A traditional Korean martial art, which has been called Hapkido since the 1960s, is now being offered at Bilkent. The Chang Sa Gwan "school" of Hapkido at Bilkent is practiced on an invitational basis, as it has been since the 1500's. Hapkido, meaning "the way of coordinated energy", is a challenging program which focuses on high moral character, self-discipline, self identity, self-defense and physical fitness. The focus of the art includes fluid motion, circular motion, and harmony in motion.
Philip Jones, a first dan in Hapkido and an instructor in the First Year English program, began teaching Hapkido at Bilkent last year. Mr. Jones first began training in a related martial art in 1996 when he was living in Korea. When he returned to the United States in 1997 he began training for Hapkido with his current master, Park Hong Sung, and received first dan status in 2000. Mr. Jones has continued to train with Master Park who established and approved the Bilkent charter in February 2001.
The Bilkent school offers training at the "gup" or beginning level. The training includes warm-ups and mental preparation (i.e. meditation); kicking and punching (similar to taekwondo, but using much larger circles); gymnastics (rolling, falling, cartwheels, handsprings, flips and aerials); throwing techniques (similar to judo with focus on big circles); circular motion techniques (similar to aikido, but using small circles); "poomse" or motions that function as lessons (designed to mimic a fight); and sparring (kick/punching techniques and others). As Mr. Jones explains, "the program is very challenging, but very rewarding for those who are interested in training in a traditional fashion in Korean Martial Arts."
The training takes place in English at the BUPS gym every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday from 7:15 to 9:15 p.m. The first step in the training process is observation. To observe the class, contact Mr. Jones by e-mail at changsagwan@yahoo.com. To learn more about Hapkido see www.geocities.com/changsagwan.