The Bronx Combat Hapkido Center is the best little hapkido school in New York City. If you want to learn what it takes to survive a hostile encounter on the streets of New York—or anywhere else for that matter—then you owe it to yourself to pay a visit to the Bronx Hapkido Club.

Hapkido is a powerful Korean self-defense martial art still relatively unknown to this day even to otherwise savvy martial artists. A comprehensive martial art, it offers serious martial arts students an array of strikes, kicks, throws, breakaways, and pressure-point techniques that will enable you to incapacitate an attacker and give you a chance to escape safe and sound from a potentially deadly predicament.

Combat Hapkido, however, is not a “traditional martial art” as the term is commonly used.

Combat Hapkido is a progressive style of hapkido. It stresses realistic, self-defense techniques applicable to life-threatening, real-world situations. Grandmaster John Pellegrini of the International Combat Hapkido Federation his school in response to the self-defense needs of contemporary times while nonetheless respecting the roots of hapkido which go back decades and even centuries.

Combat Hapkido is recognized as a legitimate kwan (that is, school) by the World Ki-Do Federation, a martial-arts governing association recognized in turn by the Korean government.

Visit the Bronx Combat Hapkido Club. You won’t see any of the glitter and glitz that decorate strip-mall karate studios. You won’t see walls lined with sparkling mirrors or shelves groaning under the weight of shiny tournament trophies. There are no competitions. Nor will you see students practicing complicated acrobatic moves that require the skill of a seasoned gymnast.

That’s not what Combat Hapkido is about.

What you will see are Master Al Medina and his small cadre of dedicated black-belt instructors. Many have a law enforcement or military background. In fact, Master Medina is a 20+ year veteran of the New York Police Department. His second-in-command is an ex-Marine and former US Army Special Forces veteran.

In short, they have real-world experience. They know what works on the streets of New York and what doesn’t. Their competence as martial artists is rivaled only by their exceptional teaching expertise and friendliness.

The atmosphere is thoroughly friendly and supportive. You won’t find any ego or arrogant tough-guy attitudes. No one is trying to prove how “bad” they think they are. Instead, everyone is dedicated to helping each other make the most of their time on the mats in order to learn the science of self-defense.

The classes are small. You won’t be just another warm body standing in a rank-and-file formation. The instructors and others students will get to know your name and, more importantly, get to know you and what you need to become a competent martial artist. In other words, you’ll know how to defend yourself.

You’ll almost invariably find yourself training one-on-one with at least one or more experienced black belts. That kind of personalized one-on-one instruction will cost you hundreds of dollars a month elsewhere—even if you could find a school that offered it.

It makes no difference whether you are a novice or an experienced martial artist seeking a better path. It makes no difference whether you are young or old. In fact, one active student there is approaching 70 years!

Women as well as men will find the instructors and the students extraordinarily respectful and attuned to the self-defense needs of women. Everyone is treated with respect and civility. Period. Equally important, several of the instructors are certified instructors in rape and sexual harassment prevention.

No matter what walk of life you have chosen, no matter who you are, you’ll find the Bronx Hapkido Club a warm and welcoming environment in which to train and learn.

You’ll discover that you will learn how to defend yourself from even the most brutal attackers in far less time than if you went to more commercial martial-arts schools where you often have to wait years before you learn anything that will help you in a real-time hostile encounter in the streets—if at all.

Better yet, Master Medina and his instructors realize that we each have our own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning and the martial arts are no different. Accordingly, they make an honest effort to accommodate the curriculum to the unique needs of the student while still maintaining the highest standards.

The Bronx Combat Hapkido club doesn’t tie you down with long-term or even short term contracts. There are no contracts, period.

There are no surprises or gimmicks. All the course requirements are spelled out on the website and in a written booklet each student receives when he joins the school.

The monthly tuition is extremely affordable. It’s arguably the best deal in the Big Apple. Once you’ve trained for a month or so, you won’t need a contract to make you come to class. You’ll just want to be part of the club.

The Bronx Combat Hapkido Center also offers special training sessions for law enforcement, military, and security professionals.

Take a free trial class. There are no obligations, no strings attached. Don’t take my word for it. You be the judge.

Call Master Medina at 718-882-8985 or e-mail him at amcinc@optonline.net.

P.S. I received no compensation for this review. It’s just an honest appraisal of a great school.