HapKiDo – The military way.
Chinese civilization spread into Korea and Japan heavily influencing
the indigenous peoples of these lands. All three of these countries in turn have had important influences on each other. Korean
travelers brought many skills with them to Japan including Buddhism and martial arts skills. From 668 A.D. the Shilla kingdom
dominated the Korean peninsula and there was a florescence of martial arts along with many other cultural developments.
Oral sources in Korea tell of a Paekje
kingdom prince who traveled to Japan to escape political persecution and brought with him a martial art that was based mainly
on defensive military techniques, circularity and the use of an opponent's force against them called Yu Sool.
The
Japanese were meticulous in keeping family and clan records and Grandmaster Huh Ill Woong has a copy of the Daito Ryu family
scroll that lists the third name as this prince who brought new techniques and organization to the previously disjointed family
martial arts.
Yu Sool translates
as "soft art" and it may have been derived from Chinese art sources. It was very popular in Korea by 1150 A.D. Its
techniques were characterized by a passive combat attitude where the enemy was allowed to make the first move and his attack
being directed to the defender's advantage.
Throws
(mechigi), grappling techniques (kuchigi), and assaulting techniques (kuepso chirigi) composed the main body of the art. There
were twenty four basic and ten secret methods comprising the original dogma.
Aikijujitsu was propagated according to
the Japanese system of hierarchical transmission by blood, adoption or affiliation. It was said to have been founded by Prince
Teijun, the sixth son of emperor Seiwa (850-880 A.D.) who was the 56th ruler of Japan. Tsunamoto, Prince Teijun's eldest
son, was given the name Minamoto and the art was passed down through succeeding generations of the Minamoto family.
Yoshimitsu Minamoto (1056-1127 A.D.) is regarded as the actual founder of the "Daito Ryu" (great
eastern style). Yoshimitsu's grandson, Yoshikiyo (some records indicate that he may have been the second son of Yoshimitsu)
founded the Takeda branch of the Minamoto family in the province of Kai.
Takeda is a place in the province of Kai.It is recorded that Yoshimitsu studied anatomy
by dissecting bodies of war dead and criminals and his house "Daito mansion" has given its name to his system of
Aikijujitsu, hence we have the name "Daito Ryu". The techniques were passed on to successive generations as the
secret art of the Takeda house and made known only to members and retainers of the family. In 1574, Takeda Kunitsugu moved
to Aizu.
Thereafter the art remained an exclusively samurai practice and handed
down within the family until Japan emerged from isolation into the Meiji period in 1868. Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943 and 32nd
in line from Yoshimitsu), the then head of the family began to teach the art outside of the Takeda household and began to
travel widely, finally settling in Hokkaido.
Choi
Yong Sul: HapKiDo Founder
It is here that the Korean connection again appears. The most widely known figure in the establishment
of Hapkido is Choi Yong-Sul. There are many varying accounts of Choi's training in Japan and each particular story must
be seen in the context of who is writing it. Much of Japanese history is written from an ethnocentric point of view , particularly
in relation to Korean history. An example of this is the way Korean history was rewritten to the Japanese viewpoint during
their brutal occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
During this period the Japanese tried to completely eliminate Korean thought, cultural arts and the foundation
of traditional Korean martial arts as these posed a threat to their authority in an occupied land. Choi was born in 1904 at Chung
Buk province in Korea. Some have said that he lost his parents at an early age. He is thought to have been in Japan by 1913
where he was a houseboy/servant, perhaps even the adopted son of Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu Grandmaster Takeda Sokaku.
Martial arts historian Kim Jeong Yoon from Seoul says that after Choi was orphaned he was taken to Japan by
a Japanese family. He then spent four years living in a temple before Takeda, a close friend of the abbot, took him in. Perhaps
a more authoritative account comes from Suh Bok Sub, Choi's first student in Korea.
In an interview with Master Wollmershauser of Massachusetts in 1996 Suh Bok Sub stated that Choi had told
him that he was born into a very poor Korean family who lived close by to a candy factory run by a Japanese couple. The couple
took a liking to Choi and, as his family could not afford him, they allowed the couple to return to Japan with their son.
This accords with the Kim Jeong-yoon's account. As a Japanese couple took him to Japan there was no problem Choi entering
Japan. The couple left Choi at a Buddhist temple so they could travel more widely in Japan and so that Choi could be given
an education. Apparently Choi was not interested in schooling and was causing some minor problems by fighting and having a
lack of discipline.
Choi
Yong Sul: In
His Own Words
Following is the account Master Choi
himself gave throughout his later years: I was born Chung Buk province of Korea in 1904 and was orphaned at the age of eight
or nine. I was then taken to Japan by a candy maker who later abandoned me. Left me to wander the streets begging for food,
I then was adopted by a Japanese man who gave me the name Tatujutu Yoshida.
Life in Japan was difficult for me. On the streets, I was regularly beaten
by other children, no doubt because I was a Korean. After my adoption as a houseboy by Takeda, my time in school was equally
unhappy. I spoke little Japanese, and thus found my studies frustrating, and I was getting into fights with classmates. Sensei
Takeda offered him a choice: attend school or study martial arts. I opted to learn to fight and started my training in Daito-Ryu
Aiki-Jutsu (pronounced Dae-Dong-Ryu Hap-Ki-Sool in Korean.) with Sensei Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943) famous Diato Ryu AikiJutsu master. I trained
for over 30 years and learned the complete system.
Grandmaster
Choi Yong Sul:
Yoshida (Choi) started his very hard life with Sokaku Takeda as his houseboy
and later became his manservant. It is because of this position he was always on hand at training sessions. It is well known
that Sokaku Takeda sent Choi to defeat challengers. This was a very shrewd move on Takeda's part.
When the challenger
was defeated he was defeated by the manservant of Takeda and on top of that a Korean. Takeda usually overcame objections by his higher ranking
students like Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) founder of Aikido by saying the following "Who has been with me longer than
my manservant Yoshida (Choi)?" With the end of World War II and of Japanese occupation of Korea at hand and the
death of Sokaku Takeda, Choi left his service and the Takeda Clan after 30 years of training and servent-hood. Yoshida returned
to Korea in the winter of 1945 and changed his name back to Choi, Young Sool.
Choi returned to Korea and renamed Diato
Ryu AikiJutsu and called it HapKiDo then TaeHyun/ TaeKwonDo Military kicks were added to the style he learned with
the help of other student Black Belts that had trained in Korean kicking styles.HapKiDo it is the brother to military form
of Aikijujutsu. It was designed to cripple or kill the attacker or opponent.
HapKido/ Aikijujutsu
which has a long history both have over 1100 years of proof on the battlefield that it is a highly affective combative style.
HapKiDo has continued to expand its arsenal by adding all the kicks of Military TaeKwonDo and the techniques of boxing. HapKiDo
is a complete martial art, including punching, kicking, knees, elbows, joint locks, pressure points, throwing, grappling,
weapons self defense, breaking, cuffing techniques and many more advanced techniques.
HapKiDo
techniques can be used to subdue a suspect or attacker without pain, to cause pain without injury, or to inflict pain, injury
and the dislocation of joints, should the situation demand it. In HapKiDo, ample use is made of striking techniques against
body weaknesses. One also studies many martial disciplines in HapKiDo and receives a well-rounded and effective program of
combat skills. HapKiDo is also a path for personal improvement, awareness, inner harmony and personal development,
but the primary purpose of HapKiDo is an effective form of combat.
In HapKiDo training, your “partner”
takes the form of an aggressor and, unlike many other styles, resistance to a technique is allowed. Also, unlike some styles,
attacks and holds in HapKiDo are made with power and focus.
According to legend, the foundations of aikijujutsu
were laid down by Prince Teijun said to be a Korean Prince in the ninth century. The art was passed down as a bujutsu
(military science) for many generations. Around 1180, a physician’s studies led to great contributions to the art. It
was his habit to dissect the bodies of war victims and executed criminals to study the effects of various martial arts techniques.
This has led to today’s technical sophistication of HapKiDo, particularly in the
area of joint-locking and twisting techniques. HapKiDo today is constantly growing and adding techniques. The true objective of
HapKiDo is to have an effective combat art.
