Gr99
04-08-2002, 21:04
September 2002 Issue of Taekwondo Times Magazine, the largest Martial Arts Magazine arround the world has for the fourth time brought a coverstory on Grandmaster John Pellegrini.
The first interview was in 1989 and the second cover feature in March 1990 sent shockwaves through the Korean Martial Arts community. Grandmaster Pellegrini received hundreds of calls and letters from over the world, some encouraging, some wanting to know more about Combat Hapkido, some praising and some extremely negative. His organization grew almost over night from 4 to more than a dozen schools.
GM P. interpreted the incredible response to this interview as a call for action. He felt that he had a vision and he shared his vision with other instructors of korean martial arts. He simply wanted to introduce a new formula for sucess in Tae Kwon Do schools that of the years had lost not only the adult market but also the realistic self-defense component for the sake of art and sport.
The solution he proposed was Hapkido (at that time a little known Korean art often konfused with Aikido).
GM P. believed, if Tae Kwon Do instructores would teach a seperate Hapkido Programm in their schools, they would recapture the adult market, and add a new exciting and practical dimension to their curriculum. However, because he was not entirly satisfied with the styles available at the time, he decided to develop his own.
He embarked on the challenging project of structuring his system, formalizing a syllabus, conducting seminars and producing instructorional videos. In 1992 he formed the International Combat Hapkido Federation. Then came the 1994 cover feature in Taekwondo Times. That interview, even more controversial than the previous one, generated more mail to the editior than any other cover article in the history of the magazine. Definitly something was going on. Why all the fuss? Why this overwhelming response?
Grandmaster Pellegrini emerged as a pioneer arriving at the right place, at the right time. The Korean martial Arts where on a cross-road: on one side there was Tae Kwon Do becoming more and more an olympic martial sport and a children`s system. On the other, there was the traditional fraction with endless form practice, acrobatic kicks and hard blocks.
To be sure, there were allready other options such as Hapkido and Kuk Sool Won. The problem was that those korean arts, at the time, where not very popular, easily available or commercial viable as Tae Kwon Do. GM P. changed all that. He promoted and popularized Hapkido and invented the successful formula of offereing a Hapkido program of self defense for adult and mature students alongside a Taekwondo curriculum.
He was not the first, nor the only pioneeer, but he is definitly the father of modern Hapkiudo in the USA. Over the years he continued the process of reving and evolving this system. Many times GM P. was branded to be too modern, too eclectic; he had been called a rebel, renegade and much worse. But the best sources and reference material you can find have reviewed the official birth of Hapkido at 1948, so can anyone explain how a 54 year old self-defense system, based on Japanes AikiJuJutsu, founded by a Korean and further repacked and modified by several Korean instructors for Korean consumption, can today be described as a traditional art? In the contrary, if it wasn`t also for GM P.`s relentless pioneer efforts to popularize the system of Combat Hapkido in the US , Europe, India, the Middle East, South America and New Zealand, Hapkido hadn`t enjoyed a tremedeous growth. We cannot give GM P. all the credit for this surge in popularity, but certainly he deserves a lot of it.
Over the years GM P. had many critics, but he was not deterred from his mission and continued to evolve his system and aggresivly promete his vision. By staying the course, he showed a tremendeous amount of courage, leadership and, in the best martial arts tradition, indomable spirit.
This year, 2002, marks the tenth anniversary of the ICHF, not a small feat in an industry, where styles, associations and governing bodies spring up overnight and disapear just as quickly. COMBAT HAPKIDO is now taught in over 200 schools in a dozen countries.
http://www.selfdefense-germany.de/sv12a12e.jpg
".... we teach no forms in combat hapkido; we train 100% for self-defense and it does not take five years to become a black belt."
"We were self-defense when self-defense wasn't cool. Now, after the evil attack of 9-11, everyone can see the validity of our posiition!"
" ... we are not buredend by esoteric dressing, forms or spurious traditions; we have gone back to the true roots; we have come full circle."
"We have a strong presence in the Tae Kwon Do community through the INDEPENT TAEKWONDO ASSOCIATION - we attract primarily instructors who wish to be autonomous and independent ...."
http://www.selfdefense-germany.de/Mastergreg1.gif
MEET THE GRANDMASTER in Germany after 2000 and 2001 again on May 1st und 2nd in Munich and Landsberg/Lech Bavaria for the EUROPEAN TOUR SEMINAR - train with the founder of Combat Hapkido ....
Check our homepage for Seminar booking
The first interview was in 1989 and the second cover feature in March 1990 sent shockwaves through the Korean Martial Arts community. Grandmaster Pellegrini received hundreds of calls and letters from over the world, some encouraging, some wanting to know more about Combat Hapkido, some praising and some extremely negative. His organization grew almost over night from 4 to more than a dozen schools.
GM P. interpreted the incredible response to this interview as a call for action. He felt that he had a vision and he shared his vision with other instructors of korean martial arts. He simply wanted to introduce a new formula for sucess in Tae Kwon Do schools that of the years had lost not only the adult market but also the realistic self-defense component for the sake of art and sport.
The solution he proposed was Hapkido (at that time a little known Korean art often konfused with Aikido).
GM P. believed, if Tae Kwon Do instructores would teach a seperate Hapkido Programm in their schools, they would recapture the adult market, and add a new exciting and practical dimension to their curriculum. However, because he was not entirly satisfied with the styles available at the time, he decided to develop his own.
He embarked on the challenging project of structuring his system, formalizing a syllabus, conducting seminars and producing instructorional videos. In 1992 he formed the International Combat Hapkido Federation. Then came the 1994 cover feature in Taekwondo Times. That interview, even more controversial than the previous one, generated more mail to the editior than any other cover article in the history of the magazine. Definitly something was going on. Why all the fuss? Why this overwhelming response?
Grandmaster Pellegrini emerged as a pioneer arriving at the right place, at the right time. The Korean martial Arts where on a cross-road: on one side there was Tae Kwon Do becoming more and more an olympic martial sport and a children`s system. On the other, there was the traditional fraction with endless form practice, acrobatic kicks and hard blocks.
To be sure, there were allready other options such as Hapkido and Kuk Sool Won. The problem was that those korean arts, at the time, where not very popular, easily available or commercial viable as Tae Kwon Do. GM P. changed all that. He promoted and popularized Hapkido and invented the successful formula of offereing a Hapkido program of self defense for adult and mature students alongside a Taekwondo curriculum.
He was not the first, nor the only pioneeer, but he is definitly the father of modern Hapkiudo in the USA. Over the years he continued the process of reving and evolving this system. Many times GM P. was branded to be too modern, too eclectic; he had been called a rebel, renegade and much worse. But the best sources and reference material you can find have reviewed the official birth of Hapkido at 1948, so can anyone explain how a 54 year old self-defense system, based on Japanes AikiJuJutsu, founded by a Korean and further repacked and modified by several Korean instructors for Korean consumption, can today be described as a traditional art? In the contrary, if it wasn`t also for GM P.`s relentless pioneer efforts to popularize the system of Combat Hapkido in the US , Europe, India, the Middle East, South America and New Zealand, Hapkido hadn`t enjoyed a tremedeous growth. We cannot give GM P. all the credit for this surge in popularity, but certainly he deserves a lot of it.
Over the years GM P. had many critics, but he was not deterred from his mission and continued to evolve his system and aggresivly promete his vision. By staying the course, he showed a tremendeous amount of courage, leadership and, in the best martial arts tradition, indomable spirit.
This year, 2002, marks the tenth anniversary of the ICHF, not a small feat in an industry, where styles, associations and governing bodies spring up overnight and disapear just as quickly. COMBAT HAPKIDO is now taught in over 200 schools in a dozen countries.
http://www.selfdefense-germany.de/sv12a12e.jpg
".... we teach no forms in combat hapkido; we train 100% for self-defense and it does not take five years to become a black belt."
"We were self-defense when self-defense wasn't cool. Now, after the evil attack of 9-11, everyone can see the validity of our posiition!"
" ... we are not buredend by esoteric dressing, forms or spurious traditions; we have gone back to the true roots; we have come full circle."
"We have a strong presence in the Tae Kwon Do community through the INDEPENT TAEKWONDO ASSOCIATION - we attract primarily instructors who wish to be autonomous and independent ...."
http://www.selfdefense-germany.de/Mastergreg1.gif
MEET THE GRANDMASTER in Germany after 2000 and 2001 again on May 1st und 2nd in Munich and Landsberg/Lech Bavaria for the EUROPEAN TOUR SEMINAR - train with the founder of Combat Hapkido ....
Check our homepage for Seminar booking