Zac Taylor joins in trailblazing martial arts seminar

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Zac Taylor of St. Clairsville's Taylor Martial Arts Academy joined grand masters in two top Korean martial arts styles while participating and teaching during the World Masters Seminar in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 7-12.

He was joined by fellow instructors at his school, Paul Taylor and Misty Smith, who also participated and assisted with teaching.

Taylor said the event was particularly noteworthy as a blending of Taekwon-Do and Hapkido styles.

"They found that the two martial arts work really well together," he said. "Taekwon-Do is great for punching, kicking, striking, how to hit harder, and Hapkido is a great self-defense martial art for learning to do locks and take down and control people, so when you combine the two it creates a really awesome combination. And this is the first time in history that two different Korean martial arts came together like this and worked together."

Taylor said the seminar went well, without the usual rivalries between different styles.

"These two organizations collaborated. They understand that they can learn from each other and come together and be even better," he said.

Taylor has been practicing Taekwon-Do for almost 30 years and Hapkito for close to six years.

"It's an amazing martial art. I've known how to punch and kick for decades, but they've introduced me to weapons, to fantastic self-defense techniques involving different types of locks and takedowns. They compliment each other amazingly. Taekwon-Do's more of a hard style, and Hapkido's more of a soft style, and they fit very well. One doesn't interfere with the other," he said. "The problem with combining a lot of martial arts is the theories are so different."

He earned a black belt in the 1990s. He got the invitation to participate in the Mexico event from Grandmaster Hee Kwan Lee of Battle Creek, Michigan, who knew of Taylor's ties with the International Taekwon-Do Federation run by President Oh Chang Jin and felt he was qualified to represent both.

He said Taylor Martial Arts is unique in the state in its association with the two disciplines.

"We're the only people in Ohio who can certify you in ITF and (the Global Hapkido Association)," Taylor said.

During the course of the trip, he assisted in teaching Taekwon-Do theory to the police academy in Monterrey. More than 200 police officers roasted through stations to learn from different Taekwon-Do and Hapkido Masters and Grand Masters from around the world.

"(The Hapkido martial artists) were really interested in how we do things, from the way we breath to the way we kick and generate power. It was really cool to see how interested they were and how amazed we were at the power that we generate when we punch and kick," he said. "The Taekwon-Do people are all equally impressed with how well the Hapkido people are able to subdue and take people down and control their opponents, so I would say both organizations were equally impressed with each other."

He said there were about 200 martial artists and 200 police officers for a total attendance of about 400, representing 13 countries including Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Iran, South Korea, the Netherlands, Nepal, Denmark, Austria, Venezuela, and the United States. There were about 12 grandmasters in attendance, allowing everyone to train under one.

He looks forward to future seminars.

"Everybody is hungry for more events like this. Everybody came out energized and they want to learn more from each other for sure, so there's going to be more events in the future that are worldwide like this," Taylor said.

The trip had additional significance for Taylor, who earned a seventh-degree black belt in Taekwon-Do.

"I was the only person who tested for Taekwon-Do at the event. There were over 50 people who tested for Hapkido at the event," he said.

"By the time you've reached seventh degree, you've covered the whole curriculum of Taekwon-Do, which there's over 3,200 techniques plus dozens of patterns," he said. "Very few people make it to such a high rank. For every 10,000 people that join martial arts, one becomes a black belt, and I would say one out of 10,000 black belts make it to fourth degree."

He said this has been a lifetime ambition.

Grandmaster Peter Sanders, vice president of the ITF, was present.

"I'm not normally nervous to do testings because if you're prepared all the time and you're training consistently, then you just do what you do, however it was my first time being in front of our vice president, and his reputation is enormous on how much he knows and how good he is."

Last year, Taylor was inducted into the All American Martial Arts Hall of Fame and celebrity martial artists have visited the school.

"It's been a great couple of years."

Locally, Taylor is planning a self defense seminar in the upcoming months.

"We haven't figured out the date yet," he said. "If people keep an eye on our Facebook page, they can see when we'll have that."