2023 New Zealand Hapkido Festival and 3rd Oceania Cup Friendship Tournament

We would like to invite you to the 2023 New Zealand Hapkido Festival and 3rd Oceania Cup Friendship Tournament, which is being run and hosted by the Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy, over the weekend 19 - 20 August.

The event was last held in 2018. This is the first time that we have been able to hold it since then because of COVID disruptions.

The tournament is a little bit different from your standard martial arts tournament in that there is more of an emphasis on the non-sparring aspect. We want the tournament to be more about demonstrating a wide range of Hapkido skills as well as networking and building friendships across different schools, styles and nations.

This tournament is aimed at New Zealand Hapkido practitioners but other Martial Arts students may attend by invitation. Please contact Callum to discuss this.

A team of Hapkido students from South Korea, led by Grand Master Scott Seo and Master Choi, from the World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Federation will also be attending along with some Australian Hapkido practitioners.

There are three cups available to be won at the 3rd Oceania Cup Friendship Tournament:

- Junior Cup (7-12)

- Youth Cup (13-19)

- Oceania Cup (20+)

To be eligible for the Junior Cup you need to compete in a minimum of three events - chosen from Sparring, Self-Defence, Unarmed Pattern/Hyung, Armed Pattern/Hyung, Jumping Side Kick and Rolling Break Fall.

To be eligible for either the Youth Cup or the Oceania Cup you need to compete in a minimum of three events - chosen from out of Sparring, Self-Defence, Unarmed Pattern/Hyung and Armed Pattern/Hyung.

Only your 3 highest scores are counted if you enter more than 3 events.

General seminars led by Masters Seo and Choi will be run on the morning of the 19 August. All seminars will be at the competition venue. Proposed times are:

- Children (Tigers 7 - 12 years) at 09:00 for 1 hour.

- Black Belts at 09:00 for 1 hour. 

- Hapkido seminar (13+ years) at 10:30 for 2 hours.

To be eligible to attend any of the seminars you must be a New Zealand Hapkido Federation student or a student from one of our guest schools.

The competition will commence in the afternoon of 19 August. On the first day, the following events will be run*:

- Hapkido Dragons Student Events (5 - 7 years)

- Long Rolling Break Falls

- Jumping Side Kicks

At the conclusion of the first day, there will be a formal dinner held at Blend Bar.

On 20 August, the following events are run*:


- Unarmed Patterns / Hyungs

- Armed Patterns / Hyungs
- Self-Defence Routines
- Demonstrations

- Sparring

- Prize Giving

Tickets for seminars and dinner must be purchased separately from the main entry, and are open to non-competitors subject to availability.

Spectator entry by koha at the door.

*Timetable is subject to change depending on entries. The final timetable will be confirmed closer to the time.