My HwaRangDo Experience

**parthenon** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 12:44am

Hey everyone the reason why I am posting this thread is because I hardly ever hear much about HRD and whenever I do it's someone bashing the lineage or the Lee family or whatever.

Anyways....
I started HRD when I was around 9 years old and continued until I was around 13 (I know I was young but hear me out). First off, I don't know about the history of the HwaRang and whether they were real or not. Nor do I really care.

I was instructed by Eric T. Lee. (Joo Bang Lee's youngest son aka the one we never mentioned for some stupid reason). Eric was a great instructor 1) because he wasn't stuck up asshole 2) he looked like he could really fight (remember I was 9 yrs old) 3) and he taught us good a variety of techniques. The reason why I left HRD was for some reason Eric stopped teaching (I believe it was due to some family problems or so I heard) and was replaced by mediocre instructors none of which were good as Eric.

As for Henry Lee (Eric's older brother and Joo Bangs eldest son) I hear a lot crap being spoken about him and well ... I don't really know the guy but when he taught our class for a week it was quite dissapointing (ie no sparring and no grappling) and he seemed kind of big headed. After that week Eric was gone forever and I left HRD and few months after.

Although most people hear aren't attracted to the "cult like" aura of HRD, the physical part of the training is in my opinion great. The training was composed of forms, sparring, grappling, self defense, weapons training, and agility training.

The forms for the most part were cool looking (thats all I remember), the sparring was great. the rules go as follows: Punches to the head and body, kicks to head and body and legs, takedowns are allowed. The grappling was also very good Eric taught us things like the armbar, leglock, achilles heel lock and a variety of judo like throws.

Self Defense was also very good. They taught us basics like wristlocks, chickenwing, and a bunch of other stuff). The weapons they taught were: nunchukus (song ja bhong (korean)), staff, and kumdo (kendo). Aglity was composed of rolls, dive rolls, falling techniques and such. Eric wasn't hesitant having me spar the older students and we all went medium to medium hard contact. Obviuosly no full contact for me since I was just a little squirt at the time.

After Eric left, everything went downhill from there. The sparring was changed more to like TKD point sparring. This meant no more punches to the head, no takedowns and no kicks to the leg. Also they never bothered with grappling again. Also testing fees increased and "belt stripes" were required. This was a total dissapointment as I saw the transformation from a dojang to McDojang.

HRD was and could possibly still be a great art if you find the right instructor but don't count on it, it seems that most instructors in it are naive and gullible.

Feel free to ask me any questions about my experience and I will be more than happy to answer them for you.

Parth

**Miguksaram** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 9:43am

Originally Posted by parthenon

Hey everyone the reason why I am posting this thread is because I hardly ever hear much about HRD and whenever I do it's someone bashing the lineage or the Lee family or whatever.

Anyways....
I started HRD when I was around 9 years old and continued until I was around 13 (I know I was young but hear me out). First off, I don't know about the history of the HwaRang and whether they were real or not. Nor do I really care. I was instructed by Eric T. Lee. (Joo Bang Lee's youngest son aka the one we never mentioned for some stupid reason). Eric was a great instructor 1) because he wasn't stuck up asshole 2) he looked like he could really fight (remember I was 9 yrs old) 3) and he taught us good a variety of techniques. The reason why I left HRD was for some reason Eric stopped teaching (I believe it was due to some family problems or so I heard) and was replaced by mediocre instructors none of which were good as Eric. As for Henry Lee (Eric's older brother and Joo Bangs eldest son) I hear a lot crap being spoken about him and well ...

First off HRD lineage as they teach is crap. Ok..nuff said about that. It does not surprise me that Eric is ousted from the family business or more to the point asked to step down. It seems to be a trend in their system. When speaking to GM De Alba about the Lee's, it seems to be a general consensus that the real talent of the Joo Bang Lee and Joo Sang Lee was Joo Sang who left because, as the story goes, he saw that his brother was bastardizing the art and making weak. Even if you look on the website they only mention Joo Sang Lee one time but the credit Joo Bang Lee as the founder. However, I believe it was Joo Sang who actually opened the first dojang. Now we see the same thing happening with the kids. The real talent of Eric being over shadowed by the bullshit and arrogance of Henry. This art is going into the shitter under the leadership of Joo Bang and Henry.

If you are looking to go back into the art I would recommend Michael De Alba, Bob Duggan or Gil Kim. Why? Because they are early students and trained under Joo Sang as well as his first generation students. To this day they still keep their training based in traditon but built for reality.

**SamHarber** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 12:18pm

Originally Posted by parthenon

Hey everyone the reason why I am posting this thread is because I hardly ever hear much about HRD and whenever I do it's someone bashing the lineage or the Lee family or whatever.

Anyways....
Yada yada monkeydance

The return key is your friend. Please use it much more often.

**parthenon** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 2:27pm

Originally Posted by SamHarber

The return key is your friend. Please use it much more often.

Hehe sorry about that. I'll try to remember that next time. I hope its easier to read now.

**CleanShave** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 6:59pm

I have had the pleasure of some sessions with Michael De Alba. Unlike Joo Bang, he does not mind admitting that he incorporates principles and techniques from other style into his art.

**parthenon** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 8:48pm

Excellent. I am quite curious of meeting Mr. De Alba myself since his SanFrancisco school is nearby.

**parthenon** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 10:29pm

I am just curious, have any of you met Eric Lee?

**Miguksaram** · Posted On: 10/22/2004 10:44pm

Originally Posted by parthenon

I am just curious, have any of you met Eric Lee?

I have not but my instructor has. He mentioned that he was good at what he did.

**Freddy** · Posted On: 10/23/2004 5:53pm

From what I understand Gil Kim is perhaps the highest ranked member that left that still activily teaches. (Second to that is Bob Dugan and Micheal de Alba of course.) I havnt heard anything about Jo Sang Lee though? Does he still know Hwarangdo????

**parthenon** · Posted On: 10/23/2004 6:51pm

I not sure whether Joo Sang Lee still teaches anymore odds are he probably doesn't. A similar question was asked on the HRD forums heres the link to it:

http://www.hwarangdo.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=187

The forums are pretty shitty and very confined. The way the question was answered just seemed false and untruthful as if they are trying to cover something up. Im going to post a question about Eric whenever I get the time and see what kind of repsonse i get.