Martial Arts and the Hapkido way is a lifestyle that many will start and have to make a choice to commit long enough to see the value of the investment. Parents and guardians must be just as committed as the student.

 

Students have to take the first step and that is the courage to walk through the door and join. Joining my school is simple as being medically cleared for the classes, filling out the waiver, and paying the tuition. Then build the routine to come to class. Many will say they have no time. We all have time for what we make time for. 

 

Any Martial Art one learns from the beginning builds off of routines of foundations and repetitions which form the art. You alone determine if you will commit to learning Martial Arts. I started in a school of many and today few if any who started with me are still training or teaching. Martial Arts is your journey to see through alone.

 

Martial Arts is for those who want it. It is not an app to download or a one-time class. It is steady practice that creates muscle memory and reaction to action good enough to make a worthy self-defense system such as Hapkido. We do what we train to do. Students and parents alike should know early Hapkido is a Martial Art not to be confused with being a sport even though students become athletic. Hapkido will never be taught as a sport at D.M. Simpson Hapkido, LLC.  

 

The best students are the ones who follow the lesson plan building knowledge, skills, and experience. Focus on the lesson and stay on target. Instructors who own a school are the deciding factor on advancement which in the end it is the rank should always be based off of knowledge, skill, and experience with zero other motivations. Belts and titles mean little without those three parts and the abilities must always determine placement. Students can decide when to become a student or when to stop, but they can not decide when they advance, that is the instructor’s choice alone.

 

To achieve the best results, one has to actually invest time and resources to make something positive happen. Those who make the longest commitment to the path see the most fruit from their labor.

 

Do not wait for a New Year to make a new you. Do not wait till you are in better shape to get in shape. The time to learn great unarmed skills is before you need them. The time to get good at defending yourself is now and not a few days before you are in a self-defense situation. The time is always now to learn Hapkido.

 

Improving ourselves is a lifelong journey. We are all we have. If we do not work on ourselves from the physical, mental, and spiritual then we will lose a part of us which will take a long time to get back. We become what we make ourselves. Positive change takes constant positive efforts. Hapkido is not about having time. It is about making time.  The Journey Starts and Ends with You.