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How come there are no low priced Hapkido or TKD schools, such as in Judo or Aikido?
Where they charge a very low fee per month (say, $20, and an annual fee)?
I know the Hapkido or TKD dojos are almost always in strip malls or whatever and must pay their rent and thus, they have to charge big bucks, but how come there are no small schools that charge a nominal fee?
The reason is simple. TKD schools are almost always opened for the main purpose of making a lot of money. To do this the school must be located in an area that has many families living close by that have a high income. Locations like that have high rent. To make money the school has to charge a high price to both pay the bills and make a lot of money.
NOTE: most (but not all) of the TKD schools that say they teach Hapkido will usually require you to study TKD in order to study Hapkido. It is simply a way to extract more money from the students. Learning Hapkido does not require that you know any TKD. Often the schools that require you to study TKD will not have a Hapkido class at all. I know of many cases where you join the TKD only to find that they are not teaching classes in Hapkido because they claim that they don't have enough students interested to create a class. Other times I have watched the Hapkido class only to find that they are not teaching the real Hapkido. Some times they are teaching TKD but adding a few badly done joint locks and throws.
Hapkido correctly practiced is a very risky thing to study. There are many injuries in a real Hapkido class. One of my past instructors was teaching Japanese martial arts.He also knew Hapkido. The head of the organization ordered his to convert the dojo to a Hapkido Dojang. He started with about 50 regular students. Within 2-3 months he had only 3-5 students left. Most were out due to injuries. Some just could not take the training. Hapkido has many throws that can't be practiced slowly of safely. One involves a throw that is similar to a shoulder throw. Instead of the attackers arm over your should, the attackers crotch is on top of your shoulder. You are holding his leg and then throw him. He goes much higher and how he lands is not something you or he can predict.
Hapkido if taught properly and not watered down is a very good method of self-defense. It was created by a martial arts master that knew other martial arts. He created it to defeat other martial arts styles. As always in any fight it is the person not the style that decides the outcome. However, Hapkido is an excellent art.
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