Kukjae Clubs
Upper Hutt HAPKIDO Academy
(Headquarters Club for the Kukjae Hapkido Federation of New Zealand)
Mission Statement
We are the leading provider of effective self defence training in the Greater Wellington Region.
 | Member Club: Fitness New Zealand. |
Academy Location
Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy, Unit 2, 18-22 Queen Street, Upper Hutt (access from Lyster Lane)
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| Entrance from Lyster Lane | Part of the main training area |
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| Secondary training and fitness area | Secondary training area and entry to changing rooms |
The Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy operates from the Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy, - a new dedicated martial arts centre in the heart of the Upper Hutt CBD. The premises provide over 330 m2 of area that consists of a primary 130 m2 training area and a secondary training area (35m2) both covered in safety mats. Weights and fitness equipment, changing rooms with shower facilities and toilets complete the Academy.
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| Academy Location Map |
Training Times
| Day | Time | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm | Junior Children's Martial Arts |
| Monday | 5:10 pm - 5:50 pm | Senior Children's Martial Arts |
| Monday | 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm | Hapkido |
| Thursday | 4:00 pm - 4:45 pm | General Self Defence  |
| Thursday | 5:00 pm - 5:45 pm | All Children's Martial Arts/Kumdo |
| Thursday | 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm | Hapkido |
| Saturday | 11:30 am - 1:00 pm | Western Martial Arts |
| Sunday* | 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm | Hapkido Regional Classes |
(* The Regional Class is held once a month, subject to demand.)
Please e-mail the Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy's head instructor Callum Forbes, or phone 021 330 989 for further information.
Hapkido General Self Defence Classes
We realise that in today’s world that many people do not have the time to commit to regular and on-going martial arts training but still want to learn some practical self defence skills.
The Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy is now offering a new Hapkido Self Defence Class on Thursdays from 4PM to approximately 4.45 PM. Please Contact Callum for further information.
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| A common self defence scenaerio |
Instructors
Callum Forbes, 6th Dan
 | Head Instructor, Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy |
Callum is the head instructor for the Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy and Director of the Kukjae Hapkido Federation of New Zealand. Next to Grandmaster Lee Jung Nam, Callum is the highest qualified Hapkido instructor in New Zealand, receiving his 6th Dan in Hapkido in July 2006 at which time Grandmaster Lee also formally transferred the leadership of Kukjae Hapkido to him.
Callum started his Hapkido training under Grandmaster Lee in 1982 after hearing about Hapkido while serving in the NZ Army. Callum has also had a life long interest in swordsmanship, taking up fencing in 1979 before developing an interest in earlier European sword techniques.
Callum previously taught and ran the Wellington City and Lower Hutt Kukjae Hapkido clubs before starting to teach Hapkido in Upper Hutt in late 2004.
Callum is self employed and is a partner in one of New Zealand's leading financial planning practices.
Callum has lived in Upper Hutt since 1993 and is active in the Upper Hutt community through his involvement in both business and recreation. He is also the organiser of the biennial Harcourt Park international jousting tournament.
Robert Reynolds, 1st Dan
 | Robert Reynolds |
Robert is an instructor for the Upper Hutt Hapkido Academy. Robert started his Hapkido training in 1999 under Callum Forbes and obtained his black belt in March 2006.
Robert has previously worked both as a security guard and as an ambulance officer.
About Hapkido
Hapkido originated in South Korea in about 1950 from an amalgamation of a number of styles. Hapkido teaches you how to defend yourself and others against a variety of common attacks. It combines hand strikes and powerful kicking along with joint locks, holds, takedowns and throws as well as ground fighting.
Hapkido's techniques are based on an opponents attack, meeting that attack, turning it back on the attacker, and following through with offensive finishing techniques if required.
The best way to describe Hapkido is that it is a “Mixed Martial Art” although unlike modern “Mixed Martial Arts” our focus is not on competition but on practical self defence. Hapkido is a unique style that will enable you to defend yourself in just about any situation.
Our particular style of Hapkido, Kukjae Hapkido, was originally developed by Grand Master Lee and is derived from military Hapkido. Our Hapkido training aims to preserve and develop Grand Master Lee's original teachings and philosophy which has Hapkido solely as a self defence orientated traditional martial art.
Traditional Hapkido Training
Classes in Traditional Hapkido are the main offering provided by our academy and are the most effective way to learn life long self defence skills.
A regular class starts with a basic 30 minute warm up that covers fitness training, basic drills, patterns and pad work. Once these are completed the students are broken into grade groups for personal tuition by the club instructors and senior grades. We then move onto Hapkido free-sparring (all grades). The class finishes with a quick warm down.
Hapkido training is focused on helping its students develop effective self defence skills while also gaining from the various benefits that traditional martial arts training offers (improved fitness, health, self confidence, etc.).
Hapkido can be learnt by anybody in reasonable physical condition aged from about 12 onwards although we do not award 1st degree black belts to anybody under 15.
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| Training in Ground Fighting Techniques |
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| Advanced Kukjae Hapkido high break fall |
Children's Martial Arts
We offer Children's Martial Arts classes for those aged between 6 and 10. Our Children's Martial Arts classes are based on Hapkido. However all of the joint locking and weapons techniques that we teach in Hapkido have been removed. Instead Children’s training focuses on kicks, simple throws and Hapkido self defence techniques modified to suit younger people.
The Children's Martial Arts classes are approximately 40 minutes long and are a great way to help Children get physically active, develop physical skills, gain self confidence and to learn some basic self defence skills.
We find that most Children are ready to progress to the Hapkido classes when they are about 11 - 12 years old. We also offer training in Kumdo. Kumdo is Korean sword fighting. We offer Kumdo training as part of the Thursday Children’s Martial Arts Class. Basic techniques and drills are taught before sparring is introduced. This is performed with a safety mask and a foam sword.
Our Children’s Martial Arts Classes have proven to be very popular and in order to maintain our high standard of personal coaching with existing students and to allow more children to join, we run two children’s classes on Mondays. The first class starts at 4.30 PM and is aimed at younger children, ages 5 to 8 and is 30 minutes long. The second class starts at 5.10 PM and is aimed at the older children, ages 8 plus. Note that you cannot do both the Monday Children’s Martial Art’s classes.
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| Children's Martial Arts Training [August 2006] |
Specialist Courses (4 or more people)
These depend on both student demand and instructor availability. Unless advised otherwise, classes are approximately 1 hour long. We are very flexible on the type of classes or courses that we can offer, with our most popular classes including:
- Self Defence for Women.
- Control and Restraint Techniques Course (suitable for doormen, ambulance officers, security guards, police, etc.).
- Basic CQB Module 1 (Weapon Retention) for Military Personnel.
These courses will not make people skilled self-defence practitioners (only regular Hapkido training and progression through the Hapkido syllabus will achieve this) and is therefore only intended to provide a basic level of competency and self-confidence in dealing with low to mild levels of aggression in a self defence situation.
Specialist Courses aim to give students sufficient competency in a limited range of techniques in order to deal with any threats that they may face in their day to day work or work.
Seminars
We run and host regular seminars with other Kukjae Hapkido clubs and other Martial Arts groups. These are usually held on Sunday afternoons and are advertised on our Forum
European Martial Arts (EMA)
Training in EMA covers both Medieval European unarmed combat and weapons.
It is very complimentary to Hapkido training.
EMA training is run in association with the Upper Hutt School of European Martial Arts and the Order of the Boar in Upper Hutt. The Order of the Boar also hosts the biennial International Jousting Tournament at Harcourt Park as well as jousting displays and tournaments throughout New Zealand.
The training teaches correct period techniques that are illustrated and described in surviving period manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries. We offer training in two systems of Medieval European combat:
- Tower Manuscript 1.33 (a German document dated c. 1300 which covers sword and small shield fighting).
- Flos Duellatorum, written by the Italian sword master Fiore in the early 15th century. This material covers unarmed combat, medieval wrestling, dagger, spear, long sword and poll ax.
Training in both systems are linked together by a 4 stage grading system:
- Grade 1: Basic 1.33 Sword and Buckler.
- Grade 2: Advanced 1.33 Sword and Buckler, Fiore Unarmed and Basic Longsword.
- Grade 3: Fiore Dagger and Advanced Longsword.
- Grade 4: Armoured Fiore Longsword and Poll Ax.
The main difference between basic and advanced training is that in the basic training wooden weapons are used for sparring while rebated metal weapons are used in the advanced training.
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| Displays of 1.33 techniques | Displays of 1.33 techniques | Advanced EMA |
Which Class is Best for Me?
This table provides a relative comparison of the emphasis placed in the key areas of each class when compared to each other.
It is intended as a guide only - to help you determine which discipline may best suit your own personal training objectives.
| Class | Class Structure and Discipline | Self Defence | Target Fitness Level | Amount of Material to Learn | Equipment Required | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hapkido Plus and Hapkido | High | High | Medium | High | Low | Nil |
| Children's Martial Arts | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low | Nil |
| European Martial Arts | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Self Defence | Medium | High | Nil | Low | Low | Nil |
| Specialist Classes | Medium | High | Low | Low or Medium | Low | Nil |
Fighting Fit classes have yet to be scheduled but will be once our toilet and shower facilities are fully operational.
General Information
Membership
All Members are required to complete and sign a membership form that includes details of any medical conditions or criminal convictions. Minors must have their membership form signed by a parent or guardian.
We also reserve the right to decline a membership application without having to give a reason for doing so.
Academy Fees
We are a non-profit, non-religious and non political amateur sports club. Our instructors give their time voluntarily and are not paid. Fees are charged to cover the hire of facilities. Any surpluses are re-invested back into the academy.
Training Fees
We offer one free trial class. Thereafter the student needs to enroll and pay monthly training fees in advance or pay an ad hoc training fee per class.
The first payment can be by cash or cheque (made out to Hutt Kukjae Hapkido) when the student enrolls (by completing the member application form) This covers the first month of training.
As a general rule, after your first month of membership we prefer that you pay by regular Automatic Payments, Internet Banking or Eftpos as this helps us to manage our cash flow throughout the year. As an incentive for members to pay by in this manner, we offer lower fees relative to other payment options. (Note: This assumes that you do not break your payments throughout the year unless for a genuine work or health reason.)
For people who pay their club fees after their first month of training by either cheque or cash, these are at a higher rate to cover the extra costs and time involved in handling these.
As an alternative to a monthly fee, you can pay an ad hoc fee based on attendance. This is on a per class basis, however, please note that the fee is substantially higher than the average cost per class based on a monthly fee.
A Family Discount applies to members who are part of an immediate family who are all living together and to be eligible for the discount, the other family members need to be non-income earners – e.g. children or a home keeper. The Family Discount is 100% of the highest applicable fee plus a 50% discount on the relevant class fee per second and subsequent eligible family member thereafter. The exception is that if the 3rd and any immediate family member thereafter is under 12 years old, then their training is free.
A Multi Class Discount also applies for individual students doing more than one of our classes (at the moment this is only Hapkido/Hapkido plus and European Martial Arts where the European martial arts fee is discounted by $10 per month).
| Class | Monthly via Automatic Payment, Internet Banking Or EFTPOS | Casual Membership, or Regular Monthly Payment via Cash or Cheque | Ad Hoc Class Fee (per class) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hapkido Plus | $60 | Not Available | Not Available |
| Hapkido | $50 | $60 | $10 |
| Children’s Class (1 per week) | $25 | $35 | $10 |
| Children’s Class (2 per week) | $50 | $60 | $10 |
| European Martial Arts | $40 | $60 | $15 |
Kukjae Hapkido Club Discount
Current members of another kukjae hapkido club may enjoy the following discounted rates:
| Member Type | Fee Rate |
|---|---|
| Casual Class Fee | $8/class |
| One training session a week | $30/month |
| Two training sessions a week | $40/month |
Equipment Fee
Some classes require the use of drill weapons and safely equipment, particularly the EMA class. Because of this we charge an additional $5 equipment fee per class for EMA students who do not provide their own weapons after their first month of training.
Specialist Courses
The cost for this varies depending on the duration of the course and number of students taking part. Please contact Callum. A 10 lesson basic self defence course will typically cost $100 per student.
Private Lessons
These vary depending on material taught and number of students. Private lessons are subject to instructor availability and discretion.
Grading Fees
These start at $30 for a promotion test from white belt to yellow belt, increasing by $5 per grade for all the colour belt grades. Children are not charged grading fees until they progress to the Regular Class.
Uniform and Equipment
Beginners and Specialist Class students may wear loose casual clothing (e.g. plain T shirt, loose pants). A white martial arts uniform must be worn by regular members. These can be obtained through the club or at normal retail rates direct from a martial arts supplier.
Our recommended uniform is the standard heavy Judo style uniform which normally retails for approximately $120. We can obtain the same uniform for Academy members for $75. Lighter weight karate uniforms can be brought for $50 through the club. We recommend these for our younger students.
Uniform patches are also strongly recommended. The patches are available to all students at cost ($40 a set).
We source all of our uniforms and training equipment through FightTimes and can order items from them on your behalf through our wholesale customer relationship with them. We rate them as being the best martial arts suppliers in New Zealand.