HISTORY
Hwa Rang Kwan is the oldest Korean martial arts center on the West coast. It began in May 1965 when Reverend Chung Ryul Song gave the name “Hwa Rang Kwan” to a Korean youth group in San Francisco, California. At the same time, young Master Dong Kie Shin opened a Hwa Rang Kwan dojang (martial arts studio) in the Miahdong district of Seoul, South Korea.
Grandmaster Shin has spent over fifty years studying martial arts. He is one of the very few who have achieved the highest rank in both Taekwondo and Hapkido. Master Grant Smith has been a student of Grandmaster Shin for 30 years.
GETTING STARTED
It is never too early or too late to begin learning martial arts at Hwa Rang Kwan. Master Smith will provide exercises and advice based on personal attention of each individual’s needs. Within each class, Master Smith will lead the group in many different training activities depending on
Students Practicing
experience , age and belt degree. This allows anyone, regardless of experience, to begin learning martial arts with ease in the regular classes.
TAEKWON-DO
The most popular martial art in the world, Taekwon-do is characterized by poomses – a series of movement sequences involving punching, kicking, blocking, jumping, twisting and leaping performed at high intensity (1). At an Olympic level, bouts in Taekwon-do involve 3-5 seconds of high intensity activity interspersed with lower intensity periods. During each 2-minute round heart rate can reach 100% maximum and the lactate response is high. Anaerobic power and anaerobic endurance must be excellent allowing competitors to repeat high intensity bouts of activity with minimal rest periods (2,3).
Aerobic endurance, while average in Taekwon-do athletes is less important than anaerobic endurance. In fact studies have shown that Taekwon-do practice has a minimal effect on cardiovascular fitness (1,2,4). Maximal strength is less important than explosive power.
Functional
flexibility is essential in all martial arts training and disciplines. Functional in this context, simply means flexibility that can be applied to competition. For example, a Taekwondo competitor may be able to perform floor splits but lack strength and power in the hip flexors when raising the leg above 90 degrees.
Conditioning for Taekwon-do should develop functional flexibility and maintain a low body fat percentage (1,2). It should also develop explosive power and limb speed over maximal strength and a high level of anaerobic or power endurance is crucial.
Preparing Kick
