Happy Holidays!!

Sorry for being a little late for this but I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and also I hope everyone has a safe, Happy New Year! I have decided to give up posting until the year 2008.... ; )

Martial Art Profile: Hap Ki Do (합기도)

Hap Ki Do is a Korean Martial Art that shares many characteristics to the Japanese Martial Art, Aikido. The essence of Hap ki do is countering. It is a "Soft" Martial Art, in that you use your opponents energy or power against himself (in contrast, Tae Kwon Do & Karate are "Hard" Martial Arts, in that they both match your power & energy against your opponents power & energy). Through joint-locks, manipulation of your opponent, grappling, and sparse kicking, Hap ki do practitioners seek to control their opponent's own fighting moves (Punch, kick, grab, etc.). It is very effective when practiced well, as students of this art practice on countering a wide range of both Martial Art attacks and "un-skilled" attacks.

My school also teaches the art of Hap Ki Do, so I know how painful and effective it is from first hand experiance :) My master is I beleive a 5th or 6th Dan(단, Degree) Black Belt in Hap Ki Do. The Video I have Included shows a few of hundreds (maybe thousands!) of Hap ki do techniques. Enjoy!

Movie Trailer: "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"

I just seen the Trailer to the upcoming 2008 movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian", and I have to say, I am really looking forward to that. I liked the first movie but it was no Lord of the Rings or anything. However, this movie really looks like it does a good job of trying. I like the fact that they are putting a lot more action in this installment. I am definitely one for dialogue, but for these Fantasy type movies, it really is all about the action, lots and lots of action, lots and lots and lo....(whew) sorry about that.....anyway, that's why I like the "Pirates of the Carribean" series as well. I have read the book "Prince Caspian", and can tell you that if they do things like the book but work in more action, this will be a good movie. Here is the Trailer for the movie as of right now.....



I was happy to see how much this movie looks like "The Lord of the Rings"....

The Korean Challenge

I got a little test for anyone who wants to try.......

Using the chart below, type out in the English Alphabet the sounds of the word in Korean that I choose. You can seperate each characters sounds with a dash, For Example:

감사함니다 = Kam-sa-ham-ni-da

Place your answers in the "Comments" section. Remember, Characters are formed by ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한.......By the way, the "ㅇ" character, when on top, in silent, otherwise t is the ng sound.



The Words to figure out are:

1. 안녕히추무세요

2. 한국사람

3. 아리랑

I will be trying out different Templates for my Blog within the next few days, to see if I can find something I like. So, if you jump on the Blog and see new or bright colors....don't faint or anything, that wouldn't be cool : )

Yong-In University & Yong-In Martial Arts (용인)

While he was still in South Korea, my master, Jeon You-Jeong(전 유정) went to a Private University called Yong-In 대학교(University). This University is located near Seoul (the capital of South Korea) in a city called.....Yong-In City. The school started out as a Martial Arts school called "대한유도학교"(Korean Judo College) in Seoul and later moved to Yong-In City. It grew from only around 150 students to over 6,000 today and is still considered the foremost Martial Arts University in Asia, although now there are many other colleges such as: Sports Science, Arts, Business Administration, and Library. All the people I have met and become friends with from this school are exceptionally skilled at Martial Arts, and Tae Kwon Do in particular. I really enjoyed visiting the School while I was in Korea. The training gyms for Martial Arts there are very large and well equipped and there is a multi level building totally devoted to Martial Arts....A big difference from Martial Art schools here in the United States.

I also wanted to mention that my Tae Kwon Do school "Yong-In Martial Arts" is named after this University, as many times a master will name his school after the one he came from. Our main school is located in Chicago, this is the school that I currently attend. We also have a 2nd location near the Town of Lagrange. We currently have four masters from Yong-In University at our school: Master Jeon You-Jeong, Master Han, Master Park, and Master Han (2 of our masters have the same last name. : ) In addition to the Masters, we also have a head Instructor, Misael, a Black Belt from Mexico. I myself am an Assistant Instructor. I also have some good friends there. Here is the logo for our school:

London 2012 Summer Olympics

Above is the Official Logo of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. Well, actually, they are all not together as 1 Logo, but rather interchangable Logos. This will be the first time that the Olympics and Para-Olympics will share the same Logo. The design is meant to be somewhat of a stylized "2012", with the Olympic Rings in the center of the "0". I am not sure yet what the design that replaces the Rings in the first Logo is.....interesting. This design was chosen as an attempt to promote the Olympics more with young people, although many in the UK do not like it very much. Come to think of it, I don't much care for it myself, oh well not every Logo's a absolute winner. As for the Logo London used for it's bidding, please look below:

Martial Art Profile: Taekkyeon (택견)

As everyone knows, I practice Tae Kwon Do (태권도). I have studied it for a little over 3 yrs. and have since became a 1st Degree Black Belt (1 단). I just wanted to show you a Martial Art that has indirectly inflenced modern Tae Kwon Do. This Martial Art is Taekkyeon. This is the Martial Art that was practiced in Korea long ago and has sinced evolved into Tae Kwon Do (Although it is still practiced as it's own Martial Art. It reminds me of a Korean version of Kung-Fu. It looks a little like dancing to me, however, it is a very graceful Martial Art that can still be dangerous. Here is a link to a little more reading on Taekkyeon:

The Chicago Star is a symbol with real universal meaning. A star rises in the night to become a guiding light. A star is a source of inspiration, a diamond glistening in the sky. In Ancient Greece, where the Olympic Games were founded 2000 years ago, the stars shaped mythic constellations of heroes. Stars literally guided the explorers who shaped the modern map of our world. Throughout time, stars have been a symbol of hope to mankind.

We aspire for this logo to become a great symbol of hope for our city and our nation — as we humbly seek the right to host the Olympic Games and welcome the world to Chicago in 2016.

For us, the Chicago Star also symbolizes our plan to put the athletes at the center of the Games — since they're the real stars.

Like a compass pointing in all directions, this logo reaches out to the world. The bands of color radiating up and down from the star reflect both the dynamic architecture of our city and the beautiful character of our parks and lakes — but they also symbolize our desire to reach out to the world and offer many paths to the Games.

Most importantly, the Chicago Star is designed to carry a message to our children, to help teach the next generation about the ideals and values found in the Olympic Games. The six-point design of the Chicago Star is unique and each point on this star represents values and ideals that the Olympic Movement and Chicago share: The top point represents Hope, the next point, Respect, then Harmony, Friendship, Excellence and Celebration. (Taken from
)



I myself liked the original logo a little better, however, the rules of the IOC state that a bid city cannot have certain olympic imagery (Torch, Rings, etc.) in their Logo. Since Chicago's had the olympic torch in their logo, it needed a new one. I do like it : )

My Demo Team Uniform

Pay no attention to my straining face, but due to difficulties w/ my photographer(my brother) I had to hold that pose for like 10 seconds.

A Little Korean

In Korea there are four seasons. It is pretty much the same as here in the United States. Korea has continental weather just like Chicago. The great thing about Korea is that, even though it is a small country, travel a couple hours and the weather can change quickly. Go to the mountains (which are everywhere) and you can go skiing or snowboarding. Then go to Seoul or Jeju-Do and go water skiing or wind surfing. There is even a time in the year where the water between an Island and land gets so shallow,that many people walk across and enjoy a stroll. They call this the Moses Miracle : ) Here are few words and phrases about the seasons and weather:

Spring.....봄.....pom
The 4 Seasons.....사 계절.....sa kye-jeol
summer.....여름.....yeo-reum
Weather.....날씨.....nal-sshi
Fall.....가을.....ka-eul
Climate.....기후.....ki-hu
Winter.....겨울.....kyeo-ul

It's hot today,isn't it?....오늘은 날씨가 덥지요?....O-neu-reun nal-sshi-ga teop ji yo?

Martial Arts

Here is a special demo with some of the Yong-In Univ. students as "Secrete Service". They are demonstrating mainly Hap ki do techniques. The Second is one I thru in of myself.....; ) JK!

Yong-In Musa Demo Team 龍仁 武士 시범단

I joined my Martial arts school's Demonstration Team the other day. A Demo team is a group of students or just martial artist who go around to different events and demonstrate Martial art techniques to people that maybe never seen before. We may do forms or breaking or demo kicks or self defense skills. When you join a demo team you need to work harder than the other normal students because more is expected of you. Also, teamwork is heavily emphasised because part of the demonstration is how we work in complete unison. Sometimes it works against us though, like, if I mess up or forget a step of the form, everyone gets push-ups or whatever the punishment is. Another nice perk is we get cool new uniforms......which I'll be taking pictures of and posting on here soon so you can see. I also want to find and show you a video clip of a professional demo team so you can get a visual idea of what I mean, so keep looking for that. All in all I think joining the team will help me to greatly increase my skill level in Tae Kwon Do : )

My New Job

Well, at the end of the week, I will be stepping down as an Instructor in Taekwondo(태권도). My new job will be with my uncle, Israel Fuentes, as his Intern/helper.....the title "Assistant" comes with time and experience. I will learn many important topics such as Real Estate, Business, and Finances. For anyone who doesn't know my uncle, He is a real good real estate agent who works with RE/MAX(notice big balloon) and is ranked in the top 5% of realtors in Chicago, and with 10,000 realtors that is pretty good. Since I work for him now, I thought I'd do some free advertising for him. ; ) His website is http://www.masteryourinvestment.com so if you ever need a realtor in Chicago he's your man.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!

Nobody think that just because I like Asian culture that I don't love my own country. I think it's the best country in the world and I am proud to be American. Let the world think what it will of it, The United States is a great land and I wish it a Happy Birthday.

Here's me being patriotic. Notice shirt. It was very hot.

Hello everyone, sorry for not posting anything new in a while. Our internet was down so you have to forgive me, But it is up now so expect some belated and new posts. I'll try to post what I was planning to do when my internet went down. So don't mark this as a dead blog or anything. : )

A Little Korean

For anyone interested I would like to show how to write and say the days of the week in Korean. Unlike the names of the days in english, which mean nothing anymore, everyday of the week in Korean has a different meaning. there meanings are: Sunday (Sun), Monday(Moon), Tuesday(Fire), Wednesday(Water), Thursday(Trees), Friday(Gold), and Saturday(Land). So here they are in English, Korean, and Chinese. Enjoy!

Sunday.....일요일.....Ir-yo-il.....日曜日
Monday.....월요일.....Weol-yo-il.....月曜日
Tuesday.....화요일.....Hwa-yo-il.....火曜日
Wednesday.....수요일.....Su-yo-il.....水曜日
Thursday.....목요일.....Mok-yo-il.....木曜日
Friday.....금요일.....Keum-yo-il.....金曜日
Saturday.....토요일.....T'o-yo-il.....土曜日

My Family

I am going to be very random in this blog. So if you see me chronicling my life then just throw in a post like "Here's my new shoes", don't be surprised. Here is all my brothers and sisters, my grandma on the left, and our pet polar bear....Whitey( yes, I know it's creative). From left to right we are: William( yours truly), Augustine, Lena, Sara, Ethan, Virginia, Ronald and Alex. Altogether eight of us. We took this picture at Brookfield Zoo when we went for Virgie's birthday. If you would like to see more of them please visit the family blog at http://www.dyckmannews.blogspot.com

My Grandma

Few people experience the blessing of living with a grandmother. I'm blessed enough to live with both of mine. But my Grandma Ginny (pictured above) will be moving out this weekend and I want to take a second and tell her that I had a great year with you here and will miss you. I am excited for her since she will be moving in with my aunt and uncle. They've been preparing her a room and are all awaiting her arrival on Saturday. So she doesn't get too used to the peace and quiet, we plan to steal her back from time to time come her retirement in August. God bless you grandma, we'll miss you.

A little Korean

Korean, as you may know by now, is one of the languages that I have (maybe brashly) chosen to learn. One question I get is"How do you read those weird characters?". Well, Korean writing is much easier than Chinese in that Koreans use an alphabet, while Chinese use individual characters to represent sounds or ideas. While the picture 龍 means dragon in Chinese, in korean it is 용 [ㅇ(silent) + ㅛ(YO) + ㅇ(NG) = 용 Yong, which is Dragon in Korean. So when you make a character in Korean, you simply put 2 to 4 letters together to make a character. I inlcuded a chart to give an example of what some letters are. Here are some basic phrases for anyone who's interested:
안녕하세요=an nyeong ha se yo= Hello, How are you, good morning/afternoon/evening
안녕히계세요= an nyeong hi gye se yo= Good bye (You say to person your leaving)
안녕히가세요=an nyeong hi ga se yo= Good bye ( Say to person who's leaving)
감사함니다= kam sa ham ni da= Thank you

I just got a new laptop from my parents for graduating. I'm really happy because my old one was aging rapidly, while this one's great for everything I need. My parents are the reason I had my first computer, and I can't thank them enough for that then, or this now. I'll be blogging in style now : )

Olympic Logos of this century.

I really love the Olympics. It's funny since I have only seriously watched one summer and one winter games. Seeing the 2004 Athens games really changed me. I saw what you could do in sports and it inspired to pursue a sport of my own. Later on, in the fall of that year I joined Tae Kwon Do, now a huge part of my life. I am not athletic to begin with so I need to work hard at what I achieve, and I do get discouraged sometimes, but seeing olympic athletes strive for perfection only helps me to strive for it as well. I hope that someday I will be up to par with other athletes of the world. Until then, practice makes perfect, so I'll keep working to glorify God and represent the United States well through Tae Kwon Do.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!! To the best dad in the world.

Yes, that's my dad, He is the best in world and I love him very much. He has always been a great father and provider, and I don't know what I'd do without him.

Black Belt Test, May 26, 2007 (2007년 5월 26일)

No, that's not Jet Li. Just one of the many excercises I had to do that day.
Another hard one, squats. after you do running, this is only harder.
Here is me, looking relieved with the excercise part of the test over.
I was getting ready for sparring to begin.
Newly minted Black Belts.

Yes, Here it is, my home "Chicago".... the Windy city, Chi-town, the Big Apple (and all this time you thought that was New York.). Many names for one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And yes I will have much more prettier pictures of the city than this, all in due time. With over 6,000 restaurants, great diversity, the ultimate sports teams, an unmatched downtown area, etc. etc. It's a great place to live.