What's holding you back from fulfilling your potential?

Having moved to America with my family when I was 11yrs old, I started studying Hapkido with Master Chang when I was 12 …. I am now 37 so I guess that’s quite a while.

For the first 12 years of my training I lived in Chicago. I was twenty-three and a 2nd Dan when I had immigration problems and finally had to leave my family and life in America and return to England.

I moved in with my Grandma in Lincolnshire and started the Lincoln club. In 2001 I met Jo, moved to London, and started the London branch of Chang’s Hapkido Academy.

Now a 4th dan and a full-time instructor, Hapkido in many ways has been a barometer in my life. It’s been a constant that has challenged me and made me realise things about myself. As I have improved in Hapkido I also have become more and more myself outside of the dojang.

Less so the lower belt colours, but each Dan grade that I have achieved has been curiously timed with something significant happening within my life – a realization, a step forward, a release of some sort.

I’m not saying that you will realise this at 1st Dan, this at 2nd Dan…

But through the process of achieving within Hapkido we are challenged to face reality, to face ourselves.

Many of the London students mentioned to me how inspired they were by the lectures Master Chang gave during his last visit to England. That’s wonderful…

Many are realizing that Hapkido isn’t just about performing techniques in class.

Let’s take the lessons we learn in the dojang and connect them to our daily lives – that’s the real benefit of Hapkido training.

What’s holding you back from fulfilling your potential?