hall of Fame, and both have written extensively on Taekwondo and the martial arts.

Training is every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7pm until 8:40pm. The monthly fee is 120,000 Won per person. (At an additional fee, students can also partake of the many other training offered at 'The Way', such as Cross-Fit and Kickboxing.)

This is a unique opportunity for foreigners to learn an established and battle proven Korean martial art. If you always wanted to learn a martial art, now is your chance. See you in March!

ITF Taekwon-Do -- Dojang in Seoul, South Korea

One of the searches that attracts visitors to this blog is people searching for a dojang where they can practise ITF Taekwon-Do in Seoul, South Korea, so I thought I'll post some details about it here.

Master Kim Hoon

There is one dedicated ITF Taekwon-dojang in Seoul run by Master Kim Hoon. He is a 4th Dan in ITF, 7th Dan in WTF and former captain of the Korean Tiger Demonstration Team. Master Kim is the owner of the 'The Way' Martial Arts & Fitness Gym, which is located close to Kunkuk University (Kunkuk University Station). 'The Way' also have classes in stand-up fighting (based on kickboxing, Muay Thai and ITF Taekwon-Do) and grappling (based on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Yusul -- Korean jujitsu). All classes are taught in Korean and English and are very foreigner friendly with a nice group of Koreans and foreigners training together.

Taekwon-Do is taught Monday through Friday in the morning from 10:45 to 12:00 for adults and again from 19:10 to 20:20 (7:10-8:20 PM). There is also a Saturday afternoon session. Taekwon-Do classes are often augmented with self-defence techniques derived from Hapkido. Directly following the evening Taekwon-Do classes there is a cross-fit session to improve general fitness and conditioning.

Children classes follows a WTF Taekwondo curriculum. Class times are in the afternoons.

The stand-up fighting are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings  and grappling classes are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Both begins with a cross-fit session, starting from 20:30 (8:30 PM) with the actual stand-up fighting or grappling starting around 21:00 (9pm).

You can find more details for 'The Way' here. (And on Facebook.)