Hapkido
Hapkido
Hapkido is a Korean martial art concentrating primarily on self defense. Word Hapkido is combination of words, ?Hap? meaning union or harmony, ?Ki? meaning energy or spirit, and ?Do? meaning way or style. As such Hapkido can mean ?the way of the harmonious energy? or ?the way of united spirit?. The Japanese martial art Aikido has an almost identical meaning and characters to its name.
History Aikido and Hapkido share more than their name; they are both believed to be derived from martial art Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu. However Hapkido also incorporates many traditional Korean martial art techniques and movements. Some Korean nationalists have disputed the extent of Japanese influence in Hapkido claiming it to be derived primarily from ancient Korean martial arts.
Historically Choi Yong Sul, a Korean national who was resident in Japan during the period Korea was occupied by the Japanese, and who may have learned Daito-ryu while there, is generally considered the founder of modern Hapkido. His student Suh Bok Sup (or Sub), who was also a Judo black belt and came from a socially prominent family was instrumental in developing and promoting the art along with Choi. Reportedly in 1959, Choi and Suh agreed to change name of the martial art from 'hapki yu kwon sool', the name that was used before, to 'hapkido'. Suh also opened the first school called the Kwan Sool Hapki Dojang.
Kim Moo Hong a student from another dojang Suh has set up was responsible for development some of the Hapkido techniques used today. He was also involved in founding several Hapkido organizations including forerunners of influential Korea Hapkido Federation and in introducing Hapkido to United States. Ji Han Jae a student of Suh and Choi contributed to both the development of techniques (by incorporating traditional Korean movements from a variety of sources) and for the propagation of the art using his prominent political connections. He controversially claimed to have created the Hapkido. Other prominent Hapkido practitioners and developers include Won Kwang-Wha, Kim Jung-Yoon, and Myung Jae Nam. Throughout the history of modern Hapkido it was promoted by several politically powerful persons in Korea and have found acceptance in Korean military circles.
Techniques Hapkido makes use variety of techniques including kicks, throws, strikes, joint locks, footwork, pressure points (or ?hyul?), unbalancing, and weapons, to provide an effectual self-defense against attackers skilled or unskilled in other martial arts. The Hapkido techniques are based on the three principles of circular motion (?Won?), non resistance (?Hwa?), and the water principle ("Ryu") or adaptation and deflection. Practitioners do not try to directly match force with force, instead redirecting opponent?s force to one?s advantage through circular motion to gain control of the opponent. Due to this, more energy and strength an opponent has, better and easier for the Hapkido practitioner to subdue him or her. Accordingly it is classed as a ?soft? martial art though it incorporates both ?soft? and ?hard? martial art techniques.
Hapkido techniques can be learned by almost anyone. Discipline and practice involved in Hapkido training may help to develop a person?s flexibility, muscle tone, posture and balance, confidence, and character. Ranking system has five degrees of back belts.