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291 Highway 51
Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157
(601) 856-8487
West's Hapkido Academy, Inc. opened its doors in 1973 in Jackson, Mississippi when Master J.R.West, then a HapKiDo 3rd Dan,
decided that it was time to begin to pass on the knowledge that he had acquired during his
contact with the Korean Tiger Division (ROK Capital Cavalry) while serving an extended tour
as a communications specialist in Binh Dinh Province in the Central Highlands of South
Vietnam.
HapKiDo was
virtually an unknown art in United States in May of 1970 when Master West, a HapKiDo black
belt since 1967, returned from Vietnam. After searching the southeastern
United States he was fortunate enough to become associated with Master (now Doctor)
He-Young Kimm (Kim, Hyung-suk), an extremely well educated and talented man with an
incredible knowledge of Korean Martial Arts including, among others, Hapkido and
Yudo. The two began a friendship which continues to this day, with Master West, until
1996, serving as the director of associate members for Dr. Kimm's World HanMuDo
Association, and Dr. Kimm teaching clinics regularly at West's Hapkido Academy
as well as acting as Master West's mentor and advisor.
In 1989 Master West married Renee Sebren (1961 - 2003), a former student who had
attained 1st gup at West's HapKiDo Academy prior to moving to Colorado in the early '80s.
Master has continued to strive to expand the knowledge and ability of all HapKiDo practitioners with whom they
have come in contact. Master Renee West, although now deceased, served as an example to female Martial artists
everywhere that they too, can be as good as they want to be. In 1996.
Dr. Kimm wrote a "Letter of Recommendation" for
Master West stating that the time had come for Master West to "take his place as a
completely independent leader in the field of HapKiDo".
Today the academy
maintains a 5,250 sq. ft. modern facility totally dedicated to the teaching of HapKiDo to
men, women and children in the Jackson suburb of Ridgeland, Mississippi, and offers the
utmost in traditional HapKiDo instruction for those who are more interested in learning
than they are in the color of their belt. Every Spring and Fall, HapKiDo
stylists from all over the world make the trip to Jackson, Mississippi to train at one of
Master West's "International HapKiDo Seminars"
which continue to break all records for numbers in attendance and distance traveled.
School Hours -
- Children's Classes - Monday and Wednesday - 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- Beginner Classes - Adults - Tuesdays & Thursdays - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
- Advanced and Black Belt Class - Adults - Mondays - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
- Open Classes - Adult - Saturday - 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm; - Wednesday - 6:00pm to 9:00pm
- Private instruction is available at no extra charge during "open class" times as well as before and after regular classes.
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