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from Karate Depot

Who's Who in
Hapkido

Yong Sool Choi
Han Jae, Ji
Bong Soo, Han
Scott Shaw
John Pelligrini
In Shik, Hwang
Kwang Sik Myung
Ken MacKenzie
Suh Bok Sub
Kim Moo Hong
Won Kwan Hwa
Myung Jae Nam

DaedongRyu YuSool (Japan- Daito Ryu Yawara or call Aiki JuJitsu- meaning great eastern style soft skills) Master Yong-Sool Choi studied from Dakeda Shokaku Daito Ryu Yawara founder (later Morihei Ueshiba changed the name to Aikido) in Japan 1930`s at Shokaku home. And after the Korean liberation in 1945, Master Choi returned to Korea and resided in Daegu, Korea. Under the Yawara name, he gave private lessons only out of his home. After the Korean war that ended in 1953, Master Choi started teaching the public - still only teaching out of his school and at own home. The name Yawara was later changed to Hapkido by a few Yu Sool (Yawara) masters in Seoul, the capital city of Korea. And slowly Hapkido was mixed with Hwa Rang Do and other martial art styles and turned generic. Now Hapkiddo looks more like the original martial art of Korea, namely Um-Yang Kwon, which only two people in modern time ever learned - the name Um-Yang Kwon however is no longer used as it was changed in to Hwa Rang Do�. The Hapkido of today is a form of unarmed self-defense based on circular techniques such as joint locks, foot sweeps and kicks, but incorporating punches and circular throws and a yielding principle similar to that of Aikido, however original Hapkido was actually the exact same thing as Daito Ryu Yawara. The emphasis on circular motion allows for a free-flowing form of combat in which one technique can merge with the next and the direction of force can easily be changed by changing the axis of rotation.

Hapkido Videos

History of Hapkido by World Hapkido Federation

History of Hapkido by International Hapkido Federation

Hapkido Books

Hapkido VHS

Hapkido DVD

Hapkido Links