UW-Eau Claire Hwa Rang Do

What Does a Class Look Like?

Warm-up

A typical class begins with a few minutes in concentration position to calm students and prepare them to focus on training. Students sit in lotus position with their backs straight and eyes closed. Their hands come together in a circle at their Dan Jun, which is the center of the energy field in Eastern thought. The Dan Jun is two inches above the belly button. Students concentrate on breathing in slowly for five counts and out slowly for five counts.

Next, the warmup gets students loosened up and ready for training. Warmup is important for injury prevention and consists of some cardiovascular work; strengthening muscles through abdominal work, pushups, and similar isotonic exercises; and both dynamic and static stretching.

Most of the class will use some parts of the Korean language. For warm-ups especially, we count in Korean. It's useful to know at least to ten:

1: Hana, 2: Tul, 3: Set, 4: Net, 5: Tasot, 6: Yosot, 7: Ilgop, 8: Yodolp, 9: Ahop, 10: Yol

Don't sweat it for your first class! You'll catch on.

Curriculum

The main part of the class is used learning and practicing basics, techniques, joint manipulations, long forms, and weapons. Each belt level has a different curriculum, increasing in complexity as the student advances in rank.

Basics are short combinations of punches, kicks, and blocks that introduce new material to the student.
Techniques are defensive fighting techniques, practiced with a partner.
Joint manipulations are defensive and practiced with a partner as well.
Long forms are a long combination of punches, kicks, and blocks that demonstrate fluidity of motion and memory.
Basic weapons learned are Ssang Jyel Bong (twin sticks with rope/chain), Jang Bong (staff), and Muk Gum (wooden sword)

Application

In addition to belt material, we also practice application of technique through three main programs. In point sparring, opponents use punches, kicks, and throws to score. When points are scored, the center judge will stop the round and return the opponents to the center of the ring. This program is a kickboxing-style program and is practiced throughout Tae Soo Do. The Hwa Rang Do sparring program builds on the basic kickboxing by adding in more target areas, ground submissions, and continuous combat.

Another program is our grappling program, Gotoogi. For submission grappling, matches are run similar to a wrestling match in which the first to pin his or her opponent wins. However, instead of pins, matches end in a submission such as a joint manipulation or choke. Beginner students will first practice position grappling to understand how the body moves. Good grappling starts from having a solid position of advantage which is learned through position grappling.

The third program is a weapon fighting program that covers two areas: sword fighting (Gumtoogi) and stick fighting (Bongtoogi). Points are scored by striking in several areas on the body: the head, the wrist, the throat, the sides of the body, and the outside of the thighs. Technique is also reinforced, and points are not scored unless proper control and technique is shown.

Ending Class

The final part of class is saying the Hwa Rang Do Meng Sae. This is our code of ethics and is very important to Hwa Rang Do, and it distinguishes Hwa Rang Do from some other martial arts. Respect is very important in Hwa Rang Do, so the Meng Sae is followed by a Korean "thank you" to the instructors or senior students.