title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The record opens with "Feeling This", which features flanged drums and an unconventional "syncopated Latin-flavored backbeat and a harmony-rich chorus" following a series of "half-barked" vocals. "Feeling This" was the first song written for the album and illustrates a scenario of lust, ambivalence, and regret, with the protagonist of the song reflecting over his romance's dimming flame in the chorus "Fate fell short this time/Your smile fades in the summer." Hoppus and DeLonge wrote the song in two different rooms and upon meeting to discuss the song, the two realized they had both written about sex—the passionate, lustful side (reflected in the verses) and the romantic side (the choruses). It segues into "Obvious", which explores the Wall of Sound technique and features a brooding, heavy intro combined with cascading guitar riffs. "I Miss You" is an all-acoustic affair, featuring a melancholy piano, cello, upright acoustic bass, and a "brushstroked hip-hop groove." The song features references to Tim Burton's 1993 animated film "The Nightmare Before Christmas" with "We can live like Jack and Sally" and "We'll have Halloween on Christmas". In interviews and the liner notes for "Blink-182", Barker reveals that the line was directed towards his then girlfriend, Shanna Moakler. "Violence" flicks between "bizarre, spoken jazzy verses and anthemic punk rock choruses" with lyrics that equate broken hearts with global violence.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: "Stockholm Syndrome" has been described as "the most obvious examples of Blink-182's experimentation", was recorded using a microphone dating back to the 1950s, and the reverb on the vocals was achieved by playing the recordings into a shower. The drum fills for the song were recorded separately than the rest of the tracks, with the tape machines "sped up and super compressed", then played back at normal speed, to sound really "deep and gigantic", according to Hoppus in the liner notes for "Blink-182". It features an interlude before it in which Joanne Whalley reads letters Hoppus's grandfather wrote to his grandmother during World War II. DeLonge explained the letters as "real sincere, genuine letters from the worst war in history." "Down" continues the theme of longing, set to a rain-drenched soundscape. The original version of "Down" ran over six minutes long, and contained a drum and bass breakdown from Barker. "The Fallen Interlude", which functions as an outro to "Down", finds Barker showcasing different percussive techniques over a funk-tinged jazz sound. It is a near-instrumental recorded with Sick Jacken of hip-hop band Psycho Realm. "Go" is the record's only straight punk rock song. "It's a personal song," said Hoppus. "It's not specifically about my mother… I feel weird talking about it."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: "Asthenia" uses real NASA transmissions from the Apollo 9 space flight. It centers on a fictional astronaut stranded in space, floating in an Apollo capsule, and contemplating whether or not to return to his home planet. The song was inspired by DeLonge's self-admitted "paranoia" regarding the future and how war and famine could affect it.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: "Always" features an uptempo backbeat combined with a New Romantic-era keyboard and pulls from new wave influences; the band often jokingly called the track the "'80s song." It contains a riff reminiscent of The Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet". "Easy Target" and "All of This" were based on a story from producer Jerry Finn's middle school years. Finn was in love with a female classmate, Holly, who invited him over, only to have her and her friend drench him with a hose; humiliated, he rode home on his bicycle. "All of This" is a gothic-tinged pop song that uses strings and guitar effects to create a moody atmosphere. The track "Here's Your Letter", according to Hoppus in the liner notes for "Blink-182", is about "people's inability to communicate with one another and how words and explanations only confuse the issues." "I'm Lost Without You" mixes an industrial loop with piano. The latter track took many months to create, and took "over 50" different tracks, including two drum sets combined during the last minute of the song. Barker described the idea for the percussion combination as "something we always wanted to do, but never got around to" and believed the song sounded like Pink Floyd or Failure.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The UK edition of the record features B-side "Not Now", originally recorded during the sessions. "Not Now" features a church organ in its verses and guitar riffs reminiscent of the Descendents. Its subject matter continues the theme of complicated miscommunication and fading love.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Due to some contradicting sources, the title of the album (or lack thereof) is debated. Travis Barker, in his memoir "Can I Say", writes that "Some people think it's a self titled album, called "Blink-182", but Mark [Hoppus] has always insisted it was actually untitled." A 2003 interview and article from MTV News discussing the naming of the pending album repeatedly refers to the release as the "untitled album," while a press release from that time period confirms the same. Despite this, several critics have used the terms "eponymous", "untitled", and "self-titled" in describing the album. In a 2009 MTV News article, James Montgomery refers to the album as self-titled, joking, "Or untitled … It's never really been clear." The title for the album was originally rumored to be "Use Your Erection I & II", a parody of the Guns N' Roses albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "II", but was revealed to be a joke Barker made to "get a rise out of people." DeLonge, in reference to previous joke album titles (such as "Enema of the State"), stated, "We didn't want to label it with a joke title that people might expect." As such, a "Billboard" article from the week of the album's release lists three rejected joke titles: "Diarrhea de Janeiro", "Vasectomy, Vasect-a-you" and "Our "Pet Sounds"".


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: To support the new album, Blink-182 created an entirely new logo, a "smiley face" with Xs for each eye and five arrows on the left side of its face. According to Barker, the Blink-182 logo originated at his clothing line, Famous Stars and Straps. Barker wanted to brand an icon for the band: "It just had to be a cool kind of happy face but I wanted arrows. You know, like The Jam were my favorite band, they always had arrows in their logos and stuff. It was just kind of inspired by pop-art." Hoppus seconded this sentiment: "He spearheaded all the artwork for the record. There were smiley-face stickers and posters all over Los Angeles, and that was his idea." Barker invited his tattoo artist, Mister Cartoon, to create artwork for the record, and his good friend Estevan Oriol to handle photography. "His style, incorporated into Blink's, didn’t make us too gangster: it just gave us a bit of an edge. It was cool to feel like Blink had a dangerous side", Barker later remembered.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: musicOMH described the album booklet as "...meticulously put together and resembling a Warholian pastiche." Each song includes small notes detailing the lyrical inspiration for each song, what it means to each band member, and the recording techniques used. The band originally wanted each CD booklet to be made from canvas material. Geffen gave the band a choice between the custom artwork or keeping the sale price down to US$12, and the band chose the latter, as they felt it was more important that young listeners obtain the record for less money.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: "Untitled" was the band's first release on Geffen, which absorbed sister label MCA Records in 2003. Prior to it dissolving, MCA had attempted to penalize the band for breaking stipulations in their contract that they would have an album out by a specific quarter. MCA had previously rushed the band into recording "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket", but the band had much more freedom with Geffen. "Geffen came down and heard three songs and "they" said, 'This is the best record you've ever done, this is the record of your career, take as much time as you want, call us when it's done.' It just completely outlined the perspective of putting accounting before creative, and when you're in the entertainment business, you've "got" to put creative first. It's an art, you've got to look at it like an art, treat it like an art, and then you'll get the best product in the long run."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Promotion for the record included a "golden ticket" contest – the prize being a private Blink-182 show for the winner. MTV's website streamed the full album a week before its release, beginning on November 10. As promotion for the album and single release[s], the band performed "Feeling This" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" a week after the release of the album on November 26, 2003, and "Down" on "Late Show with David Letterman" on May 27, 2004. Performances of "I Miss You" and "The Rock Show" on The WB's "Pepsi Smash" concert series from June 10, 2004, were released on the Australian Tour edition of the album, as well as the "Always" single.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The band picked "Feeling This" as the first single because it was representative of the transition the band had undergone since "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket". A slightly different version of the song had been released previously as part of the soundtrack for the video game "Madden NFL 2004" under the erroneous title "Action". Barker explained in an interview that "'Action' just sounded kind of dorky to us. Like we would always call it 'Feeling This' and then someone at our label, I think, like wrote it as 'Action' one time and sent out singles to people. And it was always supposed to be 'Feeling This'." The video for "Feeling This" was recorded shortly before the release of the album in October 2003. The track peaked high at number 2 on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart, hovering at that position for three weeks. "I Miss You" was commissioned as the record's second single in December 2003 when the band recorded a music video for it. "I Miss You" became arguably the most successful single from the album, becoming Blink-182's second number one hit on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart during the week of April 3, 2004, until dethroned by Hoobastank's "The Reason" two weeks later.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Despite briefly considering "Easy Target" to be released as the album's third single, "Down" was released instead. The video for "Down", which features real-life ex-gang members, made its television premiere in June 2004. The single was a mixed success, peaking at number 10 on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart during the week of July 31, 2004, but quickly falling off afterward. "Always" was announced as the fourth and final single from "Blink-182" in August 2004. "It's gonna change people's lives and might actually change the world forever", DeLonge jokingly predicted. After deciding on the video concept, the clip was recorded and released in November 2004 and continued success all the way into January 2005. A fifth single from the album ("All of This") was discussed; however, plans were dropped following the band's declaration of an 'indefinite hiatus' in February 2005. In response to the idea of "All of This" becoming a possible single, DeLonge joked "We would love it because it's a bad-ass song, and The Cure's Robert Smith sings on it, and that makes us cooler than everybody else." However, on April 18, 2020, Hoppus explained that the song was never intended to be a single, answering a fan during a Twitch stream session.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The album received generally favorable reviews by music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 12 reviews. Jenny Eliscu of "Rolling Stone", while giving the album four stars, wrote that "...their lyrics are still unsophisticated and lovelorn, but even the poppiest tunes prove artful". Her review regards "Blink-182" as "more experimental and harder-hitting than anything else [the band] has done". It was subsequently included in the Top 50 Best of 2003 end of the year list by "Rolling Stone". The album was given four stars by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who called "Blink-182" "an unexpected and welcome maturation from a band that just an album ago seemed permanently stuck in juvenilia." "Blender's" Jonah Weiner praised DeLonge's vocals, describing them as a "lean, thrilling ride through adolescent hopelessness." Many critics expressed surprise at the newfound maturity of the band, and lauded the surprise appearance of The Cure vocalist Robert Smith on the track "All of This".


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The band's decision in favor of more mature material was received positively by many critics; Tim Newbound of "Soul Shine Magazine" wrote that "Blink show that they can retain their infectious and endearing qualities while recording music of a more thoughtful calibre." "Spin" described the record as emotionally intense and best experienced through headphones. "USA Today" Edna Gundersen felt that "Blink-182 bravely adheres to a single sober theme — a disintegrating romance — through 14 songs that adhere to its pop punk principles without recycling cartoonish accessories. Blink-182 is growing up, not growing stale." Nick Catucci of "The Village Voice" called the album "brilliant" and compared "Blink-182" to fellow pop punk band Green Day's 2000 effort, "Warning", writing, "Let it be noted, however, that "Warning" searches for subject matter where "Blink-182" searches for meaning." Greg Kot of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that "Despite their newfound earnestness, [the band] seem incapable of pretension. And in a career littered with songs about awkward moments, their latest is a dork classic." Scott Shelter of "Slant" gave the album four stars, stating "Giving up the fart jokes is risky business for Blink—but "Blink-182" might just be the band's best album to date." Among the more negative reviews, Jason Arnopp of "Q" felt the majority of material forgettable but commended it as "some of their most imaginatively constructed work." "The A.V. Club" Stephen Thompson believed "The disc [does] meander in spots, and its most achingly sincere love songs become cloying."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The album debuted at number three on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, with first-week sales of 313,000 copies. In comparison, "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" debuted at number one and sold more than 350,000 copies in its first week. The album charted at number three, below fellow new album "In the Zone" by Britney Spears (number one) and above remix album "Let It Be... Naked" by The Beatles (number five). "Untitled" charted highest in Canada, where it debuted at number one. The album was also successful in other countries, debuting in the top ten in Australia and New Zealand.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The album was certified by the RIAA as platinum for shipments of over one million copies in 2004, although it has since sold over 2.2 million copies in the US and 7 million copies worldwide. It was certified by both the Music Canada and the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) as double platinum. The album has also reached platinum certifications in the United Kingdom.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Blink-182 announced their first tour in support of "Untitled" on October 17, 2003, named the DollaBill Tour. The all-ages club tour featured support acts Bubba Sparxxx and The Kinison, and, as the name suggests, tickets were sold for $1. DeLonge explained the first return to small venues in several years in the initial press release for the tour: "For years we played in small clubs and that's where you can really connect with your fans." The tour ended shortly after the release of "Untitled" on November 21, 2003, at local San Diego venue SOMA. An additional concert at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on December 2, 2003, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with My Chemical Romance as the opener.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: A performance at KWOD's Twisted X-Mas show shortly before Christmas 2003 became the final show of the year, and a European tour followed in mid-February 2004. During an Australian tour in March 2004, Barker injured his foot and the band was forced to cancel tour dates in Japan for the rest of the month. A U.S. tour took place from late April to May 2004, and a highly publicized tour featuring Blink-182 and No Doubt was performed during June 2004 in support of "Untitled" and No Doubt's "The Singles 1992–2003". The cancelled Australian tour dates were rescheduled and performed in August and September 2004. The band appeared on September 17, 2004, at the "MTV Icon" tribute to The Cure, performing a cover of "A Letter to Elise" and "All of This", which was recorded and later broadcast on October 31, 2004. The band headed to Europe for a two-week tour near the end of the year, which culminated at their final show on December 16, 2004, at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: Although the band had planned for a U.S. tour in support of "Always", tensions within the band had risen on the final European tour and the band announced an 'indefinite hiatus' on February 22, 2005, as breakup rumors swirled. After touring through 2004, the three essentially stopped communicating with one another. Hoppus initially had difficulty accepting the group's new direction. After some tragic events involving the band and its entourage, Blink-182 reunited in February 2009.


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The "Los Angeles Times" referred to "Untitled" as the band's "underrated masterwork," writing that the record is generally considered by "fans, critics and band members alike as its best work, Blink's answer to "Pet Sounds" or "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"." The band themselves have regarded it as a "huge turning point" in their career, marking a change in the way they write and record music, as well as view themselves. In his memoir "Can I Say", Barker writes: "It had a little bit of everything: we ventured far enough outside our genre to make ourselves happy, but not so far that we offended our fan base. It was a perfect happy medium, and it's the Blink album that Mark, Tom, and I are most proud of."


title: Blink-182 (album)

text: The band celebrated the tenth anniversary of the album by performing it in full in November 2013. After a pair of Hollywood Palladium shows sold out in a record 32 seconds, the band added three additional dates at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, which also sold out. MTV News called it "a fitting tribute to an album that, in the decade since it was first released, has become a bit of a touchstone — a defining moment not just for the band, but for the genre of punk, in "all" its permutations." Jon Blistein of Radio.com called the album "an unquestionable masterpiece" in the site's "Not Fade Away" series, which examines "some of the greatest albums of the past few decades." In it, he writes on the album's influence: ""Untitled" was the band's most concise break from the pop punk formula and a catalyst for the wave of pierced-hearts-stuck-to-sleeves-with-tears-and-guyliner "emo" outfits that rose to popularity in its wake (sans the potty humor, of course), including but not limited to Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Panic! at the Disco."


title: Minoan eruption

text: The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera (also called Santorini) circa 1600 BCE. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and the coast of Crete with subsequent earthquakes and tsunamis. With a VEI magnitude between 6 and 7, resulting in an ejection of approximately of dense-rock equivalent (DRE), the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in human history. Since tephra from the Minoan eruption serves as a marker horizon in nearly all archaeological sites in the Eastern Mediterranean, its precise date is of high importance and has been fiercely debated among archaeologists and volcanologists for decades, without coming to a definite conclusion.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Although there are no clear ancient records of the eruption, its plume and volcanic lightning may have been described in the Egyptian Tempest Stele. The Chinese "Bamboo Annals" reported unusual yellow skies and summer frost at the beginning of the Shang dynasty, which may have been a consequence of volcanic winter (similar to 1816, the Year Without a Summer, after the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora).


title: Minoan eruption

text: Geological evidence shows the Thera volcano erupted numerous times over several hundred thousand years before the Minoan eruption. In a repeating process, the volcano would violently erupt, then eventually collapse into a roughly circular seawater-filled caldera, with numerous small islands forming the circle. The caldera would slowly refill with magma, building a new volcano, which erupted and then collapsed in an ongoing cyclical process.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Immediately before the Minoan eruption, the walls of the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring of islands, with the only entrance between Thera and the tiny island of Aspronisi. This cataclysmic eruption was centered on a small island just north of the existing island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the then-existing caldera. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcanic ash and lava, then collapsed again.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Research by a team of international scientists in 2006 revealed that the Santorini event was much larger than the original estimate of of dense-rock equivalent (DRE) that was published in 1991. With an estimated DRE in excess of , the volume of ejecta was approximately . If so, the eruption's Volcanic Explosivity Index was 7. Very thick submarine pyroclastic flow deposits of the Minoan eruption, estimated at , have been mapped on the seafloor at distances up to 30 km around the volcano, i.e. up to four times as much as produced by the well-recorded eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. The Thera volcanic events and subsequent ashfall probably destroyed all indigenous life, as was observed on Krakatoa. Only the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815, Mount Samalas eruption of 1257, Lake Taupo's Hatepe eruption around 180 CE, and perhaps the Paektu Mountain eruption of 946 CE released more material into the atmosphere during historic times.


title: Minoan eruption

text: On Santorini, there is a thick layer of white tephra that overlies the soil clearly delineating the ground level before the eruption. This layer has three distinct bands that indicate the different phases of the eruption. Studies have identified four major eruption phases, and one minor precursory tephra fall. The thinness of the first ash layer, along with the lack of noticeable erosion of that layer by winter rains before the next layer was deposited, indicate that the volcano gave the local population a few months' warning. Since no human remains have been found at the Akrotiri site, this preliminary volcanic activity probably caused the island's population to flee. It is also suggested that several months before the eruption, Santorini experienced one or more earthquakes, which damaged the local settlements.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Intense magmatic activity of the first major phase (BO/Minoan A) of the eruption deposited up to of pumice and ash, with a minor lithic component, southeast and east. Archaeological evidence indicated burial of man-made structures with limited damage. The second (BO/Minoan B) and third (BO/Minoan C) eruption phases involved pyroclastic surges and lava fountaining, as well as the possible generation of tsunamis. Man-made structures not buried during Minoan A were completely destroyed. The third phase was also characterized by the initiation of caldera collapse. The fourth, and last, major phase (BO/Minoan D) was marked by varied activity: lithic-rich base surge deposits, lava flows, lahar floods, and co-ignimbrite ash-fall deposits. This phase was characterized by the completion of caldera collapse, which produced megatsunamis.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Although the fracturing process is not yet known, the altitudinal statistical analysis indicates that the caldera had formed just before the eruption. The area of the island was smaller, and the southern and eastern coastlines appeared regressed. During the eruption, the landscape was covered by the pumice sediments. In some places, the coastline vanished under thick tuff depositions. In others, recent coastlines were extended towards the sea. After the eruption, the geomorphology of the island was characterized by an intense erosional phase during which the pumice was progressively removed from the higher altitudes to the lower ones.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The eruption was of the Ultra Plinian type, and it resulted in an estimated high eruption column which reached the stratosphere. In addition, the magma underlying the volcano came into contact with the shallow marine embayment, resulting in violent phreatomagmatic blasts.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The eruption also generated high tsunamis that devastated the northern coastline of Crete, away. The tsunami affected coastal towns such as Amnisos, where building walls were knocked out of alignment. On the island of Anafi, to the east, ash layers deep have been found, as well as pumice layers on slopes above sea level.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Elsewhere in the Mediterranean are pumice deposits that could have been sent by the Thera eruption. Ash layers in cores drilled from the seabed and from lakes in Turkey show that the heaviest ashfall was towards the east and northeast of Santorini. The ash found on Crete is now known to have been from a precursory phase of the eruption, some weeks or months before the main eruptive phases, and it would have had little impact on the island. Santorini ash deposits were at one time claimed to have been found in the Nile delta, but this is now known to be a misidentification.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The Minoan eruption is an important marker horizon for the Bronze Age chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean realm. It provides a fixed point for aligning the entire chronology of the second millennium BCE in the Aegean, as evidence of the eruption is found throughout the region. Ten Minoan Linear A inscriptions have been found in the destruction layer at Thera, 5 vases, 2 ostraka, and 3 clay tablet fragments, the inscriptions are dated to Middle Minoan III/Late Minoan I, which is currently placed at circa 1600 BCE. Despite the evidence, the exact date of the eruption has been difficult to determine. Some archaeologists supported a 17th century BCE date, and others on historical grounds, a date of approximately 1500 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Many archaeologists considered the eruption to have occurred sometime between 1570 and 1500 BCE based on written records from Egypt and pottery found in excavations, or specifically 1530–1500 BCE. Radiocarbon dates, including analysis of an olive branch buried beneath a lava flow from the volcano that gave a date between 1627 BCE and 1600 BCE (95% credible interval), suggested an eruption date more than a century earlier than proposed by archaeologists who supported a date close to 1500 BCE. Thus, the radiocarbon dates and the archaeological dates were in substantial disagreement. Later on, it was suggested that there may have been regional variations in the calibration curve which might alter a date by up to 20 years. Various recalibrations in the years after moved the posterior probability to around 1617 to 1601 (68.3% credible interval), pointing out that "a date for the Thera eruption after c. 1543/1538 BCE remains improbable," and later to "~1606–1589 BCE (68.3% hpd interval), ~1609–1560 BCE (95.4% hpd interval)" after combining radiocarbon data with stratigraphic data. This would place it during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt and time of the Hyksos.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Meanwhile, the olive branch dating was reevaluated in 2021, noting a bimodality of the probability distribution for the eruption date, with 62.5% probability assigned to the 1625–1600 range and further 5.8% probability to 1574–1567. Also in 2021, a tsunami deposit from Letoon was dated, also by carbon-14, to after 1633 BCE but before 1345 BCE. Concurrently, another study reported the finding of skeletons of a young man and a dog in Late Bronze Age site near Çeşme, which were dubbed the first victims of the Thera eruption who have ever been unearthed. They were victims of the tsunami inundations that took place in that site after the eruption, and the researchers, based on accurate calibrated radiocarbon datings, conclude that Thera eruption happened no earlier than 1612 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: In 2012, Felix Höflmayer argued that archaeological evidence could be consistent with a date as early as 1570 BCE, reducing the discrepancy to around 50 years. He reviewed the various archaeological and technical dating results to conclude:


title: Minoan eruption

text: "(1) Short-Lived Samples from Akrotiri (Thera)...resulting in a date between 1664 and 1651 cal BCE (20.1% probability) or between 1642 and 1616 cal BCE (48.1% probability);


title: Minoan eruption

text: (2) (Branch of an Olive Tree) A wiggle-match for these 4 dates based on the published results indicates a date between 1621 and 1605 cal BCE (68.2% probability);


title: Minoan eruption

text: (3) (Palaikastro Tsunami Deposits) The result for this comes down to a possible date between 1657 and 1546 BCE (68.2% probability), in agreement with the data from the settlement of Akrotiri, the olive tree, and the sequence of Aegina Kolonna...:


title: Minoan eruption

text: (4) Cypriot White Slip pottery ... provides no convincing argument against an eruption date of ~1600 BCE or shortly before."


title: Minoan eruption

text: Conversely, the radiocarbon dates have been argued to be inaccurate on scientific grounds. That argument has been made, in particular, by Malcolm H. Wiener. The primary problem is that C-deficient carbon, sourced from the environment, might easily have affected the radiocarbon dates. Sturt W. Manning rejects that view and states that a volcanic carbon dioxide effect does not apply to the dates of Thera eruption.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Archaeologists developed the Late Bronze Age chronologies of eastern Mediterranean cultures by analysing the origin of artifacts (for example, items from Crete, mainland Greece, Cyprus or Canaan) found in each archaeological layer. If an artifact's origin can be accurately dated, it gives a reference date for the layer in which it is found. If the Thera eruption could be associated with a given layer of Cretan (or other) culture, chronologists could use the date of that layer to date the eruption itself. Since Thera's culture at the time of destruction was similar to the Late Minoan IA (LMIA) culture on Crete, LMIA is the baseline to establish chronology elsewhere. The eruption also aligns with Late Cycladic I (LCI) and Late Helladic I (LHI) cultures, but predates Peloponnesian LHI. Archeological digs on Akrotiri have also yielded fragments of nine Syro-Palestinian Middle Bronze II (MBII) gypsum vessels.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The Aegean prehistorians felt so confident about their calculations that they rejected early radiocarbon dates in the 1970s for LMI/LCI Thera, as radiocarbon suggested a date about a century earlier than the traditional dates.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Pumice, several hundred large pieces, found in a palace workshop of Tuthmosis III (1479 – 1425 BCE) at Tell el Dab'a in Egypt that matches the composition of the Thera eruption has been dated to 1540 BCE, closer to the traditionally-accepted date of Thera's eruption. This pumice has been contentious since the 1990s, as it represents the most prominent supported date to differ from the old chronology. More recent research has questioned the radiocarbon dating.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Greenland ice cores were believed to be evidence of a large volcanic eruption in 1642 ± 5 BCE, which was suggested as being associated with Santorini. However, volcanic ash retrieved from an ice core did not match the expected Santorini fingerprint. The late Holocene eruption of Mount Aniakchak, a volcano in Alaska, is now considered to be the source of the minute shards of volcanic glass in the Greenland ice core. McAneney and Baillie argue that there is a chronological error in the Greenland ice core dates with ice core dates being 14 years too old, concluding Aniakchak's eruption occurred actually in 1627 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Another method that has been used to establish the date of eruption is tree-ring dating. Tree-ring data has shown that a large event interfering with normal tree growth in North America occurred during 1629–1628 (±65 years) BCE. Evidence of a climatic event around 1628 BCE has been found in studies of growth depression of European oaks in Ireland and of Scotch pines in Sweden. Bristlecone pine frost rings also indicate a date of 1627 BCE, but McAneney and Baillie reaffirm that the eruption of Mount Aniakchak, and not Thera, may have been the cause of the climatic upset evidenced by northern hemisphere tree-rings around 1627 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: A 2010 study has used radiocarbon levels in bristlecone pines and Irish oak dated from 1700 BCE to 1500 BCE to develop a new calibration curve which is more accurate for this period. It results in the Thera eruption being dated to between 1600 and 1525, a time period which overlaps with the 1570–1500 date range from the archaeological evidence. Procedural changes in how ice cores are interpreted would bring that data more in line with the dendrochronological numbers. Another study that has used the patterns of carbon-14 captured in the tree rings from Gordion and bristlecone pines in the North America found the signs of the eruption in the years around 1560 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: A 2022 study using tree-ring and ice-core dating also ruled out the 1628 BCE ice core event as being the Thera eruption, confirming it is the result of the eruption of the Alaskan volcano Mount Aniakchak. The study results narrowed the possible dates of eruption in Thera to 1611 BCE, 1562–1555 BCE, and 1538 BCE.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Hydrogeologist Philip LaMoreaux asserted in 1995 that the eruption caused significant climatic changes in the eastern Mediterranean region, Aegean Sea and much of the Northern Hemisphere, but that was rebutted by volcanologist David Pyle a year later.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The eruption devastated the nearby Minoan settlement at Akrotiri on Santorini, which was entombed in a layer of pumice. It is believed that the eruption also severely affected the Minoan population on Crete, but the extent of the impact is debated. Early hypotheses proposed that ashfall from Thera on the eastern half of Crete choked off plant life, causing starvation of the local population. After more thorough field examinations, the hypothesis has lost credibility, as it has been determined that no more than of ash fell anywhere on Crete. Other hypotheses have been proposed based on archaeological evidence found on Crete indicating that a tsunami, likely associated with the eruption, impacted the coastal areas of Crete and may have devastated the Minoan coastal settlements. Another hypothesis is that much of the damage done to Minoan sites resulted from a large earthquake and the fires it caused, which preceded the Thera eruption.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Significant Minoan remains have been found above the Thera ash layer and tsunami level dating from the Late Minoan I era, and it is unclear whether the effects of the ash and tsunami were enough to trigger the downfall of the Minoan civilization. Some sites were abandoned or settlement systems significantly interrupted in the immediate aftermath of the eruption. Some archaeologists speculate that the eruption caused a crisis in Minoan Crete, opening it to Mycenaean influence or even conquest.


title: Minoan eruption

text: A volcanic winter from an eruption in the late 17th century BCE has been claimed by some researchers to correlate with entries in later Chinese records documenting the collapse of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty in China. According to the "Bamboo Annals", the collapse of the dynasty and the rise of the Shang dynasty, approximately dated to 1618 BCE, were accompanied by "yellow fog, a dim sun, then three suns, frost in July, famine, and the withering of all five cereals".


title: Minoan eruption

text: Apocalyptic rainstorms, which devastated much of Egypt, and were described on the Tempest Stele of Ahmose I, have been attributed to short-term climatic changes caused by the Theran eruption. The dates and regnal dates of Ahmose I are in some dispute with Egyptologists (leaving aside alternate chronologies). Proposed reigns range from 1570–1546 BC to 1539–1514 BC. A radiocarbon dating of his mummy produced a mean value of 1557 BC. In any case this would only provide an overlap with the later estimates of eruption date.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Alternatively, if the eruption occurred in the Second Intermediate Period, the absence of Egyptian records of the eruption could be caused by the general disorder in Egypt around that time.


title: Minoan eruption

text: While it has been argued that the damage attributed to these storms may have been caused by an earthquake following the Thera eruption, it has also been suggested that it was caused during a war with the Hyksos, and the storm reference is merely a metaphor for chaos upon which the Pharaoh was attempting to impose order. Documents such as Hatshepsut's Speos Artemidos depict storms, but are clearly figurative, not literal. Research indicates that the Speos Artemidos stele is a reference to her overcoming the powers of chaos and darkness.


title: Minoan eruption

text: The eruption of Thera and volcanic fallout may have inspired the myths of the Titanomachy in Hesiod's "Theogony". The Titanomachy could have picked up elements of western Anatolian folk memory, as the tale spread westward. Hesiod's lines have been compared with volcanic activity, citing Zeus's thunderbolts as volcanic lightning, the boiling earth and sea as a breach of the magma chamber, immense flame and heat as evidence of phreatic explosions, among many other descriptions.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Spyridon Marinatos, the discoverer of the Akrotiri archaeological site, suggested that the Minoan eruption is reflected in Plato's story of Atlantis.


title: Minoan eruption

text: Geologist Barbara J. Sivertsen seeks to establish a link between the eruption of Santorini (c. 1600 BCE) and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in the Bible.


title: Minoan eruption

text: In the controversial bicameral mentality hypothesis, Julian Jaynes has argued that the Minoan eruption was a crucial event in the development of human consciousness since the displacements that it caused led to new and important interactions among communities.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido ( , , also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do; from Korean 합기도 "hapgido" ) is a hybrid Korean 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: "Hapkido" or in the native Korean writing system Hangul is rendered as in Hanja. 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 .


title: Hapkido

text: In Hanja, the character "hap" means "coordinated", "joining", or "harmony"; "ki" literally means air, gas or breath but is used to mean spirit or so-called 'internal energy'; and "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".


title: Hapkido

text: 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 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: Stanley Pranin, then of Aiki News and now editor of the Aikidojournal.com, asked Kisshomaru Ueshiba about Choi Yong-Sool and hapkido:


title: Hapkido

text: 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.


title: Hapkido

text: 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).


title: Hapkido

text: Grand Patriarch Jang In Mok (born 1912.08.15) of Taegue City, who also trained under Takeda Sokaku's linage, 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 Dae Don Ryu Sul system was introduced to Korea in 1960 by him. 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.


title: Hapkido

text: Kwang Jang Nim Han-young Choi was born in Kyongkido, Korea December 11, 1935. He began his formal martial arts training at the age of four, instructed by his father (Chun-san Choi) and his uncle (Man-san Choi), in 1939 to learn his family's martial arts system, a system based on stepping, spinning, and jumping.


title: Hapkido

text: The founder of Chun Ki Do Hapkido Grand Master Han-young Choi learned also Taekwondo Mudokwan under Grandmaster Hwang Kee Hwang Ki and was also a top student and pioneer of Taekwondo in Korea. Choi, Han Young Choi, was the first student of Dr. Chang In Mok's Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul system in Seoul. His martial arts are based on stepping techniques (triangle step, cross step, skip step), turning and jumping. His early years of formal training at a Buddhist monastery in Kyongi do, where he learned meditation, breathing, and application into the physical world. Hounslow (developed into modern Hapkido)- joint manipulation from Grandmaster Chang In Mok. Grandmaster Chang has the same training and lineage as Grandmaster Choi Yong Sul...both brought what we know as Hapkido to Korea from Japan, except Grandmaster Choi commercialized it and Grandmaster Chang did not. Grandmaster Chang focused on oriental medicine and acupuncture. He Choi learned acupuncture and pressure points from him.


title: Hapkido

text: Before he founded the World Chun Ki Association, he belonged to the Daehan Hapkido association and Kuk Sool Won Association. One of his best friends was Suh In Hyuk's older brother, and he asked Grandmaster Choi to help spread Kuk Sool Won in Seoul. In the old days, their spread martial arts by fighting the owner of the neighbourhood schools. Then taking them over and changing the names and techniques. One school at a time, he went neighbourhood by neighbourhood, fighting school owners and taking over schools in the name of Kuk Sool Won. Then he moved to the U.S. and after getting fed up with the politics of Daehan and Kuk Sool Won, he quit and founded the World Chun Ki Do Association.


title: Hapkido

text: Choi, Han Young, was also a pioneer of the Taekwondo Han Moo Kwan system. He held the number one Black Belt certificate from the Han Moo Kwan. Choi, after he had studied for three years under Dr. Chang In Mok, moved to Seoul and began to teach Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sul. But he joined the Kuk Sool organization and taught Dae Dong Ryu Sul under the Kuk Sool name. One of his best friends was Suh In Hyuk's older brother, and he asked Choi to help spread Kuk Sool Won in Seoul. He also has been belonged to the Daehan Hapkido association. In 1972, Choi Han Young immigrated to the United States and moved to El Paso, Texas. He created his own system called Choi's Martial Arts, and later in the 90s, he renamed it to Chun Ki (Heavenly Power). It was his ambition to acquire do so that Chun Ki Do become accepted as a new style, and he achieves tenth-degree black belt status. Grandmaster's goal was to develop his own martial art to reach the 10th-degree black belt. So Chun Ki was born It took a long time and a lot of work to add the long-dreamed-of Do, and Chun Ki Do gain worldwide recognition in the true line of Hapkido. As a new style in the colour Hapkido world as its own style, Grand Master Han-young Choi was awarded the title of Grand Patriarch, the founder of Chun Ki Do Hapkido. He has trained over 50,000 students in Asia, Europe, and America and is respected by many as one of the few remaining original Hapkido Grandmasters. His belt examination program is methodical and didactically structured, all techniques are explained in simple steps and easy for everyone to understand. With his 15 hand levers, his bring techniques to the man are unique in martial arts. A few of the notable students were: His son Sam Choi, Daniel Ray Walker, and Roman Nikolaus Urban who founded the Chun Ki Do Association in Africa and Europe, Jaeshin Cho his Nephew and Gregory Jump His first Top-student.


title: Hapkido

text: Choi's first student and the first person known to have opened up a dojang under Choi was Seo Bok-Seob (서복섭, also spelled Suh Bok-Sup).


title: Hapkido

text: In 1948, when Seo Bok-sub was still in his early 20s, he had already earned his black belt in judo and was a graduate of Korea University. After watching Choi Yong-Sool successfully defend himself against a group of men when an argument erupted in the yard of the Seo Brewery Company, Seo who was son of the chairman of the company, invited Choi to begin teaching martial arts to him and some workers at the distillery where he had prepared a dojang.


title: Hapkido

text: In 1951, Seo opened up the first proper dojang called the "Daehan Hapki Yukwonsool Dojang (대한합기유권술도장)". Seo also incorporated many of judo´s throws and ground work techniques to the teachings of master Choi. The first symbol for hapkido was designed by Seo, which was used to denote the art was the inverted arrowhead design featured in both the modern incarnation of the KiDo Association and by Myung Kwang-Sik's World Hapkido Federation. Choi Yong-Sool was also employed during this time as a bodyguard to Seo's father who was a congressman. Seo and Choi agreed to shorten the name of the art from 'hapki yu kwon sool' to 'hapkido' in 1959.


title: Hapkido

text: Ji Han-Jae (지한재) was undoubtedly the prime mover in the art of Korean hapkido. It is due to his physical skills, technical contributions, promotional efforts and political connections as head hapkido instructor to the presidential body guard under Korean President Park Chung-hee that hapkido became popularized, first within Korea and then internationally.


title: Hapkido

text: If the martial art education of Choi Yong-Sool is unconfirmed, the same must be said for martial art history of Ji Han-Jae's training, apart from his time as a student of Choi. Ji was an early student (Dan #14) of Choi. He details that prior to opening his martial art school in Seoul, the Sung Moo Kwan (성무관), he also supposedly studied from a man known as 'Taoist Lee' and an old woman he knew as 'Grandma'.


title: Hapkido

text: As a teacher of hapkido, Ji incorporated traditional Korean kicking techniques (from Taoist Lee and the art Sam Rang Do Tek Gi) and punching techniques into the system and gave the resulting synthesis the name hapkido in 1957.


title: Hapkido

text: Although a founding member of the Korea Kido Association (대한기도회) in 1963 with Choi Yong-Sool as titular Chairman and Kim Jeong-Yoon as Secretary General and Head Instructor for the association, Ji found himself not able to exert as much control over the organization as he might have wished. To this end and with the support of the Head of the Security Forces, Park Jong-Kyu, Ji founded the very successful Korea Hapkido Association (대한 합기도 협회) in 1965.


title: Hapkido

text: Later, when this organization combined with the organizations founded by Myung Jae-Nam (Korea Hapki Association/한국 합기회) and Kim Moo-Hong (Korean Hapkido Association/한국 합기도 협회) in 1973, they became the very extensive and influential organization known as the Republic of Korea Hapkido Association (대한민국 합기도 협회).


title: Hapkido

text: In 1984, after being released from prison for fraud, Ji moved first to Germany and then to the United States, and founded Sin Moo Hapkido (신무 합기도), which incorporates philosophical tenets, a specific series of techniques (including kicks) and healing techniques into the art. Three of Ji Han-Jae's notable students in Korea were Kwon Tae-Man (권태만), Myung Jae-Nam (명재남) and Chang Young Shil (장영실) who is the current president of the International Hapkido Federation. Ji can be seen in the films "Lady Kung-fu" and "Game of Death" in which he takes part in a long fight scene against Bruce Lee.


title: Hapkido

text: After the death of Choi Yong-Sool in 1986, Ji came forward with the assertion that it was he who founded the Korean art of hapkido, asserting that Choi Yong-Sool taught only yawara based skills and that it was he who added much of the kicking and weapon techniques we now associate with modern hapkido. The reality being that Grandmaster Choi Yong-Sool taught him little of the original art and higher level techniques so he fabricated a new system on his own terms. He also asserted that it was he who first used the term 'hapkido' to refer to the art. While both claims are contested by some of the other senior teachers of the art, what is not contested is the undeniably huge contributions made by Ji to the art, its systematization and its promotion worldwide.


title: Hapkido

text: A direct student of Choi, Chin Il Chang(장진일) inherited the title of Doju in Choi's personal and complete system of Hapkido on January 15, 1985, becoming the second direct lineage Grandmaster.


title: Hapkido

text: On April 5, 1985, Choi personally awarded Chang with the title of Doju (Keeper of the way). Chang also had the privilege and honor of being the first Hapkido master awarded the 9th Dan certificate by Choi in 1980.


title: Hapkido

text: A large inauguration ceremony followed on April 11, 1985. The historic event was covered and documented by Korea Sports News and MBC Korean Television. Choi Young-sool, Chang, and Choi's son, the late Choi Bok-Yeol, were in attendance.<ref name="Chang Interview 02/02/13"></ref> Choi left the full documentation and recordings of the system to Chang, who continued to research and document the full history and development of Hapkido.


title: Hapkido

text: Furthermore, the future Grandmaster, who was a personally trained, closed-door disciple of Choi, was given Letter of Appointment certificates, the second dated December 1, 1977, and the third dated March 5, 1980. This gave Chang more progressive power and authority in Choi's Hapkido Association. These specific certificates, along with his 9th Dan ranking in 1980, and Doju title in 1985, amply demonstrate that Choi was grooming Chang to be the future Grandmaster of Hapkido.


title: Hapkido

text: Chang's intimate video interview(one of several over decades) with his teacher Doju Choi during his visit to New York City has been abused through numerous interpretations and translations. Some have even claimed erroneously to have conducted the interview themselves, further clouding and distorting the truth and gravity inherent in the interview. These endless distortions were generally rebutted in various media each time they appeared.


title: Hapkido

text: Doju Chang continues to teach in New York City after decades of maintaining a commercial school, as well as a stint teaching Hapkido at the United Nations. He currently teaches a small group in NYC dedicated to the preservation of Hapkido. Many detractors have spread endless conjecture about him. One lineage created further controversy by stating Choi passed the system to his only son, Choi Bok-Yeol, which is incorrect, misleading, and insulting to the legacy and wishes of Choi. Black Belt Magazine, respecting Chin Il Chang as the second lineage successor, asked him to write a brief obituary on Choi that appeared in the April 1987 issue.


title: Hapkido

text: Doju Chang died peacefully in his sleep on February 23, 2018, at the age of 77 as a result of Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease.


title: Hapkido

text: A student from the Choi and Seo's Daehan Hapki Yukwonsool Dojang, was Kim Moo-Hong (김무홍), who later taught at Seo's main dojang in Taegu. Seo, who promoted Kim to 4th degree, credits Kim with the development of many kicks which are still used in hapkido today. Kim apparentally took the concepts from very basic kicks he had learned from Choi and went to a temple to work on developing them to a much greater degree. Later, in 1961, Kim travelled to Seoul and while staying at Ji Han-Jae's Sung Moo Kwan dojang they finalized the kicking curriculum.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim went on to found his Shin Moo Kwan dojang (신무관) in the Jongmyo section of Seoul, also in 1961. Won Kwang-Hwa (원광화) and Kim Jung-Soo(김정수) also served as instructors at this dojang. Kim's notable students were Lee Han-Cheol (이한철), Kim Woo-Tak (김우탁; who founded the Kuk Sool Kwan Hapkido dojang), Huh Il-Woong (허일웅), Lee Joo-Bang (이주방; who founded modern Hwa Rang Do), Na Han-Dong (나한동), Shin Dong-Ki (신동기) and Seo In-Hyuk (서인혁; who founded Kuk Sool Won).


title: Hapkido

text: Originally a member of the Korea Kido Association, the organization sent Kim to teach hapkido in the United States in 1969. Upon returning to Korea in 1970, Kim looked to Ji Han-Jae's move to set up his own organization and with the encouragement of his students followed suit and founded the Korean Hapkido Association in 1971. Later he combined this organization with the groups led by Ji Han-Jae and Myung Jae-Nam to form the Republic of Korea Hapkido Association.


title: Hapkido

text: Lim, Hyun Soo was born in Gue-Chang Kyungnam Province in Korea on Sept. 7, 1944. In 1965 he visited Hapkido Founder Choi, Yong Sool and had his first meeting with Hapkido. In 1965, he began his training in Hapkido by Master Kim, Yeung Jae, the chief master at Choi Yong-Sul's dojang. From 1978, Lim attained all of his rank and training directly from Choi Dojunim. During his time training in Hapkido, he endured strict and intense training. With Founder Choi's blessing, he opened the Jung Ki Kwan on October 24, 1974. In 1976 Founder Choi retired and closed his dojang, joined the Jung Ki Kwan, though he retired actively from public teaching. Founder Choi privately taught Lim during his visits. Founder Choi would also spend his days at the Jung Ki Kwan playing Baduk (Chinese chess) with Lim. It was during these times, Lim would further inquire to Founder Choi about various Hapkido techniques. Lim has the Jung Ki Kwan headquarters in Daegu City. He was promoted to 9th dan by Hapkido Founder, Choi, Yong Sool. He is an accomplished swordsman and created Chung Suk Kuhapdo after studying and investigating numerous sword styles in Japan and South Korea.. Choi Yong-Sul told Lim Hyun Soo that learning the sword would be an essential component to his Hapkido training and approved of Lim's sword training. Lim attends the Jung Ki Kwan daily teaching students inside Korea and from around the world. Since 1996, he has visited the U.S. for seminars numerous times. In addition, he has visited Europe such as the Sweden and the Netherlands for Hapkido and Chung Suk Kuhapdo seminars.<br>


title: Hapkido

text: Han Bong-Soo (한봉수) began his training in Hapkido after seeing a demonstration put on by the founder, Yong Sul Choi. From then on, he committed himself to Hapkido training under Choi and other teachers, but never received any direct high ranking from Choi himself. Han was one of the world's foremost practitioners of Hapkido, and is referred to as the Father of his own offshoot of modern Hapkido in the Western World. He led a dedicated effort in the development of his own version of Hapkido. He taught thousands of loyal students throughout his life with many becoming masters themselves. Other masters across all styles have sought out his wisdom and teachings.


title: Hapkido

text: In 1967, Han emigrated to the United States of America, first staying with and teaching at his friend S. O. Choi's hapkido school in California. Han later opened his own school in Los Angeles in 1968. His early years were difficult and he worked in a factory during the day while he taught at a struggling hapkido school in the evening located in an economically depressed area. Later, he relocated his school to the Pacific Palisades area in an effort to be closer to Hollywood and the movie industry.


title: Hapkido

text: On July 4, 1969, Han Bong Soo was giving a demonstration of Hapkido at a park in Pacific Palisades, California. In the audience was Tom Laughlin. After a spectacular demonstration, Laughlin approached Han about being involved in a movie project called "Billy Jack". Han gained critical acclaim for staging and performing some of the most realistic martial arts fight sequences in a film. Before "Billy Jack", movies contained at most brief references to martial arts, with fights portrayed by actors who had little training. With "Billy Jack", Han introduced authentic hapkido techniques to Western audiences. In its sequel, "The Trial of Billy Jack", he received a co-starring part where he spoke about and demonstrated the art, mentioning the art by name for the first time.


title: Hapkido

text: Han studied and refined this Korean martial art for more than 60 years. He was not a direct high level student of Grandmaster Yong Sul Choi but created and crafted his own limited version from various other teachers that he expanded and taught throughout the world.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Jung-Soo (김정수) was born and raised in the Taegu area, Korea, and started training Hapkido directly under Choi Yong-Sool (최용술) in 1957. He was one of the earlier students of Hapkido, and one source puts him as the eight original student of Choi Yong-Sool. Kim Jung-Soo trained sporadically under Choi Yong-Sool (최용술) along with his primary teachers and influencers Kim Moo-Hong (김무홍) and Won Kwang-Wha (원광화) from 1957 until 1986.


title: Hapkido

text: In 1961, Kim Moo-Hong (김무홍) moved to Seoul to open a dojang, and Kim Jung-Soo (김정수) and Won Kwang-Wha (원광화) went with him and became his dojang's primary instructors. Together, they developed the Shin Moo Kwan(신무관) branch of Hapkido. In 1963 Kim Jung-Soo (김정수) decided to go his own way and opened his own dojang in Taegu under the banner of Yun Bee Kwan (윤비관). Later, his students began opening branch schools throughout the greater Taegu aerea, under various names, but still considered to be part of the Yun Bee Kwan (윤비관) family. These schools are known to hold tightly to the original teachings of Choi, Yong Sool (김정수), while also including most of the refinements done by Kim Moo-Hong (김무홍) in terms of kicking methods.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Jung-Soo (김정수) is mostly known for being the founder and president of the Korea-based World Hapkido General Federation, also known as World Hapkido Federation, collecting most of the schools under the Yun Bee Kwan(윤비관) linage in one federation. This organization has since expanded worldwide. While having a similar name, this organization is not to be confused with the U.S. based World Hapkido Federation founded by Kwang Sik Myung (광시숭).


title: Hapkido

text: In 1972, Myung Jae-Nam (명재남) was one of the original members of the Korea Hapkido Association(대한 합기도 협회), which was formed in 1965 at the request of the South Korean President Park Jeong-Hee. The Korea Hapkido Association was formed with the assistance of Park Jong Kyu, who was the head of the Presidential Protective Forces and one of the most powerful men in Korea at the time.


title: Hapkido

text: Myung Jae Nam exchanged martial art techniques and information with an Aikido practitioner named Hirata in 1965, for a period of about four years and included many aikido-like techniques into his version of hapkido. He has produced Several books and videos on the subject of hapkido self-defense. Later Myung Jae-Nam broke away from all the other organizations and started to focus on promoting a new style, hankido. Until his death in 1999 he was the leader of the International Hapkido Federation.


title: Hapkido

text: Chong Min Lee was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. He began his study of Hapkido as a teenager and continued studying Hapkido throughout his life though not a direct student of the late Grandmaster Yong Sool Choi. He is a self-promoted 9th Degree Black Belt, the Master Instructor of Hapkido Center, President of The World Hapkido Association.


title: Hapkido

text: Lee served as an Instructor with the 1st Special Forces Group in the Korean Army, and has taught martial arts to the Police Departments in Seoul as well as Plainfield, New Jersey. He has also served as the director of Hapkido demonstrations for such dignitaries as Hubert H. Humphrey and the Chancellor of the Republic of China, Mr. Chang, during their visits to Seoul, Korea. Lee came to the United States in June 1980. He currently operates a Hapkido Center in Warren, New Jersey, and is also a member of the Law Enforcement Officers Association New Jersey State. He has been instructing students for over 42 years in Hapkido.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Myung-Yong was born in Korea in 1942. He started at the age of 17 training at Seung Moo Kwan School under Grandmaster Ji Han-Jae. He was a Hapkido instructor in the military camp of Wang Shim Ri. His style of Hapkido Jin Jung Kwan has locations all over the world and is one of the largest Hapkido styles practiced. He is now retired in Houston, TX. In 2012 Gm Kim appointed Michael Rhoades as Vice President and 8th dan as well as assigning him his Korean name Kim Tae-Hun. In 2018 Gm Kim appointed Gm Rhoades as President and 9th dan of Jin Jung Kwan.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Yun-Sik (김윤식)was born in Seoul, Korea in 1943. He is the founder of Bum Moo Kwan Hapkido. He began his martial arts training in 1954 under the direction of Choi Yong-Sool, and received the black belt from Choi in 1957.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim is the founder of the Bum Moo Kwan style, in which the practitioner is instructed to finish the encounter quickly, using any available material as weapon or any part of his body, aiming the opponent's pressure or vital points. Bum Moo is one of the three original and government regulated Hapkido Kwans.


title: Hapkido

text: Residing, teaching and training in Brazil since 1977, Kim was the master of several Hapkido World Champions, such as Norberto Serrano Jr., Rafael Tercarolli and Leandro Heck Gemeo


title: Hapkido

text: This school was founded by Grandmaster Lim Chae-Kwan in 2007 after many years of research and study into the Hapkido of Founder Choi Young-Sul. As a high school student, Lim, Chea-Kwan began his Hapkido training under Grand Master Lim, Hyun-Soo. Through the courtesy of his teacher at that time Grand Master Lim, Hyun-Soo, president of the Jung Ki-Kwan, he obtained a 4th dan certificate signed by Founder Choi Yong-Sul. Since Choi's death in 1986 GM Lim studied with the top students of Founder Choi. Some of these Grandmasters were GM Jun Jeong-Pil (kicking),GM Lee Jae-Young (advanced wrist technology), GM Lee Young-Hee (clothing grab defense), GM Chae Hung-Jun (special offensive techniques for joint locking and throwing), GM Kim Yeong-Jae (special self-protection techniques).


title: Hapkido

text: GM Lim Chae-Kwan after studying Founder Choi's Hapkido style and feeling his very high level martial arts has studied diligently his whole life to become a skilled craftsman in Hapkido.


title: Hapkido

text: On the "hard-soft" scale of martial arts, hapkido stands somewhere in the middle, employing "soft" techniques similar to jujutsu and aikido as well as "hard" techniques reminiscent of taekwondo and tang soo do. Even the "hard" techniques, though, emphasize circular rather than linear movements. Hapkido is an eclectic, hybrid 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:


title: Hapkido

text: Hwa, or harmony, is simply the act of remaining relaxed and not directly opposing an opponent's force. For example, if an opponent were to push against a hapkido student's chest, rather than resist and push back, the hapkido student would blend with the opponent, avoiding any direct confrontation by moving in the same direction as the push and utilizing the opponent's forward momentum to execute a throw.


title: Hapkido

text: Won, the circle principle, is a way to gain momentum for executing the techniques in a natural and free-flowing manner. If an opponent attacks in a linear motion, as in a punch or knife thrust, the hapkido student would redirect the opponent's force by leading the attack in a circular pattern, thereby adding the attacker's power to his own. Once he has redirected that power, the hapkido student can execute any of a variety of techniques to incapacitate his attacker. The hapkido practitioner learns to view an attacker as an "energy entity" rather than as a physical entity. The bigger the person is, the more energy a person has, the better it is for the hapkido student.


title: Hapkido

text: Yu, the water principle, is analogous to the concept of a "moving target" wherein the saying, ""In regards to a stream, you can't step on the same water twice,"" the current forever moves the water downstream and that persistent flow can erode away just about anything, even a boulder, which is often perceived as a substance that's "stronger" than water.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido is fluid and does not rely on brute force against force. Rather it is much like water as an adaptable entity, in that a hapkido master will attempt to deflect an opponent's strike in a way that is similar to free-flowing water being divided around a stone, only to return and envelop it.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido seeks to be a fully comprehensive fighting style and as such tries to avoid narrow specialization in any particular type of technique or range of fighting. It maintains a wide range of tactics for striking, standing joint locks, throwing techniques (both pure and joint manipulating throws) and pinning techniques. Some styles also incorporate tactics for ground fighting although these tactics generally tend to be focused upon escaping and regaining footing or controlling, striking, and finishing a downed opponent, rather than lengthy wrestling or submission grappling engagements.


title: Hapkido

text: The Korean term for technique is "sool" (). As terminology varies between schools, some refer to defensive maneuvers as "soolgi" (술기; loosely translated as "technique-ing"), while "hoshinsool" (; meaning "self-defense") is preferred by others.


title: Hapkido

text: Proper hapkido tactics include using footwork and a series of kicks and hand strikes to bridge the distance with an opponent. Then to immediately control the balance of the opponent (typically by manipulating the head and neck), for a take down or to isolate a wrist or arm and apply a joint twisting throw, depending upon the situation; Hapkido is a comprehensive system and once the opponent's balance has been taken, there are a myriad of techniques to disable and subdue the opponent.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido makes use of pressure points known in Korean as "hyeol" () which are also used in traditional Asian medical practices such as acupuncture point. These pressure points are either struck to produce unconsciousness or manipulated to create pain allowing one to more easily upset the balance of one's opponent prior to a throw or joint manipulation.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido emphasizes self-defense over sport fighting and as such employs the use of weapons, including environmental weapons of opportunity, in addition to empty hand techniques. Some schools also teach "hyeong" (), the Korean equivalent of what is commonly known as "kata" (or "forms") in Japanese martial arts.


title: Hapkido

text: The wide variety of kicks in hapkido make it distinctly Korean. Taekwondo kicks appear to be similar to many of the kicks found in hapkido, though again circular motion is emphasized. Also, in contrast to most modern taekwondo styles, hapkido utilises a wide variety of low (below the waist), hooking or sweeping kicks, with one of the most distinctive being the low spinning (sweeping) heel kick.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido's method of delivery tends toward greater weight commitment to the strikes and less concern for quick retraction of the kicking leg. Traditionally, Choi Yong-Sool's "yu kwon sool" () kicking techniques were only to the lower body, but most derived varieties of hapkido, probably as a direct influence from other Korean arts, also include high kicks and jumping kicks. At the more advanced levels of Hapkido the practitioner learns "blade kicks" which utilize sweeping blade strikes of the inner and outer foot against pressure points of the body.


title: Hapkido

text: Two of the earliest innovators in this regard were Ji Han-Jae and Kim Moo-Hong, both of whom were exposed to what were thought to be indigenous Korean kicking arts. They combined these forms together with the yu sool concepts for striking taught to them by Choi and during a period of 8 months training together in 1961 finalized the kicking curriculum which would be used by the Korea Hapkido Association for many years to come.


title: Hapkido

text: Other influences also were exerted on the kicking techniques of important hapkido teachers. Kwon Tae-Man (권태만) initially studied under Ji Han-Jae before immigrating to southern California in the United States. Han Bong-soo studied under "Gwonbeop" () and Shūdōkan karate from Yoon Byung-In (윤병인), whose students were influential in the later forming of Kong Soo Do and Taekwondo styles, specifically the Chang Moo Kwan and Jidokwan. He, like Kim Moo-Hong, also trained briefly in the Korean art of Taekkyon under Lee Bok-Yong (이복용).


title: Hapkido

text: Many other teachers like Myung Kwang-Sik (명광식), Jeong Kee-Tae (정기태), Lim Hyun-Soo (임현수), and many others trained in tang soo do and kong soo do, Shotokan and Shūdōkan karate based systems which predated and influenced the forming of first tae soo do and later modern taekwondo styles.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Sang-Cook states that while many of the original yu kwon sool students were exposed to many different contemporary Korean arts the Chung Do Kwan was of particular importance in the transition from the original jujutsu based form to what we know today as modern hapkido.


title: Hapkido

text: Most forms of hapkido include a series of double kicks used to promote balance, coordination and muscular control.


title: Hapkido

text: After these kicks are mastered using one foot kick the student moves on to jumping versions using alternate kicking legs.


title: Hapkido

text: Kim Chong Sung (김종성, Jang Mu Won Hapkido Founder), was one of the oldest living active hapkido instructors, maintains that the source of these kicking methods is from the indigenous Korean kicking art of Taekkyon. Others feel that these kicks are more representative of kong soo do and tang soo do styles which emerged from an adaptation of Japanese karate forms.


title: Hapkido

text: Like most martial arts, hapkido employs a great number of punches and hand strikes, as well as elbow 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. The hand strikes are often used to weaken the opponent before joint locking and throwing, and also as finishing techniques.


title: Hapkido

text: Hand striking in hapkido (unless in competition) is not restricted to punches and open hand striking; some significance is given to striking with fingernails at the throat and eyes; pulling at the opponent's genitals is also covered in conventional training.


title: Hapkido

text: In order to recall hand strikes more easily in an emotionally charged situation, beginning students are taught conventional, effective patterns of blocks and counter-attacks called "makko chigi" (막고 치기), which progress to more complex techniques as the student becomes familiar with them.


title: Hapkido

text: Many of hapkido's joint control techniques are said to be derived largely from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. They are taught similarly to Aikido and Ju Jutsu techniques, but in general the circles are smaller and the techniques are applied in a more linear fashion. Hapkido's joint manipulation techniques attack both large joints (such as the elbow, shoulder, neck, back, knee, and hip) and small joints (such as wrists, fingers, ankles, toes, and jaw).


title: Hapkido

text: Most techniques involve applying force in the direction that a joint moves naturally and then forcing it to overextend or by forcing a joint to move in a direction that goes against its natural range of motion. These techniques can be used to cause pain and force a submission, to gain control of an opponent for 'come along' techniques (as is often employed in law enforcement), to assist in a hard or gentle throw or to cause the dislocation or breaking of the joint. Hapkido differs from some post-war styles of Aikido in its preservation of a great many techniques which are applied against the joint that were deemed by some to be inconsistent with Aikido's more pacifistic philosophy.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido is well known for its use of a wide variety of wristlocks. These techniques are believed to have been derived from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu although their manner of performance is not always identical to that of the parent art. Still many of the techniques found in hapkido are quite similar to those of Daito-ryu and of Aikido, which was derived from that art. Examples of such techniques are: the supinating wristlock, pronating wristlock, internal rotational wristlock, and the utilization of pressure points on the wrist. These techniques are common to many forms of Japanese Jujutsu, Chinese chin na, and even "catch as catch can" wrestling.


title: Hapkido

text: Although well known for its wristlocking techniques, Hapkido has an equally wide array of tactics which center upon the manipulation of the elbow joint (see armlock). The first self-defense technique typically taught in many hapkido schools is the "knife-hand elbow press". This technique is thought to be derived from Daitō-ryū's "ippondori", a method of disarming and destroying the elbow joint of a sword-wielding opponent. Hapkido typically introduces this technique off a wrist-grabbing attack where the defender makes a circular movement with his hands to free himself from the opponent's grasp and applies a pronating wristlock while cutting down upon the elbow joint with their forearm, taking their opponent down to the ground, where an elbow lock is applied with one's hand or knee to immobilize the attacker in a pin. Both Daito-ryu and Aikido prefer to use hand pressure on the elbow throughout the technique rather than using the forearm as a "hand blade ()", cutting into the elbow joint, in the Hapkido manner.


title: Hapkido

text: In addition to throws which are achieved by unbalancing one's opponent through the twisting of their joints, hapkido also contains techniques of pure throwing which do not require the assistance of jointlocks. Some of these techniques are found within Daito-ryu but a great many of them are held in common with judo (pronounced "yudo 유도" in Korean). Many of early practitioners of hapkido had extensive judo backgrounds including Choi Yong-Sool's first student Seo Bok-Seob.


title: Hapkido

text: Judo techniques were introduced in the early years of the 20th century in Korea during the Japanese colonial period. Judo/Yudo tactics employ extensive use of throws, various chokes, hold downs, joint locks, and other grappling techniques used to control the opponent on the ground. It is believed that these techniques were absorbed into the hapkido curriculum from judo as there were a great many judo practitioners in Korea at that time and its tactics were commonly employed in the fighting of the period. Indeed, there also exists a portion of the hapkido curriculum which consists of techniques specifically designed to thwart judo style attacks.


title: Hapkido

text: The judo/yudo techniques were however adopted with adjustments made to make them blend more completely with the self-defence orientation which hapkido stresses. For example, many of the judo style throwing techniques employed in hapkido do not rely upon the use of traditional judo grips on the uniform, which can play a large role in the Japanese sport. Instead in many cases they rely upon gripping the limbs, head or neck in order to be successful.


title: Hapkido

text: Even today Korea remains one of the strongest countries in the world for the sport of judo and this cross influence on the art of Korean hapkido to be felt in Hapkido influenced styles such as GongKwon Yusul (공권유술).


title: Hapkido

text: As a hapkido student advances through the various belt levels (essentially the same as other Korean arts, e.g. taekwondo), he or she learns how to employ and defend against various weapons. The first weapon encountered is most often a knife (). Another initial weapon used to teach both control and the basic precepts of utilizing a weapon with Hapkido techniques is the Jung Bong (police baton sized stick), techniques and defenses against the 35 cm short stick (), a walking stick or cane (ji-pang-ee; 지팡이), and a rope are introduced in hapkido training. Many hapkido organisations may also include other weapons training such as a sword (gum; 검), long staff (), middle length staff, nunchaku (), war-fan or other types of bladed weapons such as twin short swords. Some schools even teach students to defend against firearms. Hapkido weapons techniques are often incorporated into many military and law enforcement training curricula.


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido training takes place in a dojang. While training methods vary, a typical training session will contain technique practice (striking techniques as well as defensive throws and grappling), break falling (), sparring, meditation and exercises to develop internal energy ("ki", ).


title: Hapkido

text: Hapkido is predominantly a "soft" art, but this does not mean that it is easier on the opponent, or that training is easier (see Hard and soft (martial arts)). Hapkido training is vigorous and demanding. The practitioner could benefit in training by being lean and muscular. 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.


title: Hapkido

text: The following is an example of the Korea Hapkido Association technical requirements from 1st degree to 5th degree Black Belt as recorded by He-Young Kimm in 1991, created in association with Ji Han-Jae. These techniques are now considered pre-dan level.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (19 August 1743 – 8 December 1793) was the last "maîtresse-en-titre" of King Louis XV of France. She was executed, by guillotine, during the French Revolution due to accounts of treason—particularly being suspected of assisting "émigrés" flee from the Revolution.


title: Madame du Barry

text: In order for the king to take Jeanne as a "maîtresse-en-titre", she had to be married to someone of high rank so she could be allowed at court; she was hastily married on 1 September 1768, to Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony was accompanied by a false birth certificate, created by Jean du Barry. The certificate made Jeanne younger by three years and dissimulated her “poor” background. Henceforth, she was deemed as an official "maîtresse-en-titre" to the king.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Her arrival at the French royal court was considered scandalous by some, as she had been a prostitute and a commoner. For these reasons, she was disliked by many, including Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette's disfavoring Jeanne and refusing to speak to her was seen as a major issue within the royal court and had to be resolved. In New Year's Day 1772, Marie Antoinette remarked to Jeanne, “There are many people at Versailles today.” This little interaction pleased both Jeanne and the royal court, and the dispute ended, though the latter still disapproved of Jeanne thereafter.


title: Madame du Barry

text: During the Reign of Terror, a subpart of the French Revolution, Jeanne was imprisoned due to accounts of treason, the claims being made by her page Zamor. Soon after her imprisonment, she was executed—by guillotine—on 8 December 1793. Her body was buried in the Madeleine cemetery. The gems she had smuggled out of France during the Revolution were found due to her confession, and were sold at in auction in 1795.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne Bécu was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Bécu—a 30-year-old seamstress. Jeanne’s father is unidentified; however, it is possible that her father is Jean Jacques Gomard—a friar given the moniker "frère Ange". One of her mother’s acquaintances, and presumed brief lover, Monsieur Billiard-Dumonceaux, took 3-year-old Jeanne and her mother into his care when they traveled from Vaucouleurs to Paris. There, Anne was placed as a cook in his own mistress’s household. Jeanne was well-liked by Monsieur Dumonceaux's mistress Francesca, who pampered Jeanne in grandeur. Jeanne’s education began at a convent, named Couvent de Saint Aurea.


title: Madame du Barry

text: At the age of fifteen, Jeanne left the "Couvent", for she had “come of age”. Around that time, Jeanne and her mother were evicted from Monsieur Dumonceaux's household, and were to live at the small household of Anne’s husband, Nicolas Rançon. What caused the eviction is unknown, though it could possibly be due to Francesca’s jealousy of Jeanne's beauty and youth, or Monsieur Dumonceaux’s passion for Anne revived.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Upon this, Jeanne needed to find some sort of income to stabilise herself, and thus traveled the streets of Paris carrying a box full of trinkets for sale. Over time she worked at different occupations; she was first offered a post as an assistant to a young hairdresser named Lametz. Jeanne had a brief relationship with him that may have produced a daughter, although it is highly improbable. Jeanne was soon employed as a "dame de compagnie" (companion) to an elderly widow, Madame de la Garde, but was sent away when her presence began to meddle in the marital affairs of both Madame de la Garde's two sons. Later, Jeanne worked as a milliners assistant as a "grisette" in a haberdashery shop named 'À la Toilette', which was owned by a certain Madame Labille and run by her husband. Labille's daughter, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne.


title: Madame du Barry

text: As reflected in art from the time, Jeanne was a remarkably attractive blonde woman with thick golden ringlets and almond-shaped blue eyes. Her beauty came to the attention of Jean-Baptiste du Barry, whose brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry, owned a casino. Jeanne soon came to his attention in 1763, when she was entertaining in Madame Quisnoy's brothel-casino. Guillaume du Barry installed her in his household and made her his mistress. Giving her the appellation of "Mademoiselle Lange", Guillaume helped establish Jeanne's career as a courtesan in the highest circles of Parisian society; this enabled her to take several aristocratic men as brief lovers or clients.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne quickly became a sensation in Paris, building up a large aristocratic clientele. She had many lovers; from King Louis XV of France’s ministers to his own courtiers, the most prominent being Maréchal de Richelieu. Due to this, Jean du Barry saw her to be holding influence over Louis XV, who became aware of her in 1768 while she was visiting Versailles. The errand involved the Duc de Choiseul, who found her rather ordinary in contrast to what most men thought of her. The king took a great interest in her and obtained her identity with the help of his personal valet and procurer Dominique Guillaume Lebel. Jeanne was escorted to the royal boudoir frequently, and it was soon becoming a worrying issue to Lebel when this liaison was seemingly becoming more than just a passing fling. In any case, Jeanne could not qualify as a "maîtresse-en-titre" unless she had a title; however, after divulging with the king that Jeanne was nothing but a harlot, the king ordered that Jeanne be wedded to a man of strong lineage so she may be brought to court as per protocol. This was solved by her marriage on 1 September 1768 to Jean du Barry's brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean du Barry himself, making Jeanne younger by three years and of fictitious noble descent.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne was now installed above the king's quarters in Lebel's former rooms. She lived a lonely life, unable to be seen with the king since no formal presentation had taken place. Very few, if any, of the nobility at court deigned to become acquainted with her, for none could accept the fact that a woman of the street had the audacity to converse and intermingle with those above her station, and thrive in trying to become like them. Comte du Barry constantly pestered Jeanne and urged her to speak of presentation with the king. Louis XV, in return, asked her to find a proper sponsor to be able to have one. Richelieu took responsibility of doing so, and after a few women were approached, and asked too high of a price to take the role, her official sponsor, Madame de Béarn, was found after having her huge gambling debts paid off.


title: Madame du Barry

text: On the first occasion when the presentation was to take place, Madame de Béarn was panicked by fear and feigned a sprained ankle. On a second occasion, the king was badly hurt when he fell off his horse during a hunt and broke his arm. Finally, Jeanne was presented to the Court at Versailles on 22 April 1769; an occasion which was long-awaited for by the gathering crowds outside the palace gates, and by the gossiping courtiers within the Hall of Mirrors. Jeanne was described as wearing a silvery white gown brocaded with gold—the gown was bedecked in jewels sent by the king the night before, and had huge panniers at the sides. The dress had been specifically ordered by Richelieu for Jeanne; many courtiers claimed that it was never seen before. Her "coiffure" was also noticeably spectacular, being the cause of her late arrival.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne first befriended Claire Françoise, who was brought from Languedoc by her brother Jean du Barry to accompany her then-friendless sister-in-law, being also a means of companionship and a “tutor”, in which she was to help Jeanne let go of her past and take a more court-like demeanour. Later on, she also befriended the Maréchale de Mirepoix. Other women of nobility were bribed into forming her entourage.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne quickly accustomed herself to living in luxury, to which she had already been somewhat introduced whilst living with Monsieur Dumonceaux. Louis XV had also given her a young Bengali slave named Zamor, whom she dressed in elegant clothing to show him off. Jeanne developed a liking for Zamor and began to educate him.


title: Madame du Barry

text: According to Stanley Loomis’ biography "Du Barry", Jeanne's everyday routine began at 9.a.m, when Zamor would bring her a morning cup of chocolate. She would then be dressed in a fine gown of her choice and dressed in her jewellery. Accordingly, either hairdresser Nokelle for special occasions or Berline for everyday styles, would come to do her hair in powders and curls. She would then receive friends, dressmakers, jewellers and artists showing off their new stock, hoping she would be interested in buying something of their offers. She was indeed extravagant, but her good nature was not spoiled. When the old Comte and Comtesse de Lousene were forcibly evicted from their château due to heavy debts, they were sentenced to beheading because the comtesse had shot dead a bailiff and a police officer while resisting. To their great fortune, they were good friends with Madame de Béarn, who told Jeanne of their situation. Though warned by Richelieu of her possible failure, she asked the king to pardon them, refusing to rise from her kneeling posture if he did not accept her request. Louis XV was astounded and his heart thawed, to which he said, "Madame, I am delighted that the first favour you should ask of me should be an act of mercy!" A second similar act happened when Jeanne was visited by a certain Monsieur Mandeville, who asked pardon in the name of a young girl condemned to the gallows: she had been convicted of infanticide for giving birth to a stillborn and not informing the authorities. Jeanne wrote a letter to the Chancellor of France, who granted the pardon.


title: Madame du Barry

text: Jeanne was a tremendous triumph. She now wore extravagant gowns of great proportions both in creation and cost, exhausting the treasury all the more. With diamonds covering her delicate neck and ears, she was now the king's "maîtresse déclarée". Due to her new position at Court, she made both friends and enemies. Her most bitter rival was the Duchesse de Gramont, who had in vain tried her best to acquire the place of the late Marquise de Pompadour, and according to Diane Adélaïde de Mailly, Béatrix de Gramont would have disdained the comtesse no matter what. She had, since the beginning, plotted with her brother for the removal of Jeanne, even going to the extent of slandering her name as well as the king's on gutter pamphlets.


title: Madame du Barry

text: In time Jeanne became acquainted with the Duc d’Aiguillon, who sided with her against the opposing Duc de Choiseul. As Jeanne's power in court grew stronger, Choiseul began feeling his was waning, and against the king's wishes after the terrible Seven Years' War incident, he decided France was capable of war again and sided with the Spanish against the British for possession of the Falkland Islands. When this plot came to light to the du Barry clan, the mistress exposed all to the king and, in Christmas Eve 1771, Choiseul was dismissed of his ministerial role from court, which was ordered by His Majesty. He then went into exile at his Chanteloup property, alongside his wife and sister.


title: Madame du Barry

text: While Jeanne was part of the faction that brought down the Duc de Choiseul, she was unlike her late predecessor, Madame de Pompadour, in the fact that she had little interest in politics, preferring rather to pass her time ordering new ravishing gowns and complementary jewellery, however, the king went so far as to let her participate in state councils. A note in a modern edition of the "Souvenirs of Mme. Campan" recalls an anecdote: the king said to the Duc de Noailles that, with Madame du Barry, he had discovered new pleasures; "Sire" – answered the duke – "that's because your Majesty has never been in a brothel." While Jeanne was known for her good nature and support of artists, she grew increasingly unpopular because of the king's financial extravagance towards her. She was forever in debt despite her huge monthly income from the king—at one point she was given three hundred thousand livres.


title: Madame du Barry

text: She remained in her position until the death of the king, and the attempt to depose her made by the Duc de Choiseul and the Duc de Aiguillon by trying to arrange a secret marriage between the king and Madame Pater proved unsuccessful.


title: Madame du Barry

text: In 1772, the infatuated Louis XV requested that Parisian jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge create an elaborate and spectacular jeweled necklace for Jeanne—one that would surpass all known others in extravagance—at an estimated cost of two million livres. The necklace, still not completed nor paid for when Louis XV died, would eventually trigger a scandal involving Jeanne de la Motte-Valois, in which Queen Marie Antoinette would be accused of bribing the Cardinal de Rohan to purchase it for her, accusations which would figure prominently in the onset of the French Revolution.