I decided to merge the advanced black belt site with Hapkido Online and spent the day doing that.  It was more work than you might think.

My reasoning is the advanced site never got much traction either with the students or me. But Hapkido Online has been doing great.  It seemed to me that black belt lessons need not be in a separate place from gup lessons. So I merged them.  In the main menu you will now see 'Gup Learn' (instead of learning) and 'Dan Learn'.  Dan Learn is 1st Dan content.

I also did away with $10 a month for black belt content only.  Now you can get the whole shebang for the same great price as normal Hapkido Online.  Very few customers purchased that package anyway.  If you are a $10 a month student and this seems unfair to you, email me and we will work something out.

Due to ongoing COVID backlash I'm still searching for a local place to not only practice and teach Hapkido but also to film new content.  If any of you live in the Harpers Ferry WV region and would like to lend us some space it would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless,
Master Jon

Well the last year has been one of the strangest I can recall.  It's been a year of trial and tribulation. Like many out there I contracted Covid, fortunately the disease ran it's course and didn't hit me all that hard.  For those of you who have lost somebody I offer my prayers and sympathies.

Due to the pandemic and lock down I shut down the Covenant Hapkido School.  Given the circumstances it seemed the most responsible choice.  We have now been without our local school for a year and I miss my local students and the time we spent together.  I recently took the first of the two part Covid vaccine.  I realize this is may be controversial to some of you.  Please remember that I served in the military for 20 years and I'm accustomed to getting vaccinated for just about everything so for me it didn't really take much consideration.

My main reason for getting vaccinated is I want to get back to teaching Hapkido locally.  For my students, for my son, and for myself.  I think the future will have some bright moments but I also continue to prepare for the worst and keeping fit and strong and ready to defend yourself is the best medicine for the unknown.

As for Hapkido Online, the pandemic only increased it's popularity.  It's as busy now as it ever was.  The Hapkido Dummies have been improving as well thanks to the ingenuity of one student in particular.

Moving forward I wish you all my prayers for the very best.

For the first time in over 8 years Hapkido Online has increased it's prices.  As the site has gained in popularity it has driven costs up.  I resisted doing this as long as I could but the time has come.  We are still considerably less expensive than any for profit brick and mortar school and more affordable than most other distance learning programs.

Since the pandemic I've received more and more requests for one on one video instruction.  In the past I've done sessions like this for free but I've had to reconsider.  If I did this for everyone who has asked I would be in front of the camera doing Hapkido for 60 hours a week.  Since I hold an ordinary job and have a family I simply can't do it at least, not freely.

I've arranged a compensation for training scenario which I think is reasonable.  You may now pay for individual instruction.  This option can be found here:

I will continue to hold regular group practice on Mondays at 5PM EST I have no plans to charge for group practice.

Three years ago Julie and I bought our first lovely home.  Moving is always a nightmare but we managed it.  We did pretty well but one thing that didn't make it was my swivl and camera.

What is a swivl?  A swivl is a small robot that holds a camera and points that camera at a small remote.  The remote is also a microphone.  The swivl is essentially a robot cameraman and sound engineer.  My original was instrumental in building Hapkido Online and I felt it's loss.

The one pictured above is the Generation 1 Swivl.  Which is what I had.  This is obsolete nowadays but still works perfectly for making Hapkido tutorials.  Even a used swivl is still usually a couple of hundred dollars. 

I realize it's not a vast sum of money, however, I've always run Hapkido Online on a shoestring budget.  I keep my costs low and that way I can keep my fees low for you, my students.  In fact i haven't raised fees once in the eight years since I began Hapkido Online.

I've been watching Ebay and Amazon off and on hoping to find a used swivl that wouldn't break the bank.  Well I found one for $60 on Ebay this evening!  I ordered it and it should be here by mid January.

All of you, yes you, pray hard that this thing works.  We need it to bring new content to the site.  I have some camera options that I believe will work reasonably well. I'll keep you posted.

For now, very excited at the prospect of making new Hapkido videos.

Today I cleaned and updated every page under the Home tab, FAQ, JOIN, and Store.  My new Linux web editing software comes with spell check and it's a revelation.  I fixed a number of spelling errors, some have been there nearly eight years.  One thing I've been doing is refining the language so it's easier and faster to read.  I still need to replace camera gear and I need a swivl device to act as camera person.

One of the major updates added to the site is I've added language and links for Hapkido Dummies.  For many who have trouble keeping an uke available these dummies will be a game changer. 

I'll be tackling the Learning pages in the days ahead.  My major focus is to reduce the amounts of words not only on the page but spoken in the videos.  You would think that more words = better learning but actually the opposite is true.  It's always better to show than tell.

I hope you all have a great year and grow as Hapkidoin.  Tell your friends about Hapkido Online!

God Bless,
Jon F.

I've started a new local program at Covenant Baptist Church in Shepherdstown WV.  Class is held on Mondays 5PM-6:30PM.  Ages 13 and up.  Seniors welcome. Class size is limited to ten.  I do this so that I can focus on each student and nobody get's left out.  Next practice will be March 11th.  

In just a few few short days we Hapkido Online celebrates our six year anniversary! I'm happy to report that we are still going strong. I have many plans for 2018, high on my list is to update our film equipment and film new content. I also look forward to growing the content on the black belt site.

I want to share my most heartfelt thanks to all of you for supporting Hapkido Online over the years.

God Bless,
​Jon

Well 2017 like the year before has been a year of change so far.  My wife and I bought our first home this year in Harpers Ferry WV!  While that has been a milestone it's been a laborious one in that we've been renovating.

We are now just a stones throw from Mr. David Henry's excellent ProForm martial arts school in Martinsburg, WV.  I hope as I approach military retirement to attend his school more often.

Today I changed the domain name for the advanced site to: www.hapkidoonlineadvanced.com

Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

I'm still on the wicked wicked day night shifts for the military and I still look forward to retirement.

We have many excellent seminars and the THA conference coming up this year and I'll be updating those links.

God Bless to you all!
​Jon

Well I think we are in for another exciting year of Hapkido and Hapkido Online.  Many things happened in my life in 2015.  For one thing I was transferred to my new unit in Alexandria Virginia.  The Yorktown Hapkido Club continues to run under the leadership of CAPT Brad Bennett (ret) PHD.  Brad is an excellent student and teacher and I know that club is destined for greatness.

I am currently doing shift work which means that every other month I work entirely at night.  This has made it very difficult to teach with any regularity.  But I have made my fellow shift workers aware of my abilities and offered to teach them.  Also I've been a guest instructor at a fantastic club run by Pastor Conrad Smith at Grace Bible Church several times since transferring.

While my life has been turned up on it's ear I am proud to say that www.hapkido-online.com continues to grow and provide training for people all around the world.  It has proven it's viability and robustness even now.

Also it seems that the Tactical Hapkido Alliance continues to grow as well making in-roads into many new places and even countries due in no small part to this website.

While I realize we all face many new challenges this year I also accept that the core values I've learned and taught as a Christian Hapkidoin will serve me well in the days ahead.

I look forward to our continued journey.

God Bless,
​Jon