Hapkido (In
Hangul, 합기도; In
Hanja, 合氣道) is a Korean martial art. The name means literally
"joining-energy-way" and can be rendered as "the way of co-ordinating energy".
Hapkido history is rather confused, but many sources attribute it to two
Koreans, Choi Yong Sul and Ji Han Jae. As a boy, Choi was sent to Japan and
worked as a houseboy for the
Aikijutsu master,
Takeda Sokaku[?]. Choi proved
adept at Aikijutsu, and was often sent by Takeda to meet challenges from other
martial artists (another famous student of Takeda,
Morihei Ueshiba, went on to
found
Aikido).
On his return to Korea, Choi began to teach martial arts. One of his students,
Ji Han Jae, incorporated traditional Korean kicking and punching techniques
(from tae kyon[?] and hwarang do[?]) and gave the resulting synthesis the
name hapkido in 1959.
In addition to the work of Choi and Ji, credit should be given to numerous
Korean houses who had been developing indigenous martial arts, which contributed
to hapkido as we know it.
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. Even the "hard" techniques, though, emphasise
circular rather than linear movements. Hapkido is an eclectic martial art, and
different hapkido schools emphasise different techniques. However, some core
techniques are found in each school (
gwan ), and all techniques should
follow the three principles of Hapkido:
- fluid motion
- circular motion
- harmony in motion.
These consist of throws and locks derived largely from Aikijutsu. They are
similar to aikido techniques, but in general the circles are smaller. Most
techniques work by a combination of unbalancing the attacker and applying
pressure to specific places on the body, known as
hyul.
Yudo (
Judo in Japanese) techniques are throws applied at closer range than
the core techniques. The techniques differ somewhat because of the smaller
circles applied to combat, and because of the types of application that are
practiced in Hapkido.
The wide variety of kicks in Hapkido differentiate it from Aikido and make
it distinctly Korean. In general they are similar to Taekwondo kicks, though
again circular motion is emphasised. Some varieties of Hapkido only use kicks
to the lower body, but traditional Hapkido also includes high kicks and jumping
kicks. The kicks in hapkido are more extensive than in most other Korean arts,
including very specialized kicks for all occasions.
Like most martial arts, hapkido employs a large number of punches and other hand
strikes. A distinctive example of Hapkido hand techniques is "live hand"
strike,that focuses energy to the
baek hwa hyul in the hand, producing
energy strikes and internal strikes.
Hapkido training takes place in a
dojang (Japanese
dojo). While
training methods vary, a typical training session will contain technique
practice, gymnastics (
nakbop), solo form practice (
poomse), sparring
and.exercises to develop internal energy (
ki).
Although hapkido is in some respects a "soft" or "internal" art, training is
very vigorous and demanding. However, strength is not a prerequisite of hapkido;
what strength and fitness is necessary to perform the techniques develops
naturally as a result of training.