What is Hapkido?

Hapkido is a dynamic and eclectic Korean martial art. A historical link to Daito Ryu Aiki Jujitsu is generally acknowledged, though the exact nature of which is clouded by the historical animosity between the Korean and Japanese peoples and the confusion following the Second World War.

Hapkido aims to be an effective form of self defense and employs joint locks, pressure points, throws, kicks, and other strikes. Hapkido practitioners train to counter the techniques of other martial arts as well as common “unskilled” attacks. There are a range of cold weapons such as the short stick, cane, rope, sword and staff which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.

Although Hapkido contains both long and short range fighting techniques, the purpose of most engagements is to get near for a close strike, lock, or throw. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, non resisting movements, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the use of strength against strength.

Name

The word Hapkido means the way of coordinating power. Hap means harmony or joining, Ki describes internal energy, spirit, strength, or power, and Do means way or art, yielding a literal translation of “joining energy way,” but is most often rendered as the way of coordinated energy or power.

History and Major Figures

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, Choi,Yong Sul (b. 1904, d. 1986)and his most prominent students Suh, bok Sub, the first student of the art, Ji Han Jae, arguably the greatest promoter of the art; Kim Moo Hong, a major innovator of the art and Myung Jae Nam who forged a greater connection between the art of Hapkido and Japanese Aikido and then founded Hankido, and others, all of whom were direct students of Choi or of his immediate students.

Principles

On the “hard-soft” scale of martial arts, Hapkido stands somewhere in the middle, employing “soft” techniques similar to Aikido and “hard” techniques reminiscent of Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. Even the hard techniques, though, emphasize circular rather than linear movements. Hapkido is an eclectic martial art, and different Hapkido schools emphasize different techniques. However, some core techniques are found in each school (kwan), and all techniques should follow the three principles of Hapkido:

Nonresistance ( HWA)
Circular Motion (WON)
The Water Principle (YU)

Hwa, or non resistance is simply the act of remaining relaxed and notdirectly opposing an opponent’s strength. For an example if an opponent were to push against a Hapkido students' chest, rather than push back, the student would avoid a direct confrontation by moving in the same direction as the push and utilizing the opponents forward momentum to throw him.

Won, the circular principle, is a way to gain momentum by executing techniques in a natural and free flowing nature.

Yu, the water principle, can be thought of as the soft, adaptable strength of water. Hapkido is soft in that it does not rely on physical force alone, much like water is soft to touch. It is adaptable in that a Hapkido master will attempt to deflect an opponents strike, in a way that is similar to free-flowing water being divided around a stone only to envelop it.

Techniques

Hapkido seeks to be a fully comprehensive fighting style and such tries to avoid narrow specialization in any type of particular technique or range of fighting. It maintains a wide range of tactics for striking, standing joint locks, throwing techniques and pinning techniques. Some styles also incorporate tactics in ground fighting although this tends to be limited as the style generally prefers to control a downed opponent from a standing, half standing or kneeling position. Typical Hapkido tactics include using a kick or hand strike to bridge the distance with an opponent, to grab the wrist or arm of the opponent and apply a joint twisting throw, to control the downed opponent’s elbow with one’s knee and to deliver a finishing strike from this position of advantage.

Hapkido makes use of pressure points known in Korean as ”hyul” which are also used in traditional Asian medical practises such as accupuncture. These pressure point are either struck to produce unconsciousness or manipulated to create pain allowing one to easily subdue an attacker.