Classes, Clubs and Activities

In this section you can find info on Martial Arts, Classes (traditional music anyone?), Clubs in Daegu (mountain biking, hiking), and info on Learning Korean.

Martial Arts:

Below I've provided numbers for the headquarters of various martial arts in Daegu.  Call the numbers below to learn the phone number and address of instructors teaching near your home or workplace.   You probably will not find any English speakers at any of these numbers.  If you don't speak Korean, ask a Korean friend for help, when calling and perhaps even when locating the studio.

*Remember that you should ALWAYS watch an instructor teach before you sign up for classes.  Do they teach in a way you want to learn?  They will try to get you to sign up the moment you walk in the door.  The standard practice is for them to _stop_ what they are doing, including teaching a class, and usher you into an office.  Explain politely that you'd like to watch the class, and then talk after it's over.  They won't have much time then, as they'll be driving students home and picking up others between class times.  But, they can spare 5-10 minutes.  If that isn't enough, come back on another day.  Never sign up without trying to judge for yourself if they are good at teaching.  Many martial arts instructors become just that because of their own abundant skills in the art- but sometimes they can't teach worth beans, even if every move they make elicits a "Wow!".  

* Don't just go to the closest place to you, cause it's most convenient.  There are probably ten Taekwondo places within a ten minute walk of your dwelling.  Perhaps more!   In all the arts, instructors will drop you off and pick you up in their van if you are coming to a normal class time (and live within a reasonable distance).   

* Also, it's important to note that language should not be considered.  This is movement.  You can copy a movement no matter what your Korean ability is.   Don't pick a middling ability person who can speak a smattering of English over a truly talented instructor who doesn't speak any. 

Other points which I would consider if I was shopping for a new place to study include:

* The number of black belts currently studying in the studio.  If an instructor is good, students continue after they receive a black belt.  If he isn't so good, they will either drop out or they will move to a better instructor's gym.  After you receive your black belt you can move to another training place in your own federation without having to start over.  You will quickly review the basic moves at your new place and then continue to progress upwards into more difficult techniques.  If an instructor can keep and recruit black belts, he's good.   A studio that has been established for more than 5 years in the neighborhood should have about 15-30% black belts.

* Does the instructor seem confident he can teach a foreigner?   He should be... all he has to do is make a motion and you copy it.  He can adjust your pose with his hands.  He can patiently do it again.  He can make you practice in the mirror.  He can show you videos and books.  If he seems unduly nervous, then maybe he can't get past your language and to the grit of the matter- his art.   Many instructors want foreign students, because if you turn into the next hot foreign martial artist, you instantly catapult him into notoriety in his federation.  Even though your innate talent is part of the recipe, if he can show his teaching off on a flashy foreigner at demos or even competitions, he gets a lot more favorable notice than for just another middle school Korean boy who happens to be very good.   If you are good, after a few months, he'll start telling you that you should start teaching back in your country.  

* On the other hand, if you say you are going home in 7 months and he right off the bat says something like "I will guarantee you a black belt before you leave." then I'd be leery of him.  Taekwondo black belts take between 10 months and a year, if you do it properly.  Hapkido is about a year, the equivalent in Taekkyun usually takes 2 years or more.  You want your belt to mean something, right?  

* The look of the place.  Is it a basement?  Does it have lots of windows when the summer heats up or even air-conditioning?  Does it look successful?  Are there many trophies?   Is it reasonably clean (remember in most arts you are going to be rolling around on that floor!).  Is the mat in good shape?  Does the place smell like second-hand smoke?

* How old is he?  I hate to say this, but I have tried to train with people who are older, and it almost invariably is a bust.  Older Korean men run the show as "My way or the Highway", and don't tolerate much guff.  There are exceptions, but in general I recommend young active guys who do much of the teaching themselves, and don't spend most of each class in their office smoking cigarettes.  

 

Hapkido: 555-1850

       English Instruction available at two locations:

• Shilla Hapkido Studio, near Sungseo Keimyung University:  586-2245 
• Near Camp Walker:   011-532-2225    (Instructor (Charles) has lived in America) He is now calling his art "Kimoodo".  

 

 

Self-defense moves for Hapkido, cool outfits and big swords for Kumdo

Kumdo: 941-5572 (one thing to know about Kumdo is there are several very different camps within Kumdo, all of which seem to insist that their style is the true Kumdo.)

Taekkyun:  Since there are only four places currently teaching Taekkyun in Daegu, let me just list them by area:

Taekwondo:  358-7284

Yudo (Judo):  There is no Daegu office for the federation.  A phone number for one Yudo-jang is 656-6562 and perhaps the people there can give you the number for a place near your house.  (The Yudo-jang you would be calling is located in Duryu Park).  

Classes

Korean Traditional Music

Pan teaches three month classes, which start 4 times a year, January, March, July and October.  The classes are Poongmool (traditional drumming and dancing), Minyo (folk singing) and Samulnori (four part seated drumming).   959-3065.  Pan is located near Kyungbuuk University, Buukgu Sangyuk 3 Dong.  

Poongmool	beginning	Tues and Thurs	10-12 (am) or 7-9 (pm)
	advanced	Weds. and Friday	7-9 (pm)
Minyo	Mon. and Friday	10-11:30 (am)
Samulnori	(call to find out)

 

Yoga

Yoga has just taken off in Korea, with a string of TV documentaries and shows being followed by a bit of a yoga craze.  In Daegu there are seven Yoga studios at present.

625-8485 (headquarters)	Near Green Mansion (Daegu Technical College) in front of Green Bathhouse
631-8485	Sangin-dong.  At Daedong Market Intersection
651-0115	Daemyung-dong.  Next to Daegu Women's Hospital Shinhyup's 5th floor.
553-6363	Seodaegu. From Kamsam Intersection go 100 meters towards Wunhwa Girl's High School
644-6618	Hwawon.  In front of Han-oo Apartments.
472-1715	Boeng-duk-dong.  Outside Hyosung Town's back gate, in front of the Management Office
781-8275	Jisan-dong.  At Moekyun Market

 

The following classes were offered at Susunggu Chungso-nyun su-ryun gwan.   I have no current schedule from there, but I expect that similar classes for similar prices are available now.  The complex is located behind Hwanggum Apartments.  If you live in the neighborhood, and you have the right schedule...    

Badminton	8:30-10 M-F	1 month 20,000	bring your own racket
Ping-pong	10:30-12:00	1 month 25,000	bring your own paddle
Chinese & Korean Calligraphy	T/Th 1-2	2 months 45,000
Dance Sports	T/Th 1-2	2 months 40,000
Flower Arranging	Friday 10:30-12:00	3 months 45,000	materials fees
Janggu (Korean Hourglass Drum)	Monday 1-2:30	3 months 45,000
Korean Tradish Dance	Monday 10:30-12:00	3 months 45,000

 

These classes are offered at The Olympic Memorial Hall, located near Seobu Jungryujang, right across the street from Daegu Technical College. 

Swimming Pool Schedule for Adult Classes

Morning	M, W, F	6-6:50	Butterfly, Advanced Techniques	44,000
Morning	T, Th, S	"	Free-style, Backstroke, Front-stroke	"
Morning	M, W, F	7-7:50	"	"
Morning	T, Th, S	"	Butterfly, Advanced Techniques	"
Evening	M, W, F	7-7:50	"	"
Evening	T, Th, F	"	Free-style, Backstroke, Front-stroke	"
Evening	M-Th	8-8:50	all of the above	58,000

Individual Swimming Schedule

Weekdays	6-9:00 am	Adults 2,400 Kids 1,300  Students 2,100
	1-4:00 pm
	5:30-7:00 pm
Saturday	6-10:00 am
	12-6:00 pm

Classes

Origami		Monday	10:30-12	3 months for 60,000
Flower Arranging		Thursday	11:30-1:00	25,000 a month
How to teach your child to write		Monday	10:30-12:00	3 months for 70,000
Singing Clinic (for people who can't keep a tune/stay on key)		Thursday	10-12 & 1-3:00	30,000 a month (3 month course)
Dance Sports	Beginning	M and Weds.	10:00-11:00	30,000 a month (3 month course)
	Intermediate	M and Weds.	11:00-12:00
Chinese		T, Th	11:00-12:00	30,000 a month (3 month course)

Seogu Chungsonyun Suryungwan    I've never been here, but it must often similar classes, and the phone number is 572-2454.  If you live in Seogu and you are looking for classes like this, give them a call.  

Take a class and learn how to do this!

The sports classes are ongoing, but the others you could start late if you were willing to be a little confused at first.  They start again once every month to three months, so you can wait for a new class. 

There are, of course, hagwons teaching just about anything.  There are hagwons for calligraphy, paduk (a Korean chess equivalent often known by the Japanese name 'go'), dance, art, music, computers, math... you name it and someone in a big city like Daegu is trying to make money teaching it.  Check in the phone book under hagwon and you'll have a good start. 
 

 

Clubs

I'm sorry, but almost all of these links are to Korean Language pages.  But if this is really your thing, I'm providing the links and what you do with them is your own business.

Digital Photography:

This group is mostly older people (40s) but they aren't ageist.  Some of them are very good photographers and all of them seem quite sweet.  Doctor Kim Shin-geun speaks great English and is one of the high energy organizers of the group. His number is 011-818-5080.  Their homepage is http://www.dica450.com  They would happy to have foreign members (even film users) and the advantage to you is they organize outings to picturesque locations and all you have to do is come along (and chip in for gas and food).

Diving:

This group, Sea Explore, is making an English translation for their site.

If you have time to take a trip to Jeju Island (and you know everyone recommends you go there!) then think about doing some diving.  Ralf Deutsch runs a dive outfit "Big Blue 33" out of Sogwipo City on Jeju Island.  They offer services in English, Korean, German, Japanese and Russian.  Big Blue 33 offers daily trips to the soft coral dive sites near Sogwipo and courses for beginning and advanced divers.  They are a NAUI Pro Scuba Center.   You can click on the link for their site, or just call them directly, 064-733-1733 or 019-9755-1733. 
   

Hiking and Climbing:

Corean Alpine Club, Daegu Branch, 959-2779

K/F is a serious group doing International climbs, they even climbed Qomolangma a couple years ago! 

Palgong Alpine Club, rock climbing and hiking, 956-3714

Climbing is Meditation , this group includes serious technical rock climbing.

Climbing Groups 

Yeti ¿¹Æ¼	474-9871
Sangwagaegoek   »ê°ú°è°î	742-0030	Trips are usually 22-50,000 won.  50,000 would be for an overnight trip.
Eelyo ÀÏ¿ä	425-0022	The head guide is adorable.  He has the best personality!  He's also about 65 so don't think I am saying that for the wrong reasons.  This is the group I personally most often use.  Price is almost always 25,000.
Yungnam ¿µ³²	253-3333	The head guide is very outgoing and talkative, very enthusiastic about climbing with foreigners.  His name is Bahk Hae-yool ¹ÚÇØÀ² and he went out of his way to provide info about his group.
Sorak ¼³¾Ç	257-1100	Specializes in trips to Soraksan (you sleep on the bus, hike all day and then sleep on the bus).  Soraksan is sometimes closed to hikers due to fire danger, then they run other trips.
Alps ¾ËÇÁ½º	741-3301
K2	959-0444
Sanjung »êÁ¤	256-0786	Climbers range in age from 20-50s.  Usually 25,000 won.

So you've seen all these great Korean mountains and wish you could get out in them on the weekends, but  you just end up at Palgoengsan and Apsan again and again, right?  Or maybe you wait, hopefully, for a car owner friend to drive to a mountain.  If you take public transportation, transportation to many locations will eat your day.  And you may never get to the higher, remoter and more special spots. 

Well, there is a much better way.  I have been using the groups above for the last four years.  The deal is, you pay them a fee which covers a bus and a guide.  They give you a map and take you to a mountain.  The map shows the route, and one guide goes in front and one at the back of the group.  You don't backtrack, it's new ground all day.  The forward guide usually hangs bright ribbons on tree branches (especially at forks in the trail) to indicate which way for you to go.  Or  you can stick close to him, the guy in back, or any friendly fellow hiker in between.  If you get misplaced, they go looking for  you.  Their guide service would lose customer confidence if they were known to abandon a hiker on the mountain.  But you don't have to stick all together.  I usually end up about 5 people back from the front, in a gap between those speed-demons and the more normal people behind.  I have the trail to myself, or I share it with a friend. 

The groups go someplace different every weekend, and they usually have a plan at least a month in advance.  They take reservations, and it's a good idea to make reservations or you may find yourself without a seat.  In the morning everyone meets usually either downtown or in front of Gwangjang Ko-ah, which is in Seogu on the main drag a little near the rotary turn off for Duryu Park and Oobang Land.   They meet at between 5:30 and 7:30, average time being about 6:30.  You are usually back in Daegu around 7 or 8 p.m. depending on which mountain you visited. 

The normal practice is you bring your lunch and the group stops for breakfast at a reasonable breakfast hour at a rest stop (you pay for this yourself, about 5,000, but if you don't want anything, no problem).  Dinner is after you get back.  If you hiked fast,  you may end up waiting around the bus for the group to assemble, usually at some place with a restaurant or mini-market. 

None of the phone numbers above will be answered by an English speaker.  So, speak Korean, or get a friend to call for you.   I called all these places and made sure they were comfortable with the idea of a foreigner going with them. 

May I suggest you bring a plastic bag to carry some trash off the mountain. 

Mountain Biking:

Daegu has an all ages Bike group, Juktoma (Red Horse Team) with approximately 4 foreign members and about 80 members total.  Members meet once monthly for dinner at a restaurant near downtown, and plan rides.  About once a month there is a "Tour" where the members all ride together (usually as many as 20 will show up) at a local mountain.  There is a mountain bike race course and many good trails at Boeng-mu Park near Palgoengsan and members frequently meet in informal smaller groups to ride there, or at locations near their own house.  Nearly every Saturday and Sunday members are riding, it's just a question of hooking up with them.   Oh Gwang-su is one of the club officers, his number is 011-530-6883.  He does not speak English.  Members participate in races, if they want. As I am a member of Juktoma, I suppose you could call me if you wanted, my number is 016-525-3239.  There are two bike shops in Daegu that support "real" bikers, their numbers are on the contact page.

Paragliding:

Bluewings is a club for Daegu Paragliders.      

Skiing or Snowboarding:

The closest location for winter sports for us Daegu-ites in Muju Resort.  You can take a bus there from Buukbu Terminal, or sign onto a weekend trip.  I'd say you'll have more fun mid-week when it's not so crowded though.   Muju has 13 lifts, 30 slopes, one gondola.  One day lift ticket is 42-48,000.  Ski rental is 18-30,000 and snowboard rental 33,000 won.  There are condos and hotels nearby, pretty expensive unless you get a group of people together.  063-322-9000 or www.mujurestort.com

Soccer:

There is a group of foreigners in Daegu who get together to play soccer/football on Sundays- they frequently change the location.  Call Chris (016-542-4205) or Dave (016-761-2712) to find out how you can meet up.  

Learning Korean

 I've slowly learned Korean on my own, and it's taken me a long time. Along the way I've found some books (mostly thanks to my friend, Richard) which have helped me. You should be able to find them in Korea, but I am attaching the ISBN code in case you want to look them up on books in print, or confirm that it's the book I am talking about if you use Amazon.com or Kyobo.co.kr to buy your books over the internet.

In addition, here in Daegu there are some programs for learning Korean. The American School and the Military Bases have Korean language programs, which may be an option, depending on your status in Korea. Keimyung University has exchange students, all of whom study Korean, and at Kyungbook National University they have Korean classes at their language institute (Auh-hakwon). The YMCA is also sponsoring classes for foreigners to learn English (more about that later).  In addition there are some web-based resources for Korean study, and the option of taking an intensive program at one of the renowned programs in Seoul, at universities such as Seoul National, Yonsei and Ewha.  You can call Kyungpook National University's Language School to find out about Korean classes, the number is 950-6371.

The books I can recommend are:

Korean Through English 1

It's a blue book, the first of a series. I think the rest of the series aren't anything special. However, for the lowest level, starting with learning your Korean ABCs this book is the best I've seen.  Authored by the Language Research Institute of Seoul National University and printed by Hollym ISBN 1-56591-015-x

An Introductory Course in Korean

White cover with a sky-blue design on it. This book written by Fred Lukoff and printed by Yonsei University Press ISBN for book 2 (I never bought book 1 sorry!) is 89-7141-361-1

Korean Grammar for International Learners

Muted medium blue cover with black lettering. It's a grammar book. If you don't like grammar, stay away. But it's very useful if you want to go far with your Korean. However, I'd say you could do without it easily your first several months of study.  Written by Ihm Ho-bin, Hong Kyung-pyo and Chang Suk-in printed by Yonsei University Press ISBN 89-7141-290-9

Speaking Korean

White cover with early Hangul design on the cover. Written by Francis T. Park, printed by Hollym International. ISBN (book 1) 1-56591-101-6 (but I only have book 2 which is 1-56591-103-2).

Basic Sentence Patterns in Korean (for foreign students)

Sort of annoying light green color, small book. This book tells you a sentence pattern like "it is necessary to.." or "I wish that.." and then follows it with a bunch of examples and their translations. The examples are good, the book feeds on itself, the vocabulary is useful and I think for people who don't like grammar very much, this is a very good book for you to pick up. Written by John H. Koo (who has written another book which really is NOT worth your won) and published by Samji Books. ISBN 89-7358-056-6

Handbook of Korean Vocabulary (a resource for word recognition and comprehension)

This book is the best way to systematically learn vocabulary. It takes all the common Chinese and Korean root characters and gives you whole lists of words that all contain that root.

• For example: Noeng (³ó) means agricultural.
• Therefore Noeng-bu is farmer (bu means artisan, please see the bu section)
• Noeng-jang means farm (jang means place, please see the jang section),
• Noeng-go means agricultural high (school). (Daegu has a Noeng-go)
• Another example: Go (°í) means high.
• Go-deung hak-gyo is high school (high+advanced+study+school)
• Go-soek bus is Express Bus (high+speed+bus) (Daegu has a Go-soek bus terminal)
• Go-hyul-am is high blood pressure (high+blood+pressure)

You see how easy that would make it to learn words? Every time you learn a new word, you try to connect it to words you already know, and it?s easier to remember that way!   The book was written by Miho Choo and William O'Grady and published by University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1815-6.

Most Important of All

You simply cannot learn Korean effectively without buying an ENGLISH/ENGLISH/KOREAN dictionary.  What that is a dictionary that includes the English definition for each English word.  Think about a word with very different meanings, like charge.  My dictionary must have more than twenty totally different meanings of charge.  If I want to use the word charge in Korean, and want to talk about charging someone with a crime, I sure want to make sure the Korean word I pick out does not have to do with riding a horse at the enemy or my Visa card.  Though purely English/Korean dictionaries will sometimes include sample sentences or phrases that can clue you into which meaning they are using, they do not always, nor are all the sentences perfectly illuminating.  Also, you'd be surprised what some of the words we use often actually are defined as in the dictionary!   There are a variety of English/English/Korean dictionaries on the market.  I prefer Longman, as their definition of the English word usually corresponds to my own mental definition more closely than some of the Konglish that slips into some of the Korean made dictionaries.  

___________________

I have bought a lot more books than this, and leafed through some others. I probably own about 75% of the books for learning this language. But, I am recommending the above. Trust me, they are better than the ones I am not!

YMCA Classes:

Classes at the YMCA are offered on Saturdays from 11-1 p.m.  You pay 50,000 won for the term (corresponding to the Korean school terms).  There are four levels.   Beginner (no reading), Advanced Beginner (super easy conversation), Intermediate and Advanced.  The classes were, according to my sources, organized by a Japanese man, Mr. Ishiboshi who can be contacted for more information at 011-9590-1484.  The YMCA is downtown near the entrance to the Traditional Medicine Street.

 For more information email cedar_bough@yahoo.com.   Please respect my copyright, do not copy photos without permission.