Nationally Certified Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan & Red Dragon Hapkido Studio

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 What is Hapkido ?

Hapkido, the character hap means “coordinated” or “joining”; ki describes internal energy, spirit, strength, or power; 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”.

A highly eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling and throwing techniques of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. There is also the use of traditional weapons, which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.

Hapkido contains both long- and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges and pressure point strikes, joint locks, or throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to incorporate the use of leverage, avoiding the use of strength against strength.

The art has roots from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, and was founded by Choi Yong-Sool when he returned to Korea after World War II, having lived in Japan for 30 years living in the household of Sokaku Takeda . This system was later combined with kicking and striking techniques of indigenous and contemporary arts such as taekkyeon, as well as throwing techniques and ground fighting from Japanese judo. Its history is obscured by the historical animosity between the Korean and Japanese people following the Second World War.

Although Aikido and Hapkido are believed by many to share a common history, they remain 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 original Chinese characters, despite being pronounced “ai” in Japanese and “hap” in Korean, has proved problematic in promoting the art internationally as a discipline with its own set of unique characteristics differing from those of the Japanese art.