Awesome Australia! Hapkido with Master Matt Geister

Apart from meeting our former students at Spirit Tae

Kwon Do, we were able to meet other Instructors during

our time in Australia. We had the opportunity to train

with Master Matt Geister, (4th Dan Hapkido) at his

Hapkido gym. Master Geister is a chiropractor by day

and does his Hapkido instructing by night. The first

thing that he did when we met him was to ask us what

we wanted to teach and also what we wanted to learn.

This set the basis for a lovely exchange. We shared the

Hapkido that we had learnt from our own Master, Jang

In Mok style which not many people are familiar with –

it dazzled him. But it dazzled him in an inspirational

way and then he showed us what he had, which was

equally dazzling. So you’ve got these next generation of

instructors now, who are not frightened to show

By Alex and Cliff Edwin

share. So it was really nice to be able to go all the way to

Australia, meet up with broad minded instructors who

were willing to exchange ideas and to see what they are

doing and how far they are taking their Martial Arts. The

session went on for about two hours. We mixed with the

senior and junior instructors.

In the context of Martial Arts we should not compare

Korea to Australia, as it would be wrong to do so. We

must remember that Korea is the birthplace of Tae Kwon

Do and Hapkido. Both Arts are cultivated from Korean

society. We in the West –and I include Australians in

this- are coming at Martial Arts from a totally different

mindset, because our cultivation and our ethos is born of

a Western perspective; so to be in Australia as a

Churchill Fellow, being able to be participate in such a

or

Tae Kwon Do Club in Sydney, Australia and have many

contacts in Korea.

Anne Marie had arranged that at 10am the following

morning we would be picked up by Master Won Kyu

Cho who would take us to meet 9th Dan Tae Kwon Do, -

Grand Master Ky Hyun Lee . We would have the

opportunity to ask Grand Master Lee about any aspect

of TKD or Martial Arts in general. We would also have

the opportunity to train with Grand Master Lee.

Alex said “… Australia was really, really good because

we’ve got these two third generation students out there,

who left us ten years ago from England and they have set

up their own gym in Sydney – Spirit Tae Kwon Do. It was

really nice to reminisce about the past, to see where their

TKD journey has taken them and what they have achieved

in the form of Spirit Tae Kwon Do.”

http://spirittaekwondo.com.au