On the World Path again!

It has been a few years since I have done a world tour, the last one was 2019 with the 2020 tour ending abruptly at my first stop in Spain. The world has changed a lot since then, so it will be interesting to see first hand as I lap the planet. I have already mentally prepared for travel hiccups with airlines being challenged as much as they are now. That all being said, the world tour kicks off and this is a relatively short one, 15 flights, 9 Countries and 7 weeks. Packing the bags was a challenge, normally there is a much bigger ITS Team to help out as pack mules, this time just the 4 of us to get all the Hapkido goodies across the pacific. Anyway we seem to make it work and I am on the road to Sydney Airport for what will be the longest flight I have taken, the almost 16hr flight from Sydney through to Dallas, it is one of the longer commercial flights you can take.

Flights #1 & #2 – Sydney to Dallas on QF7 & Dallas to Guadalajara on AA2313

The flight was smooth and with the connection being Qantas onto American Airlines I didn’t need to actually clear customs in the USA, the bags simply went through. Immigration was quick with no forms needed and the only questions I got was where I was going (transit) and how much USD was I carrying. So through into the USA for a moment before heading to departures, clearing security and into the AA lounge. When you travel a lot having the lounge access is a big plus, a chance to shower, Wi-Fi, a comfortable chair and usually some snacks to help pass the time. Since I was going to be here for around 4 hours it helped. I checked my SmartThings app and my bag trackers showed both bags safely crossing the airport, just in time to grab my flight in Guadalajara. The flight was a touch bumpy but arrival into Mexico just fine, no paperwork for immigration and a small form to complete for Customs after clearing Immigration. I grabbed my bags, did the custom roulette, got a green and was out the door to meet KJN Hugo. A quick drive to the hotel and a catch up with KJN Hugo about the plans, and that wrapped up just over 24 hours of travelling door to door. It was now 1am here and time to crash.

A view over Mexico on the flight in from Dallas

An easy start to the World tour with just 2 seminars today, SBN Luis and BSBN Saul picked me up for a good Brazilian style BBQ lunch, then off for coffee only to find the one we stopped at had run out of Leche Normal (Normal Milk), well light milk is really water with colouring, at least it tasted like that. Onto the seminars the topics for the night were self defence variations for kids, then street self defence for the adults. A smooth first night and some sushi for dinner to wrap up Day #1 on the road.

Kids Group

Adults Group

Today it was another chance to catch up with some of the seniors, KJN Ernesto and Erik (Provisional) picked me up and we headed off for an excellent steak restaurant at an Argentinian restaurant near my hotel. Many of those who went to the Mexican ITS might have visited it as well, the steak was huge, but as a true road warrior it had to be defeated. After the meat fest it was a drive over to Tlaquepaque for a decent coffee and wander through the tourist area before heading the to Dojang for another seminar focusing on Street Defence.

The locals always chuckle at the Aussie pronunciation of the name

Seminar group

Dinner after the seminar was at a local Black Belts new restaurant venture, called Garage Cuisine, Chicken Wings and a Prawn (Shrimp) Burger for me. The next day I caught up with KJN Hugo for lunch and in the afternoon headed out for a celebration evening, today was Mexican Independence Day and KJN had some things planned for the night. One of the common things here in Mexico is to rent a house that has been set up for parties, then you add some food, maybe a Mariachi and you are good for a celebration. KJN Hugo had done that but this house was something special with huge open grounds, a pool, and an open space that would suit training. This trip was also a chance to celebrate 10 years of Kwan Nyom in Mexico so KJN combined both for an excellent evening. His students performed a great demonstration showcasing Kwan Nyom, then onto some presentations, of course tacos and a Mariachi band. BSBN Stephanie and CGN Ben who are hosting the ITS also flew into Mexico for the weekend’s fun and got to join me for the evenings celebrations.

Party House indeed

Demonstration Team

10 Years of Excellence

Party Group

Apparently even after I had called it quits for the night the local group kept on partying, getting the mariachi to stay longer and adding in some dancing to celebrate in true fashion! The next day was a return to the mats with the Sun Bae (Senior Student training) and a focus on the senior level techniques including a break down of the Aspect: Settled vs Unsettled Weight which included some new ideas for people to work on. After the Sun Bae KJN Hugo took all of us out for a traditional Mexican meal and some site seeing downtown.

Sun Bae Group

Guadalajara @ Night #1

Guadalajara @ Night #2

Guadalajara @ Night #3

Guadalajara @ Night #4

Early the next morning Team USA grabbed the early flight home to keep working on the ITS preparations and I got a chance to visit Bosque Los Colomos which is a large park located nearby to KJN’s dojang. All the international representatives know that I try to walk a set number of steps each day, so they end up getting dragged into rain, snow, heat, etc. In this case KJN Hugo picked out a rather beautiful park for my daily stroll. The park, which is home to a number of animals, mostly tree rats (A KJN Corey term for Squirrels, that I rather like), lots of birds including on this day a Peregrine Falcon and in the Japanese themed section Koi.

Bosque Los Colomos – Japanese Section

Over the next week it was time to hit the mats for what I call a double Hell Week, a session in the morning starting at 9am, and then another session in the evening starting at 6pm. The focus was on Black Belt material and the attendees where about 80% Black Belt ranks, a few Provisional and a lonely Green Belt who toughed out the week. Enjoy a few pictures of the excellent week spent on the mats

Hell Week Group

What could go wrong wearing a Blue Dobok….

Ki Dae Dojang signage

Hell Week Ground and Pound

The Hell Week squad represents

Hell Week locking on

Hell Week – Weapons in the house!

Hell Week is certifiable

All packaging now has to state Calories and Sugar content, apparently even tonic water is excessive…

The flavoured water stand, where I got to try a new one Mamey

Instructor promotion – Congrats CGN Yunuen

2^nd Degree promotion – Congrats KSN Angel

I still get a kick out of being on a poster!

Fuel here is more expensive than Australia, even with far far lower wages

Welcome to ‘Not’ food

That wrapped up another good trip to Mexico, a special congratulations to KJN Hugo on the 10^th anniversary of Kwan Nyom here. It was a good overall visit and I look forward to returning and helping build the next 10 years. An easy check in for my 2 flights today, firstly into Dallas with a 4 hour layover and then onto Charlotte and the ITS. The first flight was smooth, US immigration was its normal dour self and my bags were picked up for the walk through an empty customs before being transferred to my next flight. I then had to re clear security and the line was impressive with the sign giving us a 30min wait. That abruptly changed when they got the dogs involved and we were allowed to clear security with our shoes on and everything in our bags if the dog let us pass.

Got to love the waiting times.

So being a frequent flyer has its perks and one that one I am grateful for is lounge access, a place to relax, get Wi-Fi, access to a power socket, clean toilets and some food is always welcomed. As I was entering the American Airlines lounge (Partner with Qantas) they told me that with my status I could use the better Flagship lounge, well who is say no, and off I go. I was still a little amazed I was let in, but as I entered a lady offered a glass of champagne, this is a change. The lounge was impressive, a greater range of food, a impressive open self-serve bar, and even a cook on hand making fresh Texas Chili.

The open bar in the Flagship lounge

An interesting choice of places on the pull down menu in the lounge

A view over Texas on the flight to Charlotte, very different to the Mexican one.

Flights #3 & #4 –  Guadalajara to Dallas on AA1174 & Dallas to Charlotte on AA522

Now that I am back in the ‘South’, well it may be north of Mexico but it is still called the South in the US, I got a chance to grab some local BBQ with Master Dave, BSBN Stephanie and CGN Ben. I also had to have another drink of one of the local Soft Drinks – Cheerwine. Checking into the hotel was easy and the rooms where spacious and comfortable, it was also the hub of activity where you were guaranteed to bump into members of team IHA from all over the world. Team Spain started up the Uno challenge and managed to get most of the group into some dubious gameplay, there are rumours of one of the seniors seen in a pink onesie around the hotel after playing against Team Spain. Needless to say the energy was high and the camaraderie was excellent.

Team Spain and the Uno challenge

Cheerwine a local delicacy

First on the schedule for the ITS was the Sun Bae or Senior Belt training which is open for all Red Belts and above. All the standard events are being held at Ma’am Stephanie and Sir Ben’s Dojang, with the Masters training happening at a nearby venue where the celebration dinner will also be held. One corner of the Dojang has been turned into a ‘Merch’ shop with items from all the international locations attending. It was a good start to the week with some senior Aspects covered as well as most of the Kwan Nyom Tools. It was around now that the whispers of what would become the ‘Bag Saga’ were heard in the Dojang. Apparently Julian (part of team pack mule Australia), well it was a bit like that, with such a small Team Australia, I needed all their help in getting the sheer number of items to the ITS so each member was travelling with extra bags or gear to help. Julian had one of my spare bags and it seems it failed to make the trip to Charlotte along with his bag as well. He headed to the hotel to make some calls and the Saga was underway, luckily his Dobok was in his carry on so he could still enjoy the training. CGN Katherine had brought in some Australian Snacks and everyone liked the Caramello Koalas and Chicken Parmesan Shapes.

The Hapkido Outlets

Sun Bae Group

Thirsty Anyone?

Now it was day #1 of Hell Week and kick day. We covered all the kicking requirements through the syllabus and then had a bonus guest seminar with SBN Erik from Norway. It was a good day on the mats, students were picking up their ITS gear, T-shirts, temporary tattoos, wrist bands, IHA Pin and more. Of course the Bag Saga continued, Julians flight details showed the bag was in Boston but amongst a few more calls it was determined that the bag was indeed enjoying a holiday in Hawaii. Hopefully it would be joining us sometime later today and on the mats for day #2.

Hell Week Day #1 – Standing Room Only

Hell Week Day #1 – Complete

After each days training Team IHA would head out for dinner at different restaurants or do some local sightseeing, many using the nearby running trails for some extra exercise. The small town near the hotel was called Birkdale and it was one of those quiet, picturesque and affluent type places. Of course everyone would end up in the hotel foyer for the nights gaming challenges. A late update was received, Julian had indeed recovered the missing bags and the local students cheered, well at least those waiting on the goodies he had carried for them. He was going to bring it to the training in the morning.

Birkdale @ Night

The ITS is in Town!

Day #2 of Hell Week and the focus shifted from the legs to the hands with Striking being on the agenda. Of course, we stood by waiting on a Bag update, and we were not surprised when we heard there was an issue, the bag had been locked in one of the local students cars along with their key. Could the bag be cursed, will it ever actually make it to the ITS? Eventually it did, and their was peace again at the ITS, needless to say we hope it is more successful on the way home as it will be bringing the ITS T-shirts back to Australia. As well as a mat filled with strikes, the guest seminar today was covered by SBN Sherri from Minnesota, USA.

Is the Bag Saga over finally?

Hell Week Day #2 – Keeping the mats filled

Hell Week Day #2 – Complete

I hope they do better maths on the inside

Wednesday was an open day with no mat time on the schedule, it would allow many of the internationals to experience some of the local attractions, one team heading off into nature at Chimney Rock and another doing the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Charlotte tour. A chance for me to get some work done before returning to the mats for more excellent Hapkido.

The new Corvette, only a cool 100k and not the top model!

Day #3 of Hell Week, the focus was now hands on with Basic self defence and a guest instructor session from SBN Pertsa. It was unknown to most but SBN ‘Hey Man’ Pertsa was indeed an under cover Finnish showman and his session brought the house down. It is always fun to see how instructors do when thrown onto the mats to take classes and SBN did an excellent job. To make sure the day wasn’t full enough I ran an IHA Instructors course in the afternoon/early evening.

The ITS energy was contagious

Hell Week Day #3 – Complete

Day #4 and it was time to wrap up the self defence, it was lucky we had no guest instructor locked as we needed the time to finish all the coloured belt material. Whilst taking the day off mid week was a great break and a chance for many to do some local sight seeing it also put pressure on covering the material, some lessons learnt for the next ITS.

Could there be a hint of Halloween in the air?

Hell Week Day #4 – Complete

It was an excellent week and the numbers were just perfect for the space, the right body heat, still room to work and the energy was great. Everything ran smoothly and the ITS component being held at Team Causby’s Dojang was now wrapped with a shift to a nearby venue for the Master’s Day and Celebration Dinner. We dropped by the venue to make sure all was ready and who else can say they did a Hapkido seminar with drapes and a chandelier?

The Calm before the storm but in style

The Masters day kicked off and were running 3 sessions at once with the adults inside and the kids split up outside by age. The instructors rotated between the 3 mats and everyone got a chance to try some training from the seniors, having the 5th Degree’s and above teaching on the adults mat. There were a lot of laughs with the instructors being a little creative, whether it was the plethora of throat striking techniques, well at one point all 3 mats were teaching a version of them, or having the parents join in with their kids hitting them, of course the question about whether the 4yr olds were up to back-falling on the concrete summed it up. No Hapkidoists were harmed during the Masters day, and everyone got their posters signed and left with big smiles if also tired bodies.

Team ITS

Team ITS Black Belts

Autograph anyone?

A brief break for everyone to freshen up and then return for the Celebration dinner. On the menu tonight was some Southern BBQ with Pulled Pork, BBQ Chicken and all the trimmings. The noise seemed to reflect the camaraderie gained from a good week and the night went smoothly. Of course there were some announcements, as well as a chance to thank all those in front and behind the scenes. I also had the chance to give out the grading results with Master Dave earning his 6th Degree and BSBN Kris her 3rd , with CGN Satu also completing her Instructors course. It was then over to the screening of my somewhat short Thai Boxing career and the announcement of the final ITS, #10! We are off to Thailand for ITS10 which should put an amazing finish to this series of events. Of course, the night wasn’t over yet and my final announcement was to recognise KJN Corey as a Master of Kwan Nyom Hapkido.

Caking it up in Style

Congratulations Master Dave, CGN Satu and BSBN Kris

Congratulations Master Corey!

The next day started with a busy morning as teams and students headed home, a few travelling onwards for some extra sightseeing. Ma’am Stephanie and Sir Ben arranged to me to tick off a bucket list item with a NFL game, surprisingly with Minnesota playing North Carolina. It was a spectacle indeed, with the stadium able to seat up to 75,000. I was lucky that I sun screened up as well as a thankful gesture from someone in the crowd giving me a hat to help with the sun.

Minnesota Vikings vs The Carolina Panthers @ the Bank of America stadium

NFL Hotdog

The next day It was time to get back on the road with 2 flights, from Charlotte into London, a 5 hour stopover and then London to Amsterdam. The first flight went well, too little sleep on the red eye, and of course the 5 hours in London was dragging on until I noticed that my transatlantic flight had pushed me into Platinum status. Time to try the British Airways first class lounge, where most of it was the same, but the food and drink selections were far superior. The flight into Amsterdam was delayed and then we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour, but finally touchdown Europe. I had to chuckle as I queued for immigration as numerous English people kept getting pushed out of the Eu line and back into the general one, ahh the fall out of Brexit continues.

Flights #5 & #6 – Charlotte to London on AA 732 & London to Amsterdam on BA 432

Hello Europe and The Netherlands

Amsterdam

I find my hotel and the steps of doom, when you are dragging along 2 large 20kg plus bags you don’t enjoy steps or narrow halls, so of course this hotel had both. I need to bring a Sherpa with me for challenges like this, needless to say after all the travelling this was the perfect way to guarantee a good night’s sleep. The next day was free so a chance to get the trip report up to date, complete some signatures and enjoy an excellent Michelin starred restaurant.

Steps of Doom

The Dutch at the Tallest by average height in the world, and have the smallest cars

My short stop in the Amsterdam complete and Master Ron and BSBN Marcel dropped by the hotel to pick me up, it was good to have the assistance getting the bags down the steps, I think both of them appreciated the challenge. A smooth drive south to Tilburg and I checked into my next Hotel, unpacked my bags, handed off some more goodies I was carrying (Passports, badges, pins, shirts, etc) and got ready for the evenings testing. Tonight we had a Spirit test for 4 of the local students and following that BSBN Marcel would be testing for his 4^th Degree. The spirit test went well and team “Fantastic Four” were successful in joining the IHA Black Belt family.

Team Fantastic Four Spirit Test

The next day was open, and Master Ron had arranged some sight seeing at a local exhibition, a journey to the Retro Future, Evolution. The building started off the experience being almost like a flying saucer in shape, that continued inside with several exhibits and included a DeLorean (Back to Future car) parked out back. As part of the visit, we also got a chance to take the time travel VR tour which included harnesses and being lifted into the air as part of the show. I will say though the building and displays were interesting, but the onsite café was lacking.

Spaceship Earth

Retro Future

Step Back Citizen

For dinner Master Ron had organized a schnitty, well they might not call it that here, but we were off to a local pub for a Schnitzel that didn’t fully fit on the plate, I took the one with Satay sauce and it was a thumbs up. After dinner we headed over to the Dojang for the Sun Bae which included some Concept linking between Dan Bong and Penkido, as well as a celebration of the IHA’s 30th Anniversary, including some local Dutch treats included the Chocolate Ball of Death, well that’s not its Dutch name, more like a round chocolate éclair filled with cream and almost the size of a small babies head.

Dutch Schnitty

Master Ron’s Dojang

Dojang ala 30th Anniversary

Team Sun Bae

30th Anniversary Gift

The next day was the first full day of training with the seminar at BSBN Marcel’s Dojang, there was a good group and we worked on the S Lock family, Clinch Defence, Close Range Kicking, Amplified locks and more. We had some guests from Judo/Jiu Jitsu as well as another Hapkido school and Master Henrie joined us for the day. At the end of the session, I was pleased to welcome our newest SBN with Sir Marcel being promoted to 4th Degree.

Day #1 Seminar Group

Congratulations SBN Marcel

Dinner included some fire

Onto the second day and we were back to the Sport Hall for round of seminars, this time we had some external guests join us from Krav Maga and now SBN Marcel got a chance to try out the new Black Jacket. On the mats we covered easy way to overcome strength, choke defences, hand attacks and then coverage of all the updated techniques in the curriculum. A couple of non-martial art things I noticed; the idea of self service has gone even further in shopping here. I entered a grocery type store in Amsterdam, and it had auto gates to enter, and no clear way out except through some other gates that only opened after you scanned your purchase receipt, since I didn’t buy anything, I was basically trapped, apparently there is normally a staff member to scan you out, it took me a while to find one and escape… They also have a small scanner you pick up on entry and you can pre scan your items as you collect them to save time at the check out, ahh the future is here. Another interesting note, the petrol/gas station near Master Ron’s house has a happy hour where fuel is 5% or more cheaper.

Day #2 Seminar Group

Self Service

Happy Hour

Back on the road after a very successful visit with Team IHA Netherlands, today I was calling it Planes. Trains and Automobiles Day. Master Ron drove me to the Train station, where I caught 3 trains, well the middle one broke down, then a flight to Sweden and another car to my hotel. I had been to Sweden before but only briefly so this time I have a couple of days to look around as well as a booking at one of the World’s top restaurants.

Hitting the Tracks

Flight #7 – Amsterdam to Stockholm on SAS SK556

Stockholm at Night

Stockholm by day 1

Stockholm – Palace #1 (IHA Blue)

Stockholm – Palace #2

Stockholm – Palace #3

Stockholm – Palace #4

Stockholm – Palace #5

Stockholm – Palace #6 (New Rep meeting room?)

The Evilness of Pumpkin Spice has reached Sweden

Stockholm by day 2

A taste of Sushi – Otoro (Tuna Belly) and Caviar

Must be Meatballs time

Is it a fighting school or drug dispensary?

The night arrived for what was to be a culinary journey to remember. Some of the Representatives had decided to give me the excellent 30th Anniversary gift of an amazing meal. So, I was off to enjoy Frantzen, a 3 Michelin starred restaurant and one of the world’s absolute best. The Booking was made over 2 months ago and the restaurant is 523sq metres (5,600 sq foot) over 3 floors and only takes 23 people for dinner each evening. It would be hard to use words to sum up this evening, but the meal easily makes it onto my top 10 of all time, from the beginning to the end it was excellent, the food, the environment, service and experience was all amazing. It starts on one floor with a number of small bites before being shown what is on the menu in box, then a visit to the test kitchen and wine cellar before heading to the dinner room which sits around an open kitchen where the chefs craft the main portion of the meal. I will be adding most of the pictures to a folder on my Facebook so as not to spam the trip report. But here are a couple from the evening. Thank you for such a memorable gift!

Frantzen #1 – What’s for Dinner?

Frantzen #2 – Chefs at work, or Artists Crafting?

Frantzen #3 – Food or Art?

A very nice visit to Stockholm, I made sure to visit the Australian Consulate and postal vote, looked around the city, sampled the food, it is a clean, organized city, with lots of electric cars, people were polite and the place had a relaxed vibe. Still time to move onwards with the short hop across to Norway and Team IHA Vikings.

Flight #8 – Stockholm to Oslo on SAS SK495

SBN Erik picked me up from the airport in his Tesla, and yes there are probably even more Electric cars in Oslo than anywhere else in Europe. Silent death for those crossing the wrong way, but overall, it makes for a quieter city, it does seem a little strange with the quieter traffic hum. A quick check in to the hotel, and it was time to do a drop in at the normal Hapkido class for an appearance. Dinner was late the option was some street hot dogs from the central train station, for those imagining I only frequent the Michelin restaurants of the world, I imagine I celebrate more meals at places like the Hot Dog stand than at a Fine dining establishment, I just don’t share all those pictures….

Michelin 3* one night, Street Hot Dogs the next

Interesting sculpture

IsBeef is strong in Norway

The next day was free, so I got stuck into the signatures and updated the trip report, SBN Erik dropped in and we enjoyed a very nice lunch at a Norwegian restaurant together. Shihan Anthony and some of the Romanian students were heading in later in the day so I was aiming to catch up with him for dinner. I met up with Shihan and we walked a bit looking for dinner, I had chosen a Vietnamese place as I was aware that he had limited options for any Asian Cuisines in Brasov.

Where else would you find a Giant Hammer?

The next day kicked off the seminars and I worked on basic concepts as a refresher for the local students then took them into variations and some ‘fun’ stuff. Always makes me chuckle when we use fun stuff to talk about techniques that invariably hurt more… Just another one of those unique to Hapkido states of mind.

Norway Seminar Group

Norwegian Palace

A view across Oslo

A touch of Australiana

Oslo wanderings #1

Hmm, oat?

Oslo wanderings #2

It was a good visit to Oslo, the students worked hard and it was good to have some of Team Romania visiting. As always SBN Erik and KJN Carlos made sure it was a smooth and enjoyable visit. I also got the chance to grab a home cooked meal with KJN Carlos and we talked about how he was going with his fight against Cancer (An update, he was officially declared cancer free the following week). The visit wrapped up and SBN Erik dropped me at the airport for my next flight, this time into the deep South of Europe and Team Espana (Spain).

Flight #9 & #10 – Oslo to Madrid on IB3497 and Madrid to Seville on IB3948

Now it looks straight forward with 2 flights on Iberia, but they weren’t on the same booking as the main flight is part of my round the world ticket and the smaller leg a separate purchase, of course you would imagine that they could link them. Well, no, collect your bags in Madrid, hoof it up to departures and check back in. Sometimes you think we have access to modern technology, other times we are rechecking in. I made the change and got my flight into Seville to meet up with KJN Jose and BSBN Eloy at the now partially renovated Seville airport (featuring a Starbucks, no less).

Old School Markets #1

Old School Markets #2

Each morning KJN Jose and BSBN Eloy would pick me up for breakfast before some running around, lunch a break and nightly seminars. The kids seminars included some basic material, and for a laugh I had them working on some weaponry concepts. Overall, the little maggots, ahh kids, did well and seemed to enjoy the mat time. With the adults we ran a split curriculum, by teaching White belt self defence and having the White to Green work that, then running through the Blue and having the Blue+ work those. Each day I went up a grade and split the class accordingly.

Little Maggots, oops smaller kids group

Could there be a Black Belt grading in the air?

The best Churros in Seville

Churros

On one of the mornings instead of a standard Spanish breakfast we had to try the ‘best’ Churros in town, run by the same family for almost a 100 years and over 4 generations. I will say the actual Churros are on the plainer side but the combination with the Chocolate worked really well. Not sure it is what I would have for breakfast normally though. A representative from the local Government also stopped into present me with the official town flag in recognition of my seminars and the 30th anniversary world tour.

Recognition from the local Government

Would you buy Hapkido from these men?

Bigger kids group

Ground and Pound

Adults Group

Where else do you put an IHA pin?

Along with the normal seminars there was a Sun Bae and a separate seminar just for the parents. It was a full week with lots of different events happening each day, including a visit to a possible new Dojang location for KJN Jose. One evening after class I was surprised with a 30^th Anniversary party which included some home cooked 30^th themed food as well as a cool banner. The local students are very community minded, setting up tables in the Dojang and everyone bringing in home cooked foods.

Parents group

Sun Bae Group

Possible new Dojang

30^th Anniversary party #1

30^th Anniversary party #2

During the week there was also a slight hiccup with some stormy weather, couple of of the nights the winds were quite severe, and thousands of tree branches were torn off and spread all over the city, coupled with more rain than normal had a few of the locals worried. KJN was fielding questions about whether the seminars would continue, of course. If a Typhoon at the Mexican ITS couldn’t stop us neither would some puny storm.

Seville is storming.

Seville @ night

Literal translation – Punch on Face street

Following the rules!

Things you see around Seville

Black Soul 50%

Black Soul other 50%

Alcala del Rio wanderings

That’s how they spelt Geoff

Over the week the Black Belt candidate team “Black Souls”, no idea why that name, were on deck training hard. Running Black Jacks between the seminars with the other local students urging them on. It definitely felt like a Spirit test was coming to town. The test itself was split into 2 groups as there wasn’t enough space or Black Belts on hand to test 10 at once, the first group on deck whilst the other group enjoyed some time in a nearby park, swapping over once the first team completed their test. As we were doing a split group, the decision was made to do the presentations the following night with all the candidates together at the same time. A big night for IHA Spain with the promotion of 10 new first degree black belts. I also had the chance to recognise KSN Paula on her promotion to Senior Instructor.

Congratulations Team Black Soul

Congratulations KSN Paula – Senior Instructor

A new type of Black Belt celebration

The visit was a good one for the IHA, both with the energy and the quality of the students. The Spirit test was a big step up on past testing and the candidates definitely prepared well for it. A thank you to KJN Jose and BSBN Eloy for their great work here in Spain. I know they are already working towards taking a record Spanish team to ITS #10. The morning rolled around too soon and I was again on the road, today was a long day, leaving the hotel at 7am with a projected arrival into Helsinki around 11pm. The silly Seville to Madrid flight with baggage collection in Madrid to recheck in before my flight into London to connect to a Finnair flight into Helsinki. At least some time in the Iberia lounge to get the trip report up to date!

Flights #11, #12 & #13 – Seville to Madrid on IB3947, Madrid to London on IB3172 and London to Helsinki on AY1338

The flight into London went smoothly and the connection time was ok if on the slightly tight side, no need to worry as the Finnair flight was going to be delayed. As mentioned previously I had earned enough status credits to get Platinum with Qantas which also carried with it Emerald (highest) status within the One World Alliance. This meant that I had a choice of lounges to visit and after checking out a quick guide on the best ones, I headed off to the Cathay Pacific First lounge, very nice, a ala carte dining area with some nice food, then to make sure I sampled all the good options, I took a walk through the Business class section and then onto the Qantas lounge for some of the world famous Salt and Pepper Squid in their Ala carte restaurant section. I could get used to this level of travelling. The Finnair flight eventually departed, and I arrived into Helsinki to meet Master Tapio just before midnight. A long day on the road. It was 1:30am by the time I was checked in and ready for some sleep, the morning arrived far to early and I was in the Dojang for day one on the mats in Helsinki.

Hotel or Castle?

I had 4 days on the mats here in Finland with a number of missions, first up to go over the coloured belt requirements covering the new updates and to refresh everyone on the techniques. It had been four and a half years since I had been on the ground in Finland. During the visit I also had a Senior Black Belt test as well as a Spirit test to run. Apart from those I was also booked for the evenings with a Dinner with Master Adrian, the Federation members and a celebration dinner. A full plate here in Helsinki.

Autumn in Finland

The White Church

One of the teams from the Day training

Duck @ Le Coin

There federation dinner was planned to be held at Le Coin which is a new restaurant headed up by Chef Eero Suhonen who happens to be SBN Jaakko’s brother. It was a good evening with lots of good food and laughter, mainly coming from Chef Eero who kept us all entertained during the meal. I was keeping up the walking steps but I have to confess the somewhat cold weather with wind chill was making it a challenge, Master Tapio helped out with a ‘Bad Boy’ Beanie to keep my head warm at least.

Team Sisu

Finns on the ground

Someone was checking up on the techniques.

The Black Belt test day rolled around and first up was the senior testing with 3 candidates working towards their 2^nd Degree. The test went smoothly and the candidates would get the news on Sunday after the final seminar. A brief break and then another seminar before moving onto the afternoon’s Spirit test where Team ‘Sisu’ would be attempting to earn their Kwan Nyom 1^st Degree’s. Talk about a Hapkido packed day. I am pleased to announce that team Sisu all earned their Black Belts, welcome to the Black Belt family, CGN’s Petri, Aake and Petri. That evening we headed off to a nearby restaurant to celebrate.

The seminar group from before the Black Belt test

The after-test group

The next day the seminar was on street weaponry featuring Penkido, Card Sul and Bag Fu. Everyone enjoyed the weaponry concepts and took away some new material for their personal Hapkido tool boxes. I know many of the Black Belts were adding to their variations throughout the seminar. At the end I had the pleasure of promoting 3 new KSN’s Ansi, Marko, and Satu. Ansi also completed his requirements to be recognised as a Senior Instructor and CGN Teemu earned his Instructor Certification. A very successful way to wrap up an excellent return to Finland. Plans are already being put in place to make next year even more successful.

Congratulations to the new 2^nd Degrees, Senior Instructor and Instructor promotions.

The mats are quiet as the Hapkido portion of the 2023 World Tour is complete.

Finland was just sneaking in some snow as I left

Of course, there is no rest for the wicked as I was up early on Monday morning to head to a print shop to get all the Black Belt certificates printed before heading to the airport. Master Tapio picked me up and dropped me off for my next flight. This would be my second flight with Finnair and the first long haul so I was looking forward to seeing what that was like. I did of course enjoy visiting the “Platinum Wing” part of the lounge and ordered a Reindeer Burger for lunch.

Reindeer Burger

Pizza vending machine…..

Business Class for sale, I am sure its cheap

The flight went smoothly and the service from Team Finnair was good. I would have no problems flying with them again, touchdown Thailand and it was straight into the pre-arranged car for the 3 hours drive south to Hua Hin. Now that is a bit wearing to say the least, still it went relatively well apart from some torrential rain on the way, and of course arriving to the hotel to find out my room was yet ready, so I set up the laptop near the pool, connected to the Wi-Fi and wrapped up the Trip report.

Flight #14 – Helsinki to Bangkok on AY141

Good morning Thailand

Trip report update Thai style

So Hua Hin is a beach side town so I needed to make sure to visit the beach at least once for a photo, sadly the trip had taken its toll on this road warrior and I got to enjoy a bout of the travel flu,  Hua Hin and Bangkok became more than just a ITS 2025 preparation stop, they became a chance to spend some down time in my hotel rooms. I did sneak out for a nice meal one evening as well as a meeting with a possible ITS hotel location.

Hua Hin Beach

What do they grow in the Thai Boxing Garden?

Lots of Martial Art based signage around here

Some tasty scallops

A most excellent steak

So, after spending the much-needed quiet time recovering from the Travel Flu it was time to jump on my last flight of the 2023 World Tour. It was an action-packed return to the road with the ITS and lots of testing across the Dojangs. Overall, a good tour and plans are already locked in for the 2024 World Tour. As always, a thank you to all the hosts, Instructors, Black Belts and IHA Students for making such a thing possible let alone so enjoyable. To the team at home, you are all the A-Team making sure that the Dojang kept running well. Some statistics below give you a final snapshot of this relatively quick lap of the globe.

Flight #15 – Bangkok to Sydney on QF 24

– 2023 ITS World Tour Stats –

1 – 3^rd Degree Black Belt

1 – 4^th Degree Black Belt

1 – 6^th Degree Black Belt

1 – Kwan Nyom Master

1 – Platinum Frequent Flyer Status Earning (Qantas)

4 – 2^nd Degree Black Belts

6 – Currencies (USD, MXN, SEK, NOK, EUR, THB)

6 – Airlines Flown (Qantas, American Airlines, British Airways, Scandinavian, Iberia, Finnair)

9 – Countries (USA, MEX, UK, NL, SWE, NOR, SPN, FIN, TH)

15 – Flights

17 – 1^st Degree Black Belts

57 – Days long

67 – Hours spent in the Air Flying

965 – Qantas Status Credits Earned

61250 – Qantas Points Earned

On the Road Again!

It has been sometime since I looked at my bags and went through the process of loading them up for a Seminar Tour. Something I did with so little effort is now taking a moments planning. After all it will be over 3 years since I have been to visit with the IHA family in North America. Still the bags get packed, and I get ready to saddle up for my first flights this trip. I used some hard-earned Air NZ frequent flyer points for this trip and actually booked the tickets in December last year. The flights I paid around $6k in Points Value, (Air NZ points are 1 point = 1$) for are selling today for $15k, jeez, moments pause, maybe I should just sell my ticket.

Still it was only a moments pause, and this trip starts with 3 flights, Air New Zealand from Sydney to Los Angeles via Auckland and then a change over onto United for the LA to Houston flight. Firstly it was a smooth ride to the airport, thank you BSBN Brett, and there was no waiting to check in at Air NZ, the only Covid change was to sign a attestation form for the US stating I was Vaccinated. Straight through security and though there feels like there is quite a lot of people here everything is moving quickly. The first sign of Covid is the number of shops that are still closed or showing coming soon signage. There was one huge difference though, everyone seemed to be happy to be at the airport, unlike pre Covid and the typical stressed out grumpy traveler. I hope that stays true as I journey on, happy airports…

I am going to add some Travel Notes with the report, sharing some of the tools of the Road Warrior trade, they might come in handy for those that travel often, or indeed for those who want to make their travels a little easier.

So the flight across the ditch (Australia to New Zealand) went smoothly, excellent service from Air New Zealand as normal. I had a couple of hours in Auckland so off to the lounge to chill, before the wheels fell off. I get to the gate for my US flight and its delayed based on a later arrival, which becomes an engineering issue, which then turns into a we need to swap planes problem. That changes the 8:15pm flight to something closer to 11 which means its time to check my onward United flight and change that as well. Everyone is picking on the Australian airlines for having issues, but in reality it is a world wide issue, a lack of staff for planes and airports means less planes in the air, and when issues occur less ability to deal with it. So back to the lounge to chill some more.

Travel Note #1. For those that wear belts, get a carbon fibre belt buckle, my preference is Grip 6. I have worn this belt through countless X-ray, Body Scan and so many variations of machines without an issue. Adding the ease of never having to remove your belt saves so much time and effort.

So they eventually repair what was a leaking valve in the engine that was stopping the pilot turning it off, hmmm, that definitely sounds like something I would want fixed. We then board just over 3 hours late and get underway, 12 hours in the air to the USA. The flight was uneventful afterwards, decent service, some sleep that is at best described as time passing rather than replenishing. Touchdown Los Angeles, and there have been some changes, the walk from the plane to immigration was well over a kilometre (Half Mile), at least no queue and after the ‘interview’ I was able to enter the US, grab my bags and take the walk to get my United flight. Just as the United flight was airborne I realised I had been on the go for well over 24 hours, so from leaving home to arriving to the first hotel the overall time was going to over 30 hours, that’s a travel day, well plus. Little was I to know about the car rental fiasco to come.

You see a Mini and think all is well. Let me take you on the journey to get that mini, so I booked a car almost a year ago and the rates were impressively cheap, so I got a bargain on a Dodge Challenger. I arrived into Houston airport just before Midnight and managed to get to the car rental before it closed at Midnight to be told, no US Credit Card no ‘Sports Car’, apparently now they do a credit check to rent certain vehicles, and with an Aussie card they wouldn’t allow it. So she offered a replacement vehicle, sounds find, expect the price almost doubled. Even in my travel addled brain I thought I am not paying that and told her politely no thanks. Upon trying the other car rentals that were open I found out they were out of cars, except one had tesla’s for $150US ($239AU) per day. Yeah, nah, so I head off to get an Uber to my hotel except there are none. A helpful shuttle bus driver suggests I get a ride to the airport and try from there, that works, and I am in the hotel by 2am…

I am up in the morn and after some calls, book and pay for a car through Budget with a sort of close location, an Uber later I am there and then told um nope, can’t hire you a car without a physical credit card to insert in the machine, what? Mine are all in my Google wallet, except a US Debit Card, which they wont take. So cancel that booking, and I walk a couple of kilometres to the Enterprise that I know accepts Debit and that I have used before, they have cars….. Yeah nope, the rules changed and they need a physical Credit Card now, except for at Airports, A moments pause while I yell internally, he helps out by ringing the Enterprise at the airport and they tell him they have no cars, they have 1400 bookings and 1000 cars coming in, argh. I call back Budget to confirm that I can use a US Debit card at the airport location and that they have a normal car, yes and yes. Uber back out to airport to see there is a line with over 100 people there, so while I am in line I call Budget to confirm my booking as I noticed the payment hadn’t gone through. Ahh its missing, so the helpful guy makes me another one, and an hour later at the desk they say……. No Debit card, and must be a physical car not on phone… About now the US trip is off to a [                ] start, you fill in the blanks.

They recommend another rental company that 100% accepts Debit, and there they have no cars, Hertz, Nope, Avis, Nope, Budget Nope, etc. I see that almost every place now has no Queues except Enterprise, so I get online and see if I might be able to actually sneakily book one, tick, car booked, I am in the Queue, 30 minutes later I am off to get a full size sedan, yeah, nah, they are out and apparently it was an upgrade into the Mini, about now who cares, give me the key, I am hitting the road… So what happened, well the World Series is on this weekend in Houston, who could have planned that a year ago, and there are no cars to rent, added to the Credit Card issue. So new pro tip, make sure to have a physical CC on you if you are like me and only use your phone at home.

So, car on the road, I took the chance to hit the outlets. Typically, US pricing on clothing is a less than Australia, it is the economy of scale, however sales at outlets can make it ridiculous. For example, the polo’s I bought here for $19US ($34AU), those are on special sale in Australia for over double, normally 3-4x more. Taking the pricing into account, even with a less than favourable exchange rate I took advantage of being close to some outlets, throw in some visits to TJ Maxx, Ross and Marshalls (places that have even better sales on overstock and end of season brand names) and I was stocked up for a year. Apart from some shopping, I grabbed some nice meals and of course worked on the Video signatures for those grading this trip, one day everyone will get them done early and I won’t know what to do with my spare time.

A side note, it is a small world indeed. I was chatting with one of the Uber drivers during the car hire issues, and it turned out he was a Cuban who had travelled to a number of countries, upon talking the reason was due to his Judo competitions. Once he knew I did Hapkido he went on to talk about his good friend who did Hapkido in Mexico, who I had met at a DJN’s event in Korea. So, the story goes like this, an Australian in America talks to a Cuban who knows a Mexican that met the Australian in Korea, jeez it almost sounds like the set up for a Joke. But really, how small is the world getting?

An interesting Tattoo shop in downtown Houston, it would make a nice Dojang.

Well, the Houston Astros won the World Series, I must have been good luck. Time to wrap up my brief break and get back on the road for some Hapkido. A smooth drive out to the car rental, before the shuttle to the airport and my next flight with United, this time from Houston into Charlotte, North Carolina. The home of the 2023 ITS event!

Travel Note #2. Another must have item in my travel arsenal is my Bellroy passport wallet. T fits in a normal jeans pocket, has space for my passport, a small pen, is big enough for boarding passes, and a number of cards. Everything you need to get around the world tucked away in one place. Of course I also recommend you taking paper copies of each item in your wallet separately in case it is ever lost, much easier to replace a passport and/or cards if you have pictures.

Now they have self-serve kiosks at airports, grab what overpriced items you want, scan and pay without having to talk to anyone.

Ma’am Stephanie’s Hapkido Mobile!

Welcome to Denver, North Carolina.

It was good to catch up with KSN Stephanie and Ben (Provisional testing for Black Belt this trip in Minnesota), even if it ended up around 2am the first night. Both are not only members of the IHA but also Masters of Tang Soo Do and Purple Belts in BJJ. It was looking like a busy trip with mornings open for some training with them as well as some ITS scouting around. The afternoons included time on the mats with different groups, including the Ankle biters, Knee Huggers and Teens, wrapping up with Hell Week sessions working on syllabus.

One of the many Adult Groups

Over the week I got to cover the adults curriculum, an open self defence seminar, and for the wee folk, Staff (that was interesting 30 – 5 year old’s swinging sticks), Bully defence, Bag Fu and Falling. In the spare time an adults grading for 4 of the local students, and we locked in the official hotel for the ITS!

Open Self Defence Seminar

I survived, um I meant one of the kids groups

Sensing a Theme here?

Home of ITS #10

The infamous Australian Art Competition

The Blue Ringed Octopus takes out the prize

A most honourable mention for the scene under the sea

The Theme continues

But wait there is more!

Oh, ok, one last one.

It was an excellent week, lots of students working hard, some excellent meals including the team dinner at Chima and some long walks at night. Well, I have committed myself to a daily step count so each night I was dragging Ma’am Stephanie or Sir Ben along for company. Of course, that included the “night of wet death” when it started raining torrentially the second we left and stopped the second we returned. Talk about a pair of Drowned Rats. For those at home, it is Autumn moving into Winter, so some chilly steps were part of the challenge. Did I see the word challenge? As normal I have been challenged to complete a task during my travels and this time it is a Pain Face from each Dojang. So unto our guest pain facer from IHA Denver, NC.

Pain Face #1 – Welcome to the club Rigo

With the ITS plans shaping up well, expect early bird registrations to open an day, it was time to bid farewell to Team Denver and hit the road towards the state for Lovers, Virginia.

Indeed – Lovers of Hapkido maybe?

On the road for this leg from Denver, NC to Yorktown, VA

KSN Stephanie offered to drive down to Yorktown so we hit the road in the Dojang F150 for a comfortable cruise of just under 6 hours. A brief stop at my hotel to drop off the luggage then over to BSBN Brian’s house for a home cooked meal. Of course, we need to maximise the time on the ground, so after dinner we headed to the Dojang for a 30min seminar on Angry White Belt and a chat the local Black Belts on the plans.

Enjoying a walk

Training started early the next day and BSBN Brian had a full schedule in mind for my visit, adding in my steps and a few meals to make sure every moment I was kept busy. It was good though to enjoy some walking through the local parks and BSBN knew many of the better trails.

Enjoying more walking

To give you an idea of the schedule in mind, I am posting up a screenshot of one of my travel apps, more information in that in the next Travel note below.

A day on the road – TripIt Screenshot

Travel Note #3. Apps, apps and more apps are all an important part of the Travel Warrior arsenal. Of course, there are many standard ones for international warriors, XE for currency, Google Translate, for those who like Fine Dining – Laliste is a must. You should also have any of the apps for the airlines you are flying this is a basic need. Beyond that I have one I heartily recommend and use the most, TripIt. IT allows me to keep track of not only my flights, but all transportation, meetings, hotels, meals and more. If you pay for the Pro version you get live updates on your flights, gate changes, luggage, etc.

Each morning I got to spend time on the mats with BSBN Brian as well as a group of his seniors working on different concepts as well as preparation work for testing in Minnesota. Mary was aiming for her Spirit test and KSN Ashton was preparing for 3^rd Degree along with KSN Stephanie. Several of the other local Red and Provisional Black Belts dropped in to be crash dummies. A lot of people would wonder why they volunteered so much time and effort, well to be honest you learn as well. They were able to be on the mats when I was covering senior concepts and techniques and I am sure picked up some Gems along the way. KSN Ashton was excited about a new Fast-Food restaurant opening nearby so for lunch one day we joined the throng of people queued up for the opening. The restaurant specialises in Chicken fingers, only really selling those, fries and Texas Toast, since it was called Raising Cane, both KSN’s brought theirs. We did then find out it the name was from one of the owners pet hound.

Raising Cane, sort of

So, each day it was onto the mats for seniors in the morning, and then onto mixed classes, seminars and Hell Week sessions each evening. Ma’am Mary made sure that the team had snacks for the brief breaks during sessions, and had also provided me with a care package for my stay, some vegemite, nuts, trail mix as well as a ruby duck (longer story), and some Dinosaur Black Belt socks, expect those to make an appearance sometime later in the trip report.

Seminar Snacks

Some of the local students joining the Training

During the week I had the chance to officially present CGN Juan with his official IHA Dobok, Black Belt and Certificate. Congratulations sir, I look forward to working with you on your continuing journey on the Hapkido path.

Congratulations CGN Juan

One of the highlights from the week was when Moriah on the local Orange Belt students (who is blind) not only spent the week on the mats working hard with everyone else but also broke wood during the breaking session, incredible. So many students struggle to find motivation to train, but Ma’am Moriah showed how to overcome adversity and still follow the Hapkido path, you have my respect. It was a filled week with many mat hours, lots of sweat and laughs as the local students worked hard. To wrap up the week BSBN Brian set up a team visit to Busch Gardens (A local Amusement Park) which was featuring a Christmas Theme.

Busch Gardens 1

Busch Gardens 2

Busch Gardens 3

More Hapkido on the Road

Pain Face #2 – BSBN Brian gets his membership card

An early morning trip to the airport and I am boarded for Guadalajara via Houston. The transit is 43 minutes (United booked this transfer) and according to one of my travel apps, it takes on average 22 mins to do the walk/sky train. No stress at all, should be easy, the only hiccups occur with bags making it. The arrival was slightly delayed and  I am off and running, I keep an eye on the boarding indicator as well as my Samsung Bag tag to see if my bag is moving. I literally arrive and walk straight on the plane, and watch as the Bag Tag slowly makes it way across the airport to the plane. Ok, all is together and we are off.

Yorktown – Houston – Guadalajara

I win the customs lottery (if you come to GDL you will understand) and notice no usual form to enter, just one for Customs. KJN Hugo is on hand to pick me up and we hit the road to my hotel for the next 9 days.

The Riu is a true 5 star hotel and the tallest building in Guadalajara (GDL), and even better I booked it including breakfast for less than a standard Chain hotel in the USA. A small travel hack, even if flying solo book for 2 so you get an extra breakfast, KJN Hugo would drop in each morning to make good use of the hotel’s impressive Buffet.

Just outside the RIU Hotel

So the plans are for a different seminar each day, visiting 3 of the local Dojangs, throw in a Sun Bae (Senior Training), Senior Black Belt test, Black Belt Spirit Test, Police Training and a Kodanja class(4^th Degree plus). Just to make sure I don’t get board this visit, of course wrap the events in lots of excellent local dining, good company and many trips to one of the ok local coffee shops. If I had to rate them, La Borra, Black Gallery then Starbucks.

An old school Hapkidoist with their Cane

First seminar off the rank was Bag Fu with the local kids at MHA Ki Won, followed by some junior belt revision for the adults, I decided to throw in some Angry White Belt as well as the Lock/Striking concept to sweeten the deal, of course a pain face as well.

MHA Ki Won Dojang

Survived the Ki Won Kids, the picture sums it up

Ki Won Adults Seminar

Pain Face #3 – CGN Erika joins the Hall of Fame

I had done some culinary research before this trip and sent off a list of possible restaurants on my interested list. It seems KJN Hugo took it as a challenge and went ahead and managed to book them all over the visit. Even funnier was that the first one on the list was managed by the father of one of his Black Belts, well French for lunch it is.

Pate, Cheese and KJN went Snails, so Parisian

Flambe anyone?

Next up was the Police seminar, and KJN Hugo did let some other students sneak in. Slam and Jam was the order of the day, with some Ground locking to keep them Jammed. Add a pain face and you have a rather good day on the road.

Police Seminar @ Ki Dae Hapkido

Pain Face #4 – KSN Aldo went old school

Even a Mexican Hotel surrounded to some Thanksgiving

Literal translations are always worth a chuckle (it means Cheese wrapped Ham)

Next up a visit to Tlaquepaque and KJN Ernesto’s Dojang the MHA. A stop on the way though to get a good lunch and coffee whilst enjoying part of the tourist section of GDL.

Very Vibrant Tlaquepaque

MHA Dojang

MHA Seminar Group

Pain Face #5 – BSBN Johnathan drops in from Cancun and drops out in pain

Smart Car Parks all over GDL

Time to return to KJN Hugo’s Dojang – Ki Dae for the evening. I also had the pleasure of presenting some Black Belt certificates and Doboks for the team that graded earlier in the year. Team USA with Ma’am Stephanie and Sir Ben had joined the south of border fun flying in today from North Carolina. Apparently they won the Customs lottery but still got searched, oh well, it sometime works. For those still stumped, when you go to clear customs here you push a button and it either lights up Red (X Ray machine) or Green (Pass Go). Never the less they made it and joined us on the mats for the seminar, then joined KJN Hugo and I for a Brazilian meat fest afterwards.

Sparkling new Black Belt Doboks

Ki Dae Seminar

I found my Signatures Sign

Next up was a return visit to the MHA Dojang for the Sun Bae session, open to all Red Belts and above. On the list was Dan Bong, Cane, and Flex Weapon techniques along with some Weapon Multiple Grabs. That was followed by the Senior Black Belt testing, CGN Citlalli for 2^nd, BSBN’s Selene and Ernesto Jnr for 4^th and KJN Ernesto for 7^th. A sleepless night for them I am sure as the results will be given the next day at the presentation lunch.

Sun Bae Group

After the busy day it was time to enjoy some fine dining this time with KJN Hugo, BSBN Selene, BSBN Stephanie and Sir Ben. It was a very pleasant meal in a art gallery that was repurposed from a row of houses.

Scallops

Desert – Black Truffle Ice Cream

The morning View from my room

Daylight View

An Apt Name for a local Car

The next morning it was back on the mats at MHA for the Spirit Test, on deck were 3 candidates. On this occasion we welcomed 1 new 1^st Degree into the family and will be working with the other 2 to make sure they are ready in future.

Welcome CGN Edwin

Kiwi wrapped Sushi with Cheese as well, that’s just a NO.

After the testing there was time for a local Representative meeting, focusing on steps to improve our Hapkido here in Mexico, some new systems to be implemented and the excitement of a good group coming to the ITS next year. The it was time to head out for a celebration/commiseration lunch as well as a chance to give out any promotions from the previous days testing. Congratulations to our new 2^nd Degree KSN Citlalli, 2 new SBN’s Selene and Ernesto Jnr, then it was time for the big news and only the 2^nd time I have promoted someone to 7^th Degree, congratulations KJN Ernesto!

KJN Ernesto – KSN Citlalli – SBN Selene – SBN Ernesto Jnr

With those promotions it is clear that Team Mexico has some powerhouse families on the mats with KJN Ernesto’s family being (7^th, 5^th and a 4^th Degree) and KJN Hugo’s family (6^th, 4^th, 2^nd and 1^st Degree). I talk about the IHA family, but here it is taken literally. That evening we took Team USA out for some legit street taco’s at KJN Hugo’s favourite Taco stand. It is hard to describe the difference between tacos here and outside Mexico, but never the less I love them hear and don’t like them elsewhere.

Taco Wizards at Work.

The last day on the mats was for the Kodanja (4^th Degree+) and we covered the new 4^th Degree Black Belt requirements with a focus on the knife techniques, also some Multiples grabs with knife and a brief exposure to the first 5^th Degree Sword form.

SBN Selene and SBN Ernesto with their Jackets and Certificates

7^th Degree #2 KJN Ernesto with his Jacket and Certificate

Local Kodanja – Now that is some Bench strength

A brief wave goodbye to KJN Hugo’s dojang

To wrap up another excellent visit to GDL I took my local family out for a very nice Steak Dinner, apparently this restaurant was voted #54 best steakhouse in the world this year, regardless it was an great meal with my Mexican familia.

Brick Steakhouse, looks amazing and the food is as well

Mexican Familia

A relatively quick drive out to Guadalajara airport for the just over 1-hour flight into Mexico City for a break in the travels. Expect some food pictures as I have a host of dining lined up.

Guadalajara – Mexico City

Travel Note #4. Power. Always carry an old plastic hotel card or similar. Many hotels require one for the room power and having a spare always helps. Many rooms turn off the socket power as well without that card, so while you are out, the laptop, etc. isn’t charging. For international travel, spend a moment researching the power adaptor you will need. A good multi adaptor is a investment, but also take into account how many devices you want to charge, one adapter might not be enough.

Hola Mexico City

An easy flight into Mexico City, and after collecting my bags I checked out the Taxi offerings. One good thing is you pay at the Taxi booth, and they call up the taxi so less scamming is on offer. The ride was smooth, and the traffic wasn’t bad, more on that to come. I was pleasantly surprised with my hotel, it was part of an incredibly cheap Expedia package, 5 nights (4*) and a First-Class flight for just on $400. Sometimes the packages are well worth a peak. Beyond that the hotel offered something I had never come across before, free food 24 hours a day from a small café up front. I was upgraded to a larger very spacious room due to my Expedia Status, and there was a personal note to welcome me, this hotel ticks a lot of boxes. Over my stay I found all the staff helpful, the breakfast choice decent, the café a bonus (mainly coffee, but for those beer drinkers it was free too). So if you are ever going to visit Mexico City give the Hotel Historico a look, it also sits within walking distance of all the major city sites.

Hotel Historico

Comfortable Room

Nice Welcome

All Free 24/7

So why Mexico you ask well it turns out 5 of the top 100 restaurants in the world are located here and with some skill and planning I had booked them all. Beyond that it was also a good deal as most were priced lower due to being in Mexico. Over the break I tried Pujol #5, Quintonil #9, Sud #52, Rosetta #60 and Maximo #89. The only draw back was how horrific the traffic can be, most restaurants were in the 5-9km distance from the hotel and Uber on every occasion took at least 30mins, in one case 90mins. Actually on 2 of the trips, I gave the driver a wave and walked back, it was quicker. I did wander the streets and enjoy the history, but in general I was here for the food coma.

Wandering the Zocalo

Food #1

Food #2

Palace of Fine Arts

Food #3

Food #4

The lost tribe of the Mayan Tourist Hunters

I do have to admit that tracking down some postcards took some hours, they seem to be a dying breed in many places now. Still, I did finally get some and can report they are in the post, it is anyone’s guess on when they make it home though. The hotel arranged a smooth transfer to the airport, and I am back into the friendly skies, this time with American Airlines as part of my switch from Star Alliance to One World. I have 90 minutes to clear US immigrations and make my connecting flight to Minneapolis, in Road Warrior speak that is an eternity.

Mexico City – Dallas – Minneapolis

Well in fact it turned out to be quite close, clearing customs which was surprisingly quick for a US entry then collecting my bags, re-checking them, changing terminals, hitting the Queue to redo security meant I basically walked on last to my Minnesota bound flight. Still it worked and I was off into the frozen north to meet up with KJN Corey and a good steak dinner to catch up before the drive to Hutchinson.

Queues R Us

The next day it was time to also catch up with Master Dave and to visit his brand new Dojang, it looks ready for some excellent Hapkido classes. I also had the chance to spend some time on the mats with him and KJN Corey covering the 4^th Degree Knife Techniques and a chunk of the 5^th Degree Sword material. After the training we headed back to KJN Corey’s Dojang for a class on Bag Fu with his kids group.

Complete Self Defence Buffalo, MN

CSD Hutch Kids Group

Typically when I visit with KJN Corey one of the dinners is a home cooked Barbeque or similar, this visit it was to be a highlight. I had found a supplier in the US of a very rare type of meat that is imported directly from Japan, not only is it A5 Wagyu grade but specifically Olive Wagyu. The meat was shipped to KJN Corey specially frozen, and even came with certificates of authenticity. Due to its incredible richness we managed to make 2 evenings meals from it, hmmm this sounds like a Annual event to me.

View post on imgur.com

Olive Wagyu

Oh, I must have forgotten to mention its cold up here in the Tundra North. The temperature did range and hovered around 0 to -5 most days, quite fine actually, except for the odd -17 with some wind and moisture. I know the Finns and Vikings laugh but to an Aussie that’s a wee bit chilly. Still beautiful to see some of the snow capped fields and surrounds.

The view from KJN Corey’s front door.

Onto the training and the first full day was the Sun Bae (Senior Students Red Belt +) followed by the Senior Black Belt test, on deck were CGN Justin for 2^nd, KSN Ashton and Stephanie for 3^rd Degree and BSBN Sherri for 4^th Degree. The testing went smoothly, so much easier than zoom, and the Black Belts will get their results the following Sunday during the final seminar sessions.

Sun Bae Group

Wal Mart Wanderings #1

Wal Mart Wanderings #2

The next morning was an early one and a chance to enjoy the sun rise as we headed to a specialised law enforcement training centre shared by the FBI, Sheriffs and Correctional officers. KJN Corey has been running regular training for the Correctional Officers and I was asked to step in as a guest teacher for this session. It was a nice facility and the group seemed to enjoy the training, one of the local FBI Tactical officers like it enough to offer us some time on the shooting range, how can you say no to that.

On the morning road

Correctional Officers seminar

Shooting time

A touch of Finland

After the training it was back to KJN Corey’s Dojang for another round of Hell Week, by this stage most of the visiting teams from the other US dojangs had arrived with BSBN Brian + Team Yorktown, KSN Stephanie + Team Denver and Master Dave representing Team Buffalo. During the evening I was also happy to present CGN Sam and CGN Marc with their official IHA Black Belt Certificate, Doboks and Belts.

Congrats on your new Doboks, Belts and Certificates

Almost like a Finnish Sauna

Hell Week Team

The next day was another day on the mats with Hell Week, and I then had the chance to recognize KSN Kris on earning her promotion to Senior Instructor. The evening continued with a USA Representative meeting over some Sushi with a discussion about Black Belt testing next year, along with the ITS plans. There are lots of exciting events and plans coming for Team USA over the next couple of years. On the somewhat late drive home I got the chance to enjoy some of the local wildlife, even if the Vampire Deer did seem to be giving us the stare down.

Congrats KSN Kris

Battleship Sushi Style

Vampire Deer

Day 3 of the Hell week on the mats, and in a break before the evenings Spirit test we took the chance to walk on water, well to stroll across the nearby river that had frozen over in the cooler weather. Even though it was downtown, there was already one ice fishing hut set up and a enterprising local hard at work. Back into the warmth of the Dojang, where the heat was truly turned up for the evenings Spirit testing, 2 candidates on the mats with Ben from Denver and Mary from Yorktown. We were proud to welcome 2 new 1^st Degree Black Belts into the IHA family.

Hell Week Team

Ice Walkers

Congratulations CGN Ben and CGN Mary

A final day on the mats and a chance to welcome our 2 new Black Belts, as well as reveal the senior promotions. Congratulations KSN Justin ‘Bluie’ 2^nd Degree, BSBN’s Ashton and Stephanie 3^rd Degree and our new SBN Sherri 4^th Degree, also with the promotions, both BSBN’s were recognised as Chief Instructors. This was truly a record breaking visit for rank testing and instructor promotions, after a 3.5 year break it was a good way to get Hapkido in the USA back on track.

Congratulations Team USA

Hell Week Survivors

Time to hit the road, for the drive to Minneapolis for the celebratory Brazilian feast at Fogo’s with Master Dave and KJN Corey, before grabbing my hotel near the airport for the short night. Up at 4am to catch the first of 4 flights home, first up Minneapolis to Dallas, then onto Los Angeles. I broke up the trip briefly to catch up with Master Ali for lunch before a quick return to the airport for the long haul home via New Zealand. The Road Warrior returns.

Minneapolis – Dallas – Los Angeles – Auckland – Sydney

So you Study the Martial Arts?

The question then becomes are you a Student of the Martial Arts or a Martial Artist? Is there a difference, what is it if there is one and why does it matter anyway?

Well actually there a lot of differences between the two and in this case we will call one person a Student and the other a Martial Artist. Let me break down some of the principles or ideas that differentiate between the two and you can then take a look at your training and decide which one you are.

We all start training in one of the Martial Way’s for our own reasons and that in some ways can affect straight away whether you are heading towards being a Student or Martial Artist. Some schools are focused on attracting students, whilst others are on creating Martial Artists. This is not style dependant but more a focus that the Instructor or School wants to follow.

So what is the difference? Well most if not all of us start as Students and becoming a Martial Artist is a time based change as we progress through our training. Lets start with breaking down what makes each unique.

A student is someone who makes an average commitment to training 2 or 3 days a week and they will tend to allow other events to come in the way of their attendance. They put in the effort required or demanded of them during class, follow instructions and work towards attaining their next technique, belt, sash or level. They enjoy the atmosphere as a whole and are relatively easy to teach. The school becomes a service provider in that they pay their fees and expect classes, a relatively normal type of existence for today’s society.

This is not a bad thing and in most cases it is the standard. In fact having students is something that larger schools need, in able to support themselves. In some situations it is the number of Student members that help support a schools desire to maintain a program based purely on Martial Artists. It is symbiotic in that without students there would not be the progression for most into becoming a martial Artist.

A Martial Artist is someone who decides that their training is important and attendance at class 3 or more days a week is the norm, they are more likely to be at the training hall before class and are almost always around after class talking about different aspects of training. They are more interested in the history of the art, the progression of the art and show these traits by participating in more outside martial arts type events. In class they are more focused on achieving excellence within a technique over achieving a belt, they are a harsher personal critic in most cases than the instructor and are willing to put in more work before or after class to achieve. When it comes time to help the School they are always first to volunteer and enjoy being able to help ‘their’ school. With this added effort there becomes a feeling of being apart of the school, they are proud to train here and they want the school to succeed, whether this is by keeping the school clean, promoting the school to friends or working towards representing the school in tournaments or events. The school is no longer a place they go to train it becomes a place where they feel like they are a part of the family. Training and the related activities become something that they are passionate about; it is this passion that can be the major difference between them and a Student.

The other changes within a school that has a clear path for students to become Martial Artists, is that not only does the level of respect shown increase but the energy and focus on the training floor does as well.

Historically when someone walked into a school they were pretty much give a choice of adopting a Martial Artist type mentality to survive training or quit. However these days marketing has created more of a focus on attracting Students first and in too many occasions the school loses its ability to create Martial Artists. If we look back 15 years or more a Black Belt was someone of status and regardless of style or Dan rank someone who was respected. These days the belt has to a large extent lost its credibility and I credit this to schools that award Black Belts to Students, whereas our focus should be to maintain the tradition of making Martial Artists earn them. The secret of course is a simple one and that is to educate students why they should put in the extra effort.

For some examples from my Dojang (Dojo/Kwoon/Training Hall) I decided that I would not allow shoes inside the Dojang this included parents/friends/etc. All it took was to explain how it was a way of showing respect for the Dojang and now our students take pride in telling their friends to take their shoes off when bringing them along. At the same time we also implemented a system where our students are responsible for cleaning the Dojang which started with me cleaning the Dojang and asking for anyone who wanted to help, and over the following weeks it became a standard for everyone to give the school a clean after class, we have even implemented a process were testing candidates have to clean the Dojang before their physical test to show their humility and respect for the School.

Again I am not against the idea of Students I firmly believe that it is our job as Instructors to be able to show them the path to becoming Martial Artists, to be the guide and to be the support they need to choose to follow the same path we have. After all it is good to be passionate about something, but to be able to share that passion with others is even better. Are you a Student or a Martial Artist?

Grandmaster Geoff J. Booth

“Shaken or Stirred – Blended or Mixed”

What flavour Martial Art do you do?

Are modern Martial Arts signalling the end of an era? Are the days of the true Master numbered? Well probably not, but realistically the current direction so many martial artists are taking will have a large affect. The current trend is to Mix and Match styles, take what is useful and discard what is not, hmm where has that been said before? It seems every corner now has a Mixed Martial Arts school promoting the current trend. While there are most definitely some very good instructors who have chosen the MMA route it seems that everyone else has decided to jump on this band wagon.

The Martial Arts like so many other activities or hobbies goes through phases or trends, whether it was the Kung Fu years, the Ninja Time or the whole Cardio/Tai Bo Karate get fit period. So what makes the current MMA direction any different? In some ways it is far more powerful than those and truly far more dangerous as well.

MMA by itself is a positive idea, the general thought of ensuring that through your martial arts training you cover each of the ranges is positive. By that I mean having techniques which can include stand up, ground and in close fighting to cover all the possibilities of self defence. After all haven’t a number of the Martial Arts fathers in their own way done some of this when they created the mainstream martial arts we learn today? So where is the danger in the current trend?

The danger is in the loss of the true Master, the person who chooses to follow the path of his style over enough time to truly understand and master it. The person who lives their style, brings to it life and through years of experience adds in their own way to its uniqueness. If we lose these people, we lose so much more than just the history of a style, we also lose the future. So why is this happening?

The martial arts reflect society and its current drive to take the path of least resistance. Why study one style for 20, 30 or 40 years to mastery when you can learn 5 or 6 styles in a shorter period. It is common for instructors to start in one style, then grab a little bit of this and a little bit of that. A few seminars here and there, added to an intensive course and viola’ you are a MMA stylist. This might take 5-10 years and you now have some experience in each range or area of self defence. At this stage another path opens up, the instructor with his newly found skills chooses to create his own new MMA type style or system. So we end up with students leaving their original systems to create others without ever learning where they came from.

Now it was common in the past for Martial Artists to cross train and in Korea it was quite common for seniors to be ranked in a number of styles e.g. Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido and Judo. So how was that any different to today? Well if you look back at those very same seniors you will see that they still have a main style and most definitely a higher rank in that one. The other styles will be of a lower rank and regarded as not their main focus. This allows them to go on to Master their style while having had the experience of the others.

So if we look at the old ways and compare them to the new are they really that different? Well the focus today is more on purely stripping out of a style what works and discarding the rest, how can someone who does this ever truly master that style? The more this happens the more we end up with one singular blended or mixed system. Now from a pure Self Defence position this is a good thing, having defined what works and what doesn’t. However it is a sad day for the loss of the tradition, the loss of those attributes that make each individual style just that.

Are all Mixed Martial Artists doing this? No of course not there are some very well known MMA instructors who also have a very strong background in a single art or style. There are also those who have taken the MMA path as a means to simple self defence or for the competition aspects as well. The danger lies in those students/instructors who fail understand at least some core basics before blending or mixing what little they know with more. With the growth in popularity of the Mixed Martial Arts so to will be the longer term effects felt from the loss of those instructors who decided to change their path.

Only time will tell if the current trend to Blend or Mix will be a positive one or detrimental. However the respect for those martial artists who commit to their style, those who truly master a path will always be there. Learning different ideas and adding to your skill set is a positive direction to take, but why not do that from a solid background in one system. Take the path a little less trodden and possibly far greater rewards will come. Blended or Mixed, Shaken or Stirred it really comes to down to your taste, choose wisely.

Grandmaster Geoff J. Booth

“Real Training!”

Do you train for real, or do you train for reality? The difference is a lot larger than you think regardless of style.

The idea of a difference between real or reality training is more focused on those arts that have a combat focus or combat based history. It is less true with those arts that are predominantly philosophical or health related. And in using the term reality I am not referring to the more recent crop of ‘reality’ fighting styles.

If we go back in time to the foundation of our arts it was common for them to have come from times of trouble, times of war or times when conflict was a general way of life. As such they were designed to be used; it was common for the techniques to be tested in actual battle. Even in times when there was no actual war or fighting it was well known that the seniors would go out and test their skills. This is evident in Korea where many instructors would challenge others to fight, or they would test their skills on the streets in the more criminal parts of the cities.

When it became less accepted to ‘test’ skills this way, some instructors came up with other ways to check that their training was based in reality. Mas Oyama was one these, not only did he test his skills against bulls, he also created the 100 man kumite as a test of ability and spirit. Society has changed and with it the ways we can test our skills. That being said the option for the Kyokushin 100 person kumite still exists if attempted rarely.

Where does this put us today? The first step is to train for reality as opposed to just real training. The difference comes from the intent and the way you train. I define training for real as someone who attends classes and follows the directions they are given. They train reasonably hard 2-3 times a week and put in a decent effort. Does this translate to being ready for reality? Will their training support the ability to be able use those skills in a real situation? This is really dependent on the person, not on their training.

In training for reality the focus in the training needs to shift. For example kicking skills need to not only be trained in the air but in a real context. Firstly you have to be able to develop power from the kick on a target or bag. Then the kick needs to be put into a reality focus through training the kick the way it may be required. Try kicking when the opponent rushes in randomly, try kicking when the target is off centre and also try kicking when you need to shift your weight or balance first. When you are able to kick with power in each of these situations the kick then becomes a tool that would be more likely to work in reality.

The same goes for those arts that use a locking, throwing or grappling. The locking should be trained against grabs that include resistance, different angles and different force. Try using the lock while blind folded and try using the lock while your balance is disrupted. These training tools will help prepare the skill for use in the ever changing environment that is reality. A combination of training your skills to be usable and effective in as many variable situations is most definitely the first step.

The next one is to work on intent and focus. When you kick or lock, make the technique the focus; make the goal to complete the technique regardless of the variables. One good drill is to have a partner Kiyap/Kiai loudly and randomly during a drill to disrupt your focus. When you are confident of your skill, test it in the class. This does not mean taking out your opponent, more that you get your opponent to push your limits. As an example if the technique is a kick defence, get a skilled kicker to be your opponent and ask them to hit you with that kick. You still are aware that a X Kick is coming but now you are facing an opponent who has the skill to hit you with it. This will bring into play an adrenal reaction which is another way to be ready for the street.

The idea’s here are not style based more a way to train skills so that they are more likely to be practical in reality. Taking your training up to this level will not only provide better martial art tools but also a greater sense of confidence. Really train and train for Reality!

Grandmaster Geoff J. Booth

“Pass or Fail?”

Is earning a belt now a given or is it something to be protected?

Society is changing. This is a given but how does that affect the martial arts? The simple answer is in everyway but more importantly is it positive or negative in how. Lets take a look at just one aspect that in most ways is being affected negatively. The idea of belts as a measurement of rank is a relatively modern one and accredited to Jigoro Kano. The idea was to give us recognition as well as a sense of achievement of where we were on the path. That in its self seems to be positive. Most styles use a ranking system whether its belt, sash, badge or other. This then raises the question of how to award them.

This is one of the major areas where society has indeed influenced the martial arts. Most of us understand the degradation of the level or respect of Black Belt and it’s a point I have covered here previously. However this all begins within the coloured belt ranks and not only the way we award them but how we use this system for the good of the student. The question is should an instructor fail a student for being below par? The answer should be a resounding yes however that point is changing. Let’s look in little more detail at the idea of Pass or Fail.

Psychology tells us that positive reinforcement is better than negative. So that would lead that it is better overall to have students pass belt testing. The attitude becomes one of the calm as students work towards a belt that in some ways is a given. This is simplistic and I have heard the analogy of high school used here, where a student is in school for a set time and graduates as a class. If this idea is used, students that start at the same time should progress together and pass/earn their belts together. There are of course some problems with this as we all know that students don’t indeed have the same skills, desire or attitude, let alone work ethic. But still a regular promoting student is a happy one and many successful schools use this model to ensure a positive training environment and good student numbers. This idea was for a long time a backbone of a management companies success path, 1/3rd of all students should be testing each month.

As society becomes more of a gimme ideal or fast food mentality students expect to dot the I and cross the T to get their belts. There is a simple expectation that if they follow the minimum requirements for belt testing that they will get their belt. How many times have parents been instrumental in assisting instructor’s grade their children? Parent’s join the band wagon here as they too expect that their children will indeed get a new belt when they test. This combination of factors does increase the pressure on the instructor to use the above idea’s to pass more students.

Then why is failing a better way? It is of course a hard path to take and can indeed cost you students. However I have always been a fan of more education and more discipline. As long as students understand why steps are taken, in this case a fail, they are in most cases fine. The idea is simple, you are undertaking a test and as in life we sometimes fail tests. A true martial artist takes a step back reassess the challenge and then conquers it. This approach teaches a better focus, a better attitude and in the end produces a better martial artist. A story I like to use when preparing to fail students is The Apple. When you look at an apple tree you pick the ones that are ripe, you leave the ones that aren’t. Those apples didn’t fail, they weren’t quite ready. A little more time and those apples will be picked as well. Training for a test is the same, sometimes you aren’t quite ready and some extra time is all it takes.

I would say that approximately 20% of students within my Dojang fail testing at one point or another in their progression through the belts and so far 99% have continued. The key has always been to educate that failing is simply another part of the test and another part to work through. As long as students understand this and know that this system is in place from the beginning there are no issues.

So realistically speaking it is still far easier to pass than fail. It makes for less stress, less aggravation and a better atmosphere. But I feel it makes for a lower overall standard and in its way a lessening of what the Martial Arts stands for. Educate students on why belts are something to be earnt and not a give. Why at times they may need to take that one step back to go two forward. A student who can take a fail and then work towards a pass is indeed one destined to become a better martial artist, the one who quits….

Grandmaster Geoff J. Booth

“What is it about Rank?”

Rank, what is rank and why in the whole scheme of things does it truly not matter?

Rank seems to be such a focus within the martial arts and because of that it will always provoke a spirited response. However when it comes down to it, your rank doesn’t matter from one style or from one organisation to another.

Let us start with the idea of rank. Rank is a way of determining who has seniority within the school and this is primarily important to give an indication of which students have more knowledge. The story of the white belt becoming darker as a student trains, ending up as a Black Belt, is a good story, but it is also only that a story. The idea however reflects the process of a new student putting time into their training and gaining knowledge. Ranking was implemented to give those students an idea of where they were along the path. Of course it only reflects where they are along the path that relates to that style, and to that school. Therefore a Green belt in one school may have no relationship to a Green belt in a nearby school. So how can we judge one to the other?

Looking a little deeper into the structure of ranking, coloured belts are accepted as being stepping stones to Black belt or its equivalent. In my school a Red belt is the first level of senior belt, however in some Karate schools it can represent 5th Degree. This shows that the colour can become meaningless, so should we just compare black belts with black belts. This will only make the process even harder as some schools have 5th Degree as their highest rank, some 15th degree. Is a 4th degree in both schools the same? Have they travelled the same distance through their respective curriculums, achieved the same level of knowledge, of course not.

Then we also have the fact that in some organisations rank has to be physically tested for regardless of level, but in others it is awarded, or earnt through many non physical methods. Most tend to have a level of physical requirements which then change as the rank increases to recognition for time and effort. That too is also very dependant on style and organisation, so here again we see how comparing a 4th degree from one organisation with another is a moot point.

So why is rank important? To many it is external recognition, it is the yardstick however flawed that others see the practitioner by. When truly it only represents one schools internal level of recognition and this can change even within a single organisation. How many times have we seen Black Belts of the same rank from the same organisation perform at wholly different levels? However flawed the system is due to the fact there can be no real standard, rank still is needed.

Rank becomes a way for the school or organisation to set goals, recognise achievements and to create leadership. It structures how the student progresses within your style and also gives them a guide to who has been training longer and can assist with knowledge.

Every organisation has its own requirements for rank and I am sure that most have their merits. However it is not our place to directly judge those merits unless we fully understand them and how they apply. In my school black belt ranking is broken down in clear steps that include time in rank, an amount of training hours, an amount of specific black belt training hours and a technical requirement. This ensures that the student has learnt the technical requirements and at the same time has put them into practice sufficiently to attain their next level. This also gives each student a clear understanding of what each rank above them entails and what that student has had to achieve to earn that rank. This makes sure that respect for those attainments is always held at the highest level, and that everyone on that level has worked to the same standards.

So Rank becomes an individual recognition of attainment that in an effort to compare we need to understand all the elements that were required for that schools and their organisation. This is why in the scheme of things rank doesn’t truly matter, only the knowledge and effort it reflects does. The easiest way to determine if someone is worthy of their ‘rank’ is to train with them and only then will the knowledge that it should reflect be evident.

Grandmaster Geoff J. Booth

“My Martial ART is better than yours!”

Right about now you are thinking what style does this punk do?

Really that question can only be answered truthfully, by the individual, as it is a personal opinion. It becomes more a question of why do you do a martial art? Some of the key factors for undertaking the study of martial arts are self defence, health/fitness, social and personal achievement. These reasons will cover over 90% of people and why they decided to study a martial art. Let’s look at these factors a little more closely so we can understand why people study the martial arts. Then we can look at what styles are obviously the better ones.

Have we forgotten about our most important students?

Before we discuss whether Black Belts are students, we need to ensure that we are referring to a student who has committed a number of years of effort into attaining that rank, or similar, depending on the styles equivalent.

So for a change this time GM Perry drops me at the Graz Hauptbahnhof or main train station where I am grabbing a train from Graz to Zagreb—crossing Slovenia. It is around 4 hours and time to work on the laptop. We stop in Dobova where about 15 border police in 3 groups go through the carriages, I imagine this the border crossing, the first group look at and stamp my passport, the second group ignore me and the third group stamp my passport again, not sure if I entered Slovenia and departed on go or they just were stamp happy.

Anyway I arrive into a dark and wet Zagreb just before Midnight to be met my Vlado, Martina and a couple of the local students. Vlado, Martina and I head into the city for a late night coffee to catch up before the activities get underway. The next evening the local students put on a Birthday party that included copies amounts of local food, is there any other kind, as well as singing and a card with chocolates. It is interesting to see how the locals celebrate birthdays.

The next day it is time to hit the mats with some testing and signature work with the local students before the weekend’s seminars.

World Tour 2015, Crotia: just 1 of the 5 training areas in the Combat Centar.

Another of the 5 training areas in the Combat Centar.

To add to my local sightseeing on Friday we head into the hills, well on the snow-capped mountain that overlooks Zagreb, well known for skiing and we meet up with some of the local students who are indeed enjoying the slopes for a traditional lunch on the mountain. I in general try to stay out of trip photos apart from the on the mats but just to prove I climbed up and froze a little on the snow covered peak I made an appearance.

Saturday and the seminar was underway, topics on the mats included: Circles, Arm Bars, Hand Attacks, and Bag Fu for the first time. The day goes well with everyone getting involved and everyone enjoys the pain on the mats. Sunday is a bigger day with 9 hours on the mats, more hands on with S Locks, Arm Bar under, Turbo Topics and for a treat the Dan Bong. After the day group there was another seminar for Security/Military/Police and Bodyguards. A retired Army General dropped in and joined the fun and was very impressed with the ease of the techniques.

Seminar Day #1.

Seminar Day #2.

The plan for the week after the seminar weekend is to have the days for planning the future for the IHA here, as well as some sightseeing around the region. Once Valdo heard I visited 39 countries a plan was put in motion to tick off number 40. So we hit the road north towards Slovenia which is only just over an hour away, on the way we stop to visit a quite impressive castle, the Trakoscan Castle.

A castle has to have weapons.

So the weather is excellent and after taking a look at the castle we head towards country #40 and Slovenia, now this is where the fun starts, unbeknownst to either Martina or I, Vlado likes to run the fuel pretty empty before filling up… So we head to the border which is a small back road entry where when Vlado asks for a stamp for my passport we are told we can’t enter the country and have to use the main entrance on the highway, this one can’t handle foreigners like an Aussie. So we do a turn and as we drive away from the entrance up the hill, Valdo exclaims we may have fuel issues literally moments before the car’s engine stops..

The dread border on a hill.

When we left our intrepid heroes they were experiencing fuel issues on the Slovenia/Croatia border, now lets see what happens. Vlado feverishly pumps the peddle as he tries to restart the car, and at the same time we hit the crest of the hill, the car kicks back into life. The thought is the angle of the hill made what little fuel is left run to the back of the tank, so we cruise down the hill back to the Croatian border guard who tells us fuel is ‘only’ 8 kilometres away. So the drive safe and save fuel kicks in as we head for the nearest town with a petrol station. We make the town to find out that there is no petrol station and that the closest one is ‘only’7 kilometres away. About now you can forget doing a rain dance, there were 3 of us doing a fuel dance. The Diesel Toyota surprises us all as it chugs away and gets us on fumes to the next town, phew.

Fuel for the car and relief for the soul.

We get back onto the highway and cross into Slovenia with no problems this time, and I chalk up visiting country #40. A brief drive later we are in Ptuj where we grab a decent coffee with some of the local Kickboxing instructors. They were at the weekend seminar and are possibly interested in adding Hapkido to their school in the future. After a catch up it is time for another Meat Platter, I mean meal before we head back to Zagreb to catch the evening class.

It is a long drive back, but after visiting the park well worth it. My last couple of mat sessions are a chance to fix some small issues and then to complete the grading the local students have been undergoing with the news of who passed and who needed more work. I am happy to say that more than half the students passed and that overall the technical level here in Croatia is off to a good start under Vlado’s guidance.

Congratulations to the first IHA certified coloured belts in Croatia.

Of course I can’t complete my visit to Croatia without addressing the CGN Fabian challenge, and maybe even adding a pain face. Thank you to Vlado and Martina and the crew for making this an enjoyable stop with a combination of training, meat fests and sightseeing. Plans are already underway to have some of Team Croatia joining us at the ITS Australia in 2017, of course I will be back here in 2016 to keep the good work going.

Cro Ki Do Dobok.

Roman joins Team Pain Face.

A nice note as I checked out of my hotel, the front desk gave me a present of some local salt/pepper crackers and a bottle of homemade orange liqueur, just to thank me for the longer stay and putting up with some noise. Apparently some Korean guests were very loud, I can’t say I noticed them, still it was nice of the hotel.

Crackers and Booze from the hotel.

A sign on the plane, its German for Exit, but with 50 Aussies on a ITS flight it will be an AUSGANG.

Back into the friendly skies with 2 more flights, as I am on Austrian first I am connecting through their main city Vienna on my way to grab a Polish Air flight into Warsaw.