Myung Jae-nam

Hapkido (, , also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do; from Korean 합기도 hapgido ) is a Korean grappling martial art.

It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks.

It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, nunchaku (ssang juhl bong), cane (ji pang ee), short stick (dan bong), and middle-length staff (joong bong), gun (analogous to the Japanese jō), and bō (Japanese), 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 (최용술) 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 or 합기도 in the native Korean writing system Hangul is rendered as in Hanja.

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-sool (최용술) (1904–1986) and his most prominent students; Chinil Chang, his personally chosen successor, Seo Bok-Seob, the first student of the art; Ji Han-jae (born 1936), one of the earliest promoters of the art; Kim Moo-Hong, a major innovator; Myung Jae-Nam, a connector between the art of hapkido and aikido, Myung Kwang-sik the historian and ambassador, all of whom were direct students of Choi or of his immediate students.

Choi Yong-sool (최용술)'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.

Grand Patriarch Jang In Mok (born 15 August 1912) of Taegue City, who also trained under Takeda Sokaku's lineage, returned to Taegue City, Korea in 1945, like Grand Patriarch Choi Yong-Sul.

He was a doctor of oriental medicine and taught his Aikijitsu as Hapkido.

Dr Jang-in Mok learned the Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul Hapkido from his teacher Masuta Yutaka and his teacher Takeda Sokaku in Japan.

Choi Yong-sool trained many students, but Jang In Mok only trained a few.

He had notable students such as Han-young Choi (Chun Ki Do), Jang Seeung Ho, Song Joon Hwi, Hu Il Wong (teacher of Peter and Joseph Kim), and Song Il Hun.

The first time he learned martial arts was in Japan, where he learned Daito-ryu Jujisu in September 1928.

He received his certificate in 1935 from Masuta Yutaka, a student of Takeda Sodaku.

Kwang Jang Nim Han-young Choi was born in Kyongkido, Korea December 11, 1935.

This is similar to how the Japanese aikido was written in Kyūjitai in the pre-1946 period.

Currently, though, the second character is preferably written in Japanese in Shinjitai substituting the earlier, more complex 氣 with the modern, simplified.

In Hanja, the character 合 hap means "coordinated", "joining", or "harmony"; 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.

The Dae Don Ryu Sul system was introduced to Korea in 1960 by him.

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 (current head of the mainline Daito Ryu) 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 (though some argue that their training stems from time spent training under Kim Moo-Hong).