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Introduction
Korean hapkido ("the way of harmonious
energy" or "the way of coordinated power") is a
contemporary martial art with ancient roots. Hapkido shares with
other Korean fighting systems a lineage which dates back roughly
to the time of Christ. Along the way, the art now known as
Hapkido has been influenced by Japanese and Chinese martial arts
and thought. Hapkido today is a multi-faceted martial art,
blending hard and soft techniques. Like traditional styles of
Karate-do ("the way of the empty hand"), Hapkido
employs strong linear (ie hard) techniques such as
strikes and kicks. Like Aikido or Aiki-JiuJitsu, it also uses
circular (ie soft) techniques, such as off-balancing or
throwing, which re-direct an attacker's energy to his or her
disadvantage.
Korean Martial Arts: Ancient Beginnings
Entombed wall-paintings (circa 50 BC) showing men in what
appear to be fighting stances form the basis of the assumption
that Korean martial arts predate Christ; although these may also
have been pictures of men dancing.(World Hwa Rang Do
Association, 1996). Nonetheless, the subsequent events in Korean
history would tend to suggest that martial arts appeared fairly
close to this time.
The history of Korean martial arts is tightly intertwined
with that country's centuries-old struggle for unity from within
and independence from without. Prior to the unification of the
people of Korea under the sovereignty of King Chin-Heung 1300
years ago, their country was torn apart by feuds and
insurrection. Three kingdoms had struggled for supremacy of the
land now known as Korea:
Koguryo (37 BC to 668 AD)
Paekje (18 BC to 600 AD)
Silla (57 BC to 936 AD)
It was the Silla kingdom that prevailed, having defeated
Paekje (668 AD) and Koguryo (670 AD). A key to the success of
Silla was a group of young nobles known as the Hwa Rang
warriors. Hwa Rang Do ("the way of flowering
manhood") was not just a martial art, but a strict moral
code by which its members lived collectively and individually,
not unlike that of the Arthurian Knights of the Round Table or
the Samurai of ancient Japan. One of the most famous legends of
Hwa Rang Do is that of sixteen-year-old commander Chang, Kwan,
(1- See notes section) who was captured in battle but returned
to Silla lines by a Paekje general, who could not bring himself
to execute the young officer. Chang, Kwan, son of Silla General
P'umil, asked his father to return him to the front, where he
was again captured after a day of battle:
...but after he was disarmed, he broke loose from his
guards, killing both of them by hand and attacked the Paekje
general's second in command. A leaping, spinning heel kick
killed the commander as he sat on his horse, a full eight feet
in the air. Finally subdued, he [Chang, Kwan] was taken before
the Paekje general. Much distressed over the loss of his chief
commander, he told Chang, Kwan, "I gave you your life
once because of your youth, but now you return to take the
life of my best field commander." This time the Paekje
general returned the boy's head attached to the saddle of his
war horse. At the Silla line, General P'umil grasped his son's
head and wiped off the blood with his sleeve. "My son's
face is as when he was alive," he shouted to his men.
"He was able to die in the service of the king. There is
nothing to regret." The King rode back into battle to
defeat the Paekje general and the story became legendary in
the Korean culture. (World Hwa Rang Do Association, 1996)
At the end of Silla came the Koryu dynasty of 936 AD. (Koryu
was abbreviated from Koguryo and would later become the
name Korea.) The Koryu period marked the beginning of a
cultural renaissance for Korea, and the Hwa Rang turned their
attention to gentler pursuits such as poetry and music. It is
important to remember that Hwa Rang warriors were recruited at a
young age from elite families. Not only were they great
fighters, but they were also highly literate and well-educated.
Thus they were well-suited to telling the stories of their own
exploits, stories which would form the backbone of Korean
culture for centuries to come. (This also reflects the genius of
Silla and Koryu, for they endeavoured to do what many modern
Western nations have not -- to find a place for their warriors
in peace time.)
It was during the period of the Koryu kingdom that the
martial arts began to fade to the cultural sidelines. The art of
Soo Bakh Do enjoyed popularity as a sport, but was later
consigned to military training. When Koryu gave way to the Yi
kingdom (1392 AD to 1910 AD), military training -- and with it,
martial arts -- disappeared. King Taejo, founder of Yi, replaced
Buddhism with Confucianism as the state religion. The latter
held that elites should devote themselves to art and music.
Those who clung to the old ways were banished to monasteries
high up in the mountains.
Korean Martial Arts: The Modern World
With the dawn of the twentieth century the ancient arts,
refined by centuries of practice by dedicated monks, began to
re-emerge. (Buddhist monks of China and Korea had maintained a
dialogue and shared their fighting techniques with one another.)
At the same time, however, Korea had been dominated by Japan
from 1910 until the end of World War Two. The occupying forces
forbade the practising of Korean martial arts, but did permit
Koreans to study Japanese systems. Many Koreans, however,
practised their own arts in secret. This lead to a further
blending of arts. Notably, the Koreans were influenced by the
Japanese use of linear stances and techniques.
By the beginning of the Korean war of 1950, several styles of
Korean arts had been created, including:
Chung Do Kwan (2-see notes)
Moo Duk Kwan
Yun Mu Kwan
Chang Moo Kwan
Oh Do Kwan
Ji Do Kwan
The styles were united in 1955 as Tae Soo Do and
later, Tae Kwon Do, for its similarity to Tae Kyon. Chung
Do Kwan founder, Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee (born Korea, 1907), now
a US citizen, explains:
In 1952, my students gave a [martial arts] demonstration
for [South Korean] President Syngman Rhee... [who] referred to
their martial art as "Tae Kyon." Several of the
demonstrators...and others felt a new name was needed to
reflect the Korean origins of the martial art but without
association that Tae Kyon had as a martial art practised by
gang members. The name "Tang Soo Do" means
"Tang hand art" and carries with it an association
with China's Tang Dynasty. The students consulted a Korean
word book to come up with the name "Tae Kwon Do." (Tae
Kwon Do Times, March 1997)
In the years that followed various associations sprang up in
an effort to continue the re-unification and growth of Tae Kwon
Do. These included The Korea Tae Kwon Do Association (KTA), The
World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF), and The International Tae
Kwon Do Federation (ITF). In 1980, The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) officially recognized WTF Tae Kwon Do, which
became a demonstration sport in 1988. In the year 2000, WTF Tae
Kwon Do will be introduced to the Olympic Games.
But what about Hapkido?
Grandmaster Choi, Young Sool
Some Hapkidoka regard Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae (1936-) as the
true founder of Hapkido. Certainly Hapkido would not be what is
today without him; however, Master Ji, Han Jae himself gives
much of the credit to Grandmaster Choi, Young Sool (1904-1986)
for the creation of Hapkido.
There are many questions surrounding the early life of Master
Choi. Following is the account Choi himself gave throughout his
later years: Master Choi, was born Chung Buk province of Korea
in 1904 and was orphaned at the age of eight or nine. He was
then brought to Japan by a candy maker who later abandoned him.
Left to wander the streets begging for food, he was adopted by a
Japanese man who gave him the name Tatujutu Yoshida.
Life in Japan had been difficult for Choi. On the streets, he
was regularly beaten by other children, no doubt because he was
a foreigner. After his adoption, his time in school was equally
unhappy. Yoshida (Choi) spoke little Japanese, and thus found
his studies frustrating, and was getting into fights with
classmates. Reportedly, his father offered him a choice: attend
school or study martial arts. Yoshida (Choi) opted to learn to
fight and was enrolled in Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jutsu (pronounced
Dae-Dong-Ryu Hap-Ki-Sool in Korean.) His sensei was Sokaku
Takeda (1860-1943) (3-See notes), with whom Yoshida claimed to
have trained for nearly thirty years. With the end of World War
Two and of Japanese occupation of Korea at hand, Yoshida
returned to Korea in the winter of 1945 and changed his name
back to Choi, Young Sool.
On the way home Chung-Buk province, however, Choi had lost
his suitcase containing all of his money and his certificates
from Takeda Sensei, leaving him stranded in Tae Gu province.
Again Choi was forced to earn a living on the streets, but now
he had a family to support. After a year of selling rice cakes,
he earned enough money to buy some hogs, which he fed with free
leftover grain he acquired each morning from the Suh Brewery
Company. On February 21st, 1948, during one of Choi's
early-morning visits to the brewery, a group of men tried to
steal his place in line for grain after he had volunteered to
help draw water from the brewery's underground spring. A fight
ensued, and Choi dispatched his attackers with the techniques he
had learned in Japan.
Suh, Bok Sup (circa 1924-), the manager of his family-owned
brewery witnessed the battle and sent his servant to summon Choi
to his office. Suh, a black belt in Judo taught by Choi, Yong Ho
(193? -), hoped to learn about the strange martial arts style he
had witnessed. Fearing he would lose his alottment of grain,
Choi refused, until Suh, Bok Sup assured Choi that he would get
it. Suh asked Choi to take him on as his student and invited him
into his dojang in the brewery offices:
I said to him that since I had no objection to money,
please teach me whatever you know. I was able to judge his
financial situation just by looking at him. I stood up and I
took him to the room next to my office. I opened up the door
and it was a big place with Tabor min mats, Japanese throwing
mats. That's where I asked him to please show me the
techniques. Since Choi, Yong Sool knew I was a first degree
Judo, he told me to throw him. I didn't really feel like
throwing him because he was much older than me [GM Choi was
about 42 years of age]. I was somewhat hesitant to throw him
yet I lightly grabbed him and he immediately used a pain
technique on me. It happened all of a sudden, without
explaining anything, he just did it. I got angry. Here I was,
very gentle with Choi and I felt he wasn't too nice to me so I
got mad. I wanted to take time but Choi, Yong Sool gave me no
chance so I decided to fight back. I decided to throw Choi,
Yong Sool and grabbed him on the shoulder. I found myself in
trouble. In Judo, usually one person has touched the other
person's body in order to throw him, but this time there was
no touching involved. So, I was deeply impressed. So that's
how the two of us got started. (American Hapkido Association
Homepage, 1997.)
In return for private lessons, Suh provided Choi with grain,
money, and the use of his private dojang to teach other
students. Choi called his art Yoo Sool (Korean pronunciation for
JiuJitsu), and began modify Takeda Sensei's style with some
kicking and weapons techniques.
Suh continued to train with Choi for many years. In 1951 Suh
and Choi opened a school outside the brewery called Yu Kwon Sool
Hap Ki Dojang. (4-See notes) In 1954, Suh's father, Suh, Dong
Jin, ran successfully for the Korean National Assembly. Suh, Bok
Sup prevailed in a physical confrontation with Chun, Se Daek, a
brother-in-law of one of his father's political opponents:
He is a big man for a Korean. My eyes would be at his chest
level. He had a vicious reputation of killing two people,
before 1945 and after 1945. One week before the election,
Chun, Se Daek and I had a fight.... He had heard much about
the reputation I had... He wanted to have some kind of fight
with me. So, as I said, one week before the election we
finally had a fight at a speech area where he was giving a
public speech... That's when I ran into this man named Chun,
Se Daek... That's when Chun, Se Daek grabbed me by the neck...
I had thought about bending his wrist, but was afraid I would
break it. He was such a strong man. I had considered throwing
him using Judo, the man was way too tall for that. That's when
I lowered my body and kicked him in the side and knocked him
back away... He was a little scared. The crowd came to break
up the fight. Chun, Se Daek sent policemen to my home for
reconciliation...
He wanted me to come to his office to make peace... That's
when a fist flew from Chun, Se Daek's brother. He had tried to
trick me and I sprang up, stepped away and reposed getting
ready to fight. We both stood up and I'd noticed that this man
was taller than me. The man was about to use his boxing.
Instead of fighting back, I just avoided the fists. Not one
fist struck me. Now the man tried Judo, so I had decided to
use his power. Each time the man grabbed me, I showed him
another Hap Ki Do technique. That's when everyone in the
office became in awe of my techniques. They knew it was
definitely not Judo. That's the incident that made Hap Ki Do
famous throughout the city of Daegue. (American Hapkido
Association Homepage, 1997).
It was during this time that Assemblyman Suh engaged Choi as
his personal body guard. Grandmaster Choi and Suh, Bok Sup
continued train together and give demonstrations and Hapkido
gained in popularity and respect.
Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae
Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae was born in Andong, Korea in 1936.
When he was three, his family fled Japanese-occupied Korea for
China. After the war, Ji, Han Jae's family returned to Korea In
1949, thirteen-year-old Ji began training full time Yu Kwon Sool
with Grandmaster Choi, and remained with him until 1956.
Training under a master known as "Taoist Lee," Master
Ji learned Tae Kyon kicking, jang-bong (Korean for six-foot
staff), the dan-bong (Korean for short stick), and meditation.
Master Ji also studied spiritual power for five years under a
woman monk known as "Grandma."
In 1958, Ji left Daegue city and returned to Andong where he
opened his first two Yu Kwon Sool dojang which he named Sung Moo
Kwan. (The second of these was located in a neck tie factory!)
He kept the schools for nine months before relocating to Joong
Boo Shi Jang, Seoul, in 1958, and remained there until April of
1960. There began the martial arts careers of two of Ji's first
and greatest students. In 1958 Bong Soo Han, who later founded
the International Hapkido Association, began training under
Master Ji, until he left for the United States eleven years
later. Myung Kwan Sik, who began under Master Ji, would also
move to the United States, where he founded the World Hapkido
Association.
The following account identifies Ji as the first person to
use the term hapkido:
...Ji began to piece together the Yoo Sool (Yoo Kwon Sool)
teachings of Grandmaster Choi, with the methods of meditation,
the Tae Kyon kicking techniques, and the weapons techniques
learned from Taoist Lee, along with the spiritual training he
received from "grandma," to formulate his own style
of martial art, for which he chose the name "Hapkido."
He had originally thought of calling it "Hapki-Yoo-Kwon-Sool,"
but decided against that, feeling it was too long of a name.
He thought of other martial arts he had heard of, such as Tae
Kwon Do, Kong Soo Do, Soo Bakh Do, etc., where the word
"do" was being used instead of "sool". He
liked this idea because the word "do" means a path
to follow, or a way of life, rather than simply meaning
"technique", as "sool" implies. The name
hapkido was chosen in 1959, and has been used ever since. The
word itself can be translated as the "way of coordinated
power." Where "hap" means to unify or
coordinate, "ki" means mental and/or physical
energy, and "do" means a way of life, or the
"path" or "way" of coordinating your
mental and physical energy into one entity.
During a conversation I had with Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae...it
was related to me that after he chose the name Hapkido to
represent his art, he gave this name to his teacher, Yong-Sool
Choi to use -- out of respect. Choi taught under the name
Hapkido until his death in 1986, even though he did not teach
the complete curriculum -- leaving out the majority of the
kicking techniques, and a lot of the weapons techniques. (Sin
Koo Hapkido Homepage, 1997) (5 - See notes)
In May of 1961, the Korean government was overthrown by
General Park, Chung-Hee (1917-1979), who would later become the
president. In 1962, Ji opened another dojang, in the Hwa Shin
department store. Soon he would be hired as an instructor to
Military Supreme Council and the presidential security forces.
He held the latter position until President Park's death in
1979.
From 1962 to 1979, Master Ji was a bodyguard to Korean
President Park in the Blue House. In 1969, Master Ji was brought
to the United States to teach Hapkido to FBI and Secret Service
agents, and other officials. In 1984, Grandmaster Ji moved to
the United States and founded Sin Moo Hapkido. He later promoted
his early students to the rank of ninth degree black belt --
Bong Soo Han in 1984 and Myung Kwan Sik in 1986. Grandmaster
Bong Soo Han is credited with popularizing Hapkido in the West
and bringing it the big screen. His first film appearance was in
the 1971 feature "Billy Jack." Master Han doubled for
star Tom Laughlin and choreographed the film's fight scenes.
It is interesting to note, that Hapkido is not organized
under the KTA, ITF or WTF, perhaps the only Korean art with this
unique status. Hapkido in Korea is overseen by three
organizations: The Korea Kido Association, The Korea Hapkido
Association, and The International Hapki Federation. |
