Hosin sul Seminar, a great day had by all…

On Saturday the 15th of October our association embarked on the first of many advanced hosin sul seminars conducted by Mr. Paul Hastings head of Sung Moo Kwan Hapkido (UK).

This first seminar was an introductory session, and was geared up to fit in with our Taekwon-do techniques.  The seminar was well attended and a cross – section of all age groups were present, red & black belts.

Firstly the introduction of easier release holds with simple adjustments to what we already practice was proved to be very rewarding. Students were surprised what a difference these small adjustments made in practice. Also changing an assailants attack to a defenders advantage with one very simple move was a lot easier to remember, and apply.

Mr Hastings hand & foot counter attacks from release holds were amazingly fast & powerful, attacking many different vital areas instantaneously.

“Some” pressure point strikes were demonstrated with raptuous laughter when the volunteers who stood up were dealt with by Mr Hastings.  At each stage of this part of session students were given plenty of time to practise, or “play” as Mr Hastings described it….. There were a lot of painful outcries when students found the right pressure point on their unwilling opponents!

Mr Hastings emphasised that what was shown can do no harm and was just another way of warding off an assailant. He would demonstrate more advance pressure point striking to our adult black belts at a later date.

We next moved on to knife defence, and were told that an experienced knife assailant would be hard to defend against. After seeing the different types of knifes on display that could be used, and the way an assailant could use them it was clear to everyone what he meant.

More emphasis was put on the mental focus of a defender at this point (street wisdom) something he would elaborate more on in-depth in future seminars. In fact controlling ones inner fears he said is a large part of self defence, and could with practice improve greatly ones chances of survival (Solution Focused Therapy) Ordinary house hold articles were also on display, and the different ways of using them in a situation was demonstrated.

Mr Hastings answered many questions at the end of a very interesting, and enjoyable seminar.

He is a calm quite intellectual person, who you can see has a vast knowledge on all aspects of self defence, with over 40 year’s experience here and abroad.

We at the GTUK would like to thank him very much for passing on this knowledge to us, and look forward to training with him again in the very near future.

Also our thanks goes’ out to Henry (the skeleton with one arm) and his friend who assisted

Mr Hastings at the seminar…

Thank you Mr Wells for the photo shots…..