A Brief History of Hapkido

During the Silla Dynasty in Korea, 7th Century AD, about 1,350 years ago, an organization called the Hwa Rang Do was formed to train the young men of the Noble classes to become emergency combat teams, ready to defend the region in times of need. The Hwa Rang Do, which translates roughly to "Way of the Young Flower", was legalized and supported by King Chin Hung of the Silla Dynasty. These small groups lived in common quarters and drilled both mind and body with strict discipline and teachings under the provisions of the Gentry Class.

The martial art taught to the Hwa Rang Do, although nameless at the time, formed the basis of what would become modern Hapkido. Various forms of Hapkido are found depicted on the stone walls and remains and ruins of what were Silla Dynasty buildings.

As time went by, the martial discipline of the Hwa Rang Do dissipated as more and more of the young noble men chose to prepare themselves for lives in business rather than war-craft. Most of the descendants of the original Hwa Rang Do chose to pursue intellectual training, preparing themselves to take the National Examination which led to becoming government officials and the like. The result was that maintenance of the martial arts degraded until only a shadow of the former arts remained. This remnant was called Taek Ki Yon and later Tae Kyun. The art was maintained, to a certain extent, by monks in isolated monasteries, and there is evidence that the Korean monks exchanged ideas and techniques with monks in Chinese monasteries. The Chinese influence is evident in the circular motion aspects and spinning kicks of Hapkido, along with the emphasis on mental development and concentration, very much like the flowing circular movements and internal philosophies of Kung Fu in its various forms.

With the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1910, all Korean martial arts were outlawed, and the only practice and maintenance of the original forms was done in secret in isolated monasteries in remote mountain locations. The study of Japanese martial arts, namely judo and kendo, was allowed to a certain extent, and the influences of these arts are seen in Hapkido as well, in its throws and grappling moves, and the relationship between Japanese Kendo and Korean Kum Do is readily evident.

It was shortly after the Japanese occupations' beginning that Choi Yong Suhl (Korean names are formed with the family name first, i.e., Smith John Lee), the originator of modern Hapkido, emigrated to Japan. Having already mastered Tae Kyun in his youth, Master Choi studied a Japanese system called Daito Ryu or Dai Ju-Jutsu. This system of Ju-Jutsu is said to the the forerunner of Judo and Aikido. Master Choi returned to Korea after the end of W.W.II in 1945, and founded the first Hapkido school in Taegu, Korea. Hapkido was an amalgamation of the Chinese-influenced Tae Kyun and Japanese Ju-Jutsu. This made it one of the first truly integrated arts that recognized the effectiveness of combining the best aspects of both the "hard" and "soft" styles into very powerful combinations of techniques and theories.

Eventually Master Choi and his top student, Ji Han Jae, brought Hapkido to Seoul to teach it to the public for the first time (over 75 percent of the Republic of Korea's population lives in Seoul, making it the logical choice for expansion efforts). Master Choi eventually retired back to Taegu and died in 1987.

The Meaning of Hapkido

HAP in Korean translates as "join" or "coordination"

KI translates to "energy" or "power"

DO means definition of an art, method or "the way of"

Taken collectively, Hap Ki Do, or "The Way of Coordinated Energy" defines a martial art that is completely integrated, that is to say, involves complete integration of body, mind and spirit. The techniques of Hapkido are made powerful through the coordinated efforts of the physical body being directed by the concentrated mind, being inspired and infused with the energy of the spirit. When practiced in this way, Hapkido can be an astonishingly powerful martial art, enabling even those of small physical stature to achieve great physical influence over their opponents. Hapkido is also fully integrated in terms of its techniques, in that it involves application of punches, kicks, blocks, dodges, throwing techniques and ground work, or grappling. It is through this complete knowledge that a Hapkido practitioner may meet any and all attacks with confidence and effectiveness.

Why study Hapkido?

The popularity of Hapkido is due to the fact that everyone, young or old, male or female, can practice this art regardless of physical weight or strength, because not only does "good technique" play a more important role than force, but also direct hitting is not necessarily needed. The best technique for an individual practitioner is what works best for his or her particular body type, and what appeals to his or her sensibilities. The duration and regularity of practice is also up to the individual, with the level of benefit achieved commensurate with the amount of effort applied. Most Hapkido masters will tell you that they were not physically strong by nature, but became skillful and strong through training and practice.

Both the body and spirit of a human being are interacting with each other, and we can understand them as being nearly one entity. We can earn our health and spiritual delight through physical activities. Additionally, we can feel pleasure instinctively when we come to have at hand a certain degree of self-confidence in the ability to protect ourselves physically through the course of learning those skills little by little. When one is able to be confident in his self-determined power and the techniques at his command, he can never be "mean", but will instead find himself making magnanimous concessions to others, for with these abilities comes a natural responsibility. Such mental posture will, without fail, enable one to keep his nervous "mental storm" under control, thus restoring a complete peace of mind.

Click HERE for link to the Hapkido Family Tree to see the list of Hapkido Masters and who they trained under through the years.