Hello all Adult, Teen, and HRD Sash students,
We hope you are enjoying getting back into the swing of the fall season on the mats and are ready to take on some extra weekend training!
The Saturday Weapon Fighting classes have returned to the schedule and are being offered at no extra cost to all ranks of students who are already attending the Monday & Wednesday evening Adult/Teen classes. The Weapon Fighting class takes place every Saturday from 10:00am-11:30am, but will not be held on testing Saturdays or holiday weekends.
The topics of this class are very unique to the martial art of Hwa Rang Do. While we already study the general use of weapons in our regular classes, the Saturday Weapon Class will be focusing on how to use our weapons in actual matches! Dynamic Weapon vs. Weapon Combat!
We will be working on both Bongtoogi (Stick Fighting) and Gumtoogi (Sword Fighting) during the classes. Primary weapon is the bamboo long sword for swords, and then our regular long staff for the sticks. However, for those people who have the fundamentals of those weapons down, we will also be doing double sword fighting and covering the use of mid sticks.
Important notes:
- Students who attend this class must bring or purchase their own weapons. Can start with the long bamboo sword (jukdo) and rattan long staff (jangbong). You do not need double short swords or mid sticks if you are new to the class.
- Before getting the traditional armor to do actual matching, students must demonstrate proficiency and fundamental control of the weapons.
- Students who do not have armor will be practicing various drills while those students with armor get in their match time at the end of class.
- This class is open to ANY rank student who is attending the regular Adult/Teen classes. Juniors/Tigers are not allowed in this Saturday session. Juniors/Tigers will continue to practice the Foam Sword Fighting in their regular weekly classes.
Too see what Gumtoogi looks like, here is a highlight video of an older Black Sash tournament on a beach by the Pacific Ocean (my last event as a competitor): https://youtu.be/k-YZBilrR7k?si=7bpvl-raYbSVIqjm
To see some Bongtoogi action: https://youtu.be/7BnwSh8foak?si=eC6e2xQ5yKX0RFUN
If you have any other questions about the class, feel free to reply here. Otherwise, if this is something you intend to take part in consistently, let us know, and we will add you to the Saturday class roster.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Hwarang!
Master Sirny
