Arrival and Meeting Grandmaster Kim

Hello, Mira here. Here we are in L.A. Trip so far has been pleasant, flight was long, but not too long. When we arrived to LAX everyone got their bags - all but one person..me.After speaking to Quantas, with a bit of begging crying and interrogating I found out that my bag has never left Sydney and they will have to a) find it b) stick it on a plane to LA c) deliver to me. All of this had to happen before 6am Sunday morning when we leave the hotel, so I was a bit nervous to say the least.After a bit of shopping for some bare necessities, we all spent our time relaxing and exploring the area where our hotel is. Some of us also did a tour of downtown L.A (Hollywood), Universal Studios and Sunset Strip.

Well, today is Saturday and some of us had arranged to train with Grandmaster Kim. We were meant to be picked up at 1.15pm, and some of us were a bit lucky to wake up in time as jet lag had caught up with some people (some rooms didn't get up until 12.30pm). Sir Mike and Ma'am Sharon drove up to the hotel and so the journey began to meet the GM Kim.

Upon arrival the first impression to me was that Gran Masters dojang is not much different from our dojang (size wise). On the sidelines we saw his Black belts in uniform waiting for us (that was a nice surprise that he had arranged his black belts to train with us). Then we were ushered to the ladies change room and a few nervous words were spoken as we were changing. Everyone was looking forward to the training.Grandmaster Kim was an old Korean gentleman who looked pretty much what I expected him to look like. He had a very interesting sense of humour, and some techniques also had interesting names. I was one of the lucky colour belts who got a black belt training partner.

I found that even though we have many differences in our way of doing things, what lies beneath and what the art is based on is the same (no resistance, water theory etc.) so it was fairly easy to pick up the techniques he showed us. He also asked Sir Jimmy (as the most senior belt) to demonstrate his Hapkido skills. I was smiling as my Black Belt partner was admiring openly some of Sir Jimmy's techniques. We also received some tips on breathing techniques, women's self defence (it took a while to explain that we don't teach self defence separately for ladies, but they are the same for everyone).

After the training was over, time for some photos and then a life saving Korean dinner at the restaurant owned by GM Kim's son (why lifesaving you may ask? well....it's not hamburgers and bacon or any fast food).

Next post from Lancaster PA, once the ITS kicks off.
Can't wait! Booyakasha!

[Update: See next blogpost with pictures in the 'GM Kim Update']