‘Sacred Spaces – The place where one practises the way’ by Anna Glover – Chang’s Hapkido Academy UK, 2nd dan As the Head of Safety in a theatre, one of my favourite aspects of my job is to attend a
Making progress
Sometimes there are sessions when nothing seems to be working right. Kicks feel heavy. Throws don’t work. Patterns are corrected, and then corrected again. The novice expects to feel a certain amount of incompetence, but for the senior belt this
Nurturing possibilities
Developments in neuroscience have shown us that connections within our brain are continually forming and reforming. What that would suggest is that we are in a “constant state of becoming” throughout our lifespan. How we develop is linked to how
The fear of making mistakes inhibits our potential
Sometimes a student has difficulty executing a skill they’ve been performing well for months. How come? Surely that’s a problem? There could be many reasons a technique stops working: lack of practice or bad posture, poor alignment or loss of
Does being in ‘mushin’ conflict with productive thinking?
Being ‘in the zone’ or experiencing ‘flow’ are terms now used commonly in sport. They both refer to a mental state of being totally immersed, energised and focused in an activity. In Hapkido we refer to this state as ‘mushin’
Does the environment have an impact on our learning?
Given that Chang’s Hapkido Academy (UK) moved premises earlier this year, this is an interesting question. Two months after an unexpected loss of our venue, we are pleased to have a full timetable back in action and proudly hang our
Feeling a connection
When a beginner learns a new technique they naturally rely on their five physical senses and try to understand the skill at an intellectual level. They commit to memory what they can see and take pride in being able to explain the
The power of deliberate practice
CHA STUDENT BLOG: This month’s blog is written by Chang’s Hapkido Academy student Andrew Kennedy. I work in the investment business and over the past while I have become increasingly interested in something called behavioural finance. It’s a discipline that meets at
Posture, power and performance (part two)
In part one I looked at how poor posture and body mechanics decrease the effectiveness of our Hapkido techniques and expose us to potential injury and pain. This understanding is key to our physical wellbeing, but posture also has a
Posture, power and performance (part one)
One word my students consistently hear me use is ‘posture’. In this two part series I want to look at how posture affects how we feel and also how we perform. Firstly let’s consider our physical performance… In Hapkido the