Hapkido
Hapkido, also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, nunchaku, cane, short stick, and middle-length staff, gun, and bō, which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.
Hapkido employs both long-range and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges, and pressure point strikes, joint locks, and throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage over their opponents through footwork and body positioning to incorporate the use of leverage, avoiding the use of brute strength against brute strength.
The art was adapted from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu as it was taught by Choi Yong-sool when he returned to Korea after World War II after having lived in Japan for 30 years. This system was later combined by Choi's disciples with kicking and striking techniques of indigenous and contemporary arts such as Taekkyon and Tang Soo Do, as well as various throwing techniques and ground fighting from Japanese Judo.
Hapkido
Hapkido or 합기도 in the native Korean writing system hangul is rendered as in hanja. This is similar to how the Japanese Aikido was written using Kyūjitai in the pre-1946 period. Currently, though, the second character is preferably written in Japanese using shinjitai, which replaces the original 氣 with the modern, simplified, thus reducing the number of strokes by four.In hanja, the character 合 hap means coordinated, merged, or combined; 氣 ki literally means air, gas or breath but is used to mean spirit or so-called 'internal energy'; and 道 do means "way" or "art", yielding a literal translation of "joining-energy-way". It is most often translated as "the way of coordinating energy", "the way of coordinated power", or "the way of harmony".
Although Japanese Aikido and Korean hapkido share common technical origins, in time they have become separate and distinct from one another. They differ significantly in philosophy, range of responses, and manner of executing techniques. The fact that they share the same Japanese technical ancestry represented by their respective founders' practice of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, and that they share the same Chinese characters, despite 合 being pronounced "ai" in Japanese and "hap" in Korean, has proved problematic in promoting hapkido internationally as a discipline with its own set of unique characteristics differing from those common to Japanese martial arts.
History and major figures from Korea
The birth of modern hapkido can be traced to the efforts of a group of Korean nationals in the post-Japanese colonial period of Korea, namely Choi Yong-sool and his most prominent students: Chinil Chang, his personally chosen successor; Seo Bok-Seob, the first student of the art; Ji Han-jae, one of the earliest promoters of the art; Jung Hwan Park, a long time student of Choi; Kim Moo-hong, a major innovator; Myung Jae-nam, a connector between the art of hapkido and aikido; and Myung Kwang-sik the historian and ambassador, all of whom were direct students of Choi or of his immediate students.Choi Yong-sool
Choi Yong-sool 's training in martial arts is a subject of contention. It is known that Choi was sent to Japan as a young boy and returned to Korea with techniques characteristic of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, a forerunner of aikido.The subsequent history is quite controversial in Daitō-ryū circles but is claimed by many contemporary hapkido-ists and is attributed to Choi in an interview that took place during a trip Choi made to the United States in 1980 to visit his direct lineage successor Chin-il Chang in New York City. In the interview with Chin-il Chang, Choi claimed to have been adopted by Takeda Sōkaku when he was 11 years old and to have been given the Japanese name Yoshida Asao. He claims to have been taken to Takeda's home and dojo in Akita on Shin Shu mountain where he lived and trained with the master for 30 years. The interview also asserts that he travelled with him as a teaching assistant, that he was employed to catch war deserters and that he was the only student to have a complete understanding of the system taught by Takeda.
This is contradicted by other claims asserting that Choi was simply a worker in the home of Takeda. The meticulous enrollment and fee records of Tokimune Takeda, Takeda's eldest son and Daitō-ryū's successor, do not seem to include Choi's name among them. Therefore, except for claims made by Choi himself, there is little evidence that Choi was the adopted son of Takeda. Kondo Katsuyuki has however released a page from Takeda Sokaku's eimeiroku that contains Choi Yong-sul's name.
Stanley Pranin, then of Aiki News and now editor of the Aikidojournal.com, asked Kisshomaru Ueshiba about Choi Yong-sool and hapkido:
While Kondo Katsuyuki has released documentation from Takeda Sokaku's eimeiroku that confirms that Choi Yong-sul did in fact study with him for a short time, some scholars believe it is likely that Choi received most of his training in Daito Ryu from Yoshida Kotaro.
Choi Yong-sool's first student, and the man whom some claim helped him develop the art of hapkido was Seo Bok-seob, a Korean judo black belt when they met. Some of Choi's other respected senior students are: Chinil Chang, Lim Hyun-soo, Ji Han-Jae, Chung Kee-tae, Kim Moo-hong, and arguably Suh In-hyuk and Lee Joo-bang who went on to form the arts of Kuk Sool Won and modern Hwa Rang Do respectively.
Chang (Jang) In-mok
Grand Patriarch Jang In-mok of Daegu, who also trained under Takeda Sokaku's lineage, returned to Daegu in 1945 like Grand Patriarch Choi Yong-sul. He was a doctor of Oriental medicine and taught aikijitsu as hapkido. Jang learned Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul Hapkido from his teachers Masuta Yutaka and Takeda Sokaku in Japan. Choi Yong-sool trained many students but Jang only trained a few. Jang's notable students included Han-young Choi, Jang Seeung-ho, Song Joon-hwi, Hu Il-wong and Song Il-hun. He introduced the Dae Don Ryu Sul system to Korea in 1960. He first learned martial arts in Japan in September 1928 with Daito-ryu Jujitsu and received his certificate in 1935 from Yutaka, a student of Sokaku.Han-young Choi
Kwang Jang Nim Han-young Choi was born in Kyongkido, Korea December 11, 1935. He began his formal martial arts training at the age of four, instructed by his father and his uncle, in 1939 to learn his family's martial arts system, a system based on stepping, spinning, and jumping. The founder of Grand Master Han-young Choi learned also Taekwondo Mudokwan under Grandmaster Hwang Kee Hwang Ki and was also a top student and pioneer of Taekwondo in Korea. Choi, Han-young Choi, was the first student of Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul system in Seoul. His martial arts are based on stepping techniques, turning and jumping. His early years of formal training at a Buddhist monastery in Kyongi do, where he learned meditation, breathing, and application into the physical world. Hounslow – joint manipulation from Grandmaster Chang In Mok. Grandmaster Chang has the same training and lineage as Grandmaster Choi Yong-sul...both brought what is now known as hapkido to Korea from Japan, except Grandmaster Choi commercialized it and Grandmaster Chang did not. Grandmaster Chang focused on oriental medicine and acupuncture. He Choi learned acupuncture and pressure points from him. Before he founded the World Chun Ki Association, he belonged to the Daehan Hapkido association and Kuk Sool Won Association. One of his best friends was Suh In-hyuk's older brother, Seo In-Suk, and he asked Grandmaster Choi to help spread Kuk Sool Won™ in Seoul. In the old days, they spread martial arts by fighting the owner of the neighbourhood schools. Then taking them over and changing the names and techniques. One school at a time, he went neighbourhood by neighbourhood, fighting school owners and taking over schools in the name of Kuk Sool Won. Then he moved to the U.S. and after getting fed up with the politics of Daehan and Kuk Sool Won™, he quit and founded the World Chun Ki Do Association.Choi, Han-young, was also a pioneer of the Taekwondo Han Moo Kwan system. He held the number one Black Belt certificate from the Han Moo Kwan. Choi, after he had studied for three years under Dr. Chang In-mok, moved to Seoul and began to teach Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul. But he joined the Kuk Sool organization and taught Dae Dong Ryu Sul under the Kuk Sool name. One of his best friends was Suh In-hyuk's older brother, Seo In-Suk, who asked him to help spread Kuk Sool Won™ in Seoul. He also belonged to the Daehan Hapkido association. In 1972, Choi Han-young immigrated to the United States and moved to El Paso, Texas. He created his own system called Choi's Martial Arts, and later in the 1990s, he renamed it to Chun Ki. It was his ambition to acquire DO so that Chun Ki Do could become accepted as a new style. Grandmaster's goal was to develop his own martial art to reach the 10th-degree black belt. So Chun Ki was born. It took a long time and a lot of work to add the long-dreamed-of DO, and Chun Ki Do gained worldwide recognition in the realm of hapkido. As a new style in the greater hapkido world, Grand Master Han-young Choi was awarded the title of Grand Patriarch, the founder of Chun Ki Do Hapkido. He has trained over 50,000 students in Asia, Europe, and America and is respected by many as one of the few remaining original Hapkido Grandmasters. His belt examination program is methodical and didactically structured, all techniques are explained in simple steps and easy for everyone to understand. With his 15 hand levers, he brings techniques to the common man, truly a unique trait in martial arts.
A few notable students were his son Sam Choi, Daniel Ray Walker, and Roman Nikolaus Urban, who founded the Chun Ki Do Association in Africa and Europe; Jaeshin Cho, his nephew; and Gregory Jump, his first top-student.