Martial Arts Purgatory

Hapkido: Way of Power, Inner Harmony, and Totally Not Being At Your Studio When You Say You Will Be

I just got back from a fruitless trip across town to a Hapkido school that was CLOSED. There was a sign hanging on the door saying that they were closed for three days for a "Summer break" or something like that. And this wouldn't have irked me so much if this wasn't the SECOND time I showed up to this school and gone back home lesson-less. (Incidentally, I would have been somewhat mollified if there was notice of the cancellation on their website or Facebook page, but there WASN'T.) The first time was the day after "Mud Fest." And I was the only person to show up to class first thing on a Monday morning, so the instructor basically just sent me home. So seeing as how I've made two trips there for a SCHEDULED lesson and haven't received ONE yet, I'm thinking maybe another martial arts school might be worth trying first.

So there are three martial arts schools here in Busan that advertise classes in English. There's the one above. There's the one that only has classes scheduled when I can't make it to them. And there's the Korean Kartel.

Even the name is slightly scary, right? Add to this the fact that their training sessions last three times longer than the other two school (three hours vs. one hour) and their website contains the following:

No Pussies
No Excuses
Your Workout is Our Warm-Up
Go Hard or Go Home
Fit Like F**k

Oh, and their Facebook page claims: "The safest training program is also the most inefficient one." Can you see why I'm a little hesitant to go to this school? I could die during my first class, and they would just tell me to get up and stop being a pussy!

So maybe I will try yoga instead of martial arts? Or just join a normal gym? (There's one called "Tomato" not far from where I live, which is a strange name for a gym... maybe because by the end of your workout you are as red and swollen as a Jersey Beefsteak?)