Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

and kyûdô (Japanese Archery). Korean nationals were relocated to Japan to
service the needs of Japanese industry, farming, and domestic service.
The fourth infusion to the Korean martial tradition that followed in
the wake of Japanese occupation is best represented in the personal experiences
of Choi Yong-Shul, whose teachings subsequently set the foundation
for much of modern Hapkidô. At the age of 8, Choi was reportedly
taken to Japan from Korea, later abandoned, and subsequently taken into
the household of Takeda Sokaku, teacher of Daitô-ryû Aiki-jujitsu. Choi
states that he remained in Takeda’s employ for some thirty years, before being
repatriated to Korea at the end of World War II. To date, no documentation
has been found to support Choi’s statements regarding either his residence
with the Takeda family or his instruction in the art of Daitô-ryû.
However, it remains clear that Choi, along with a very limited number of
other Korean nationals such as Jang In Mok and General Choi Hong-Hi,
returned to Korea to add the martial skills he had acquired in Japan to
those arts of the Korean culture that had survived or those arts that had
been introduced from Japan by the occupation.
In 1948 Choi began teaching his art, Yu Sool, to Suh Bok-sup, a yudô
(jûdô) black belt and president of a brewery. The name Yu Sool (Korean;
soft technique) itself suggests that the art’s techniques included joint locks
and throws. However, following an incident in 1954 in which Choi’s student
Suh used a side thrust kick in an altercation, the name was changed
to Yu Kwon Sool (Korean; soft fist technique), indicating that the art utilized
kicks and punches as well.
Ji Han-Jae began to train with Choi in 1953. Working with the head
instructor of the school, Kim Moo-woong, Ji organized the kicking repertoire
that came to be identified with Yu Kwon Sool. This introduction of
various kicking techniques by Kim and Ji Han-Jae to the Yu Sool curriculum
constitutes the fifth and latest infusion of techniques to Hapkidô. The
sources for this kicking repertoire were the historic national pastimes of
t’aek’kyŏn and su bahk, both kicking arts of long standing in the Korean
culture. Similar indigenous influences have been suggested for the kicks incorporated
into the martial sport of taekwondo.
On beginning his own school in 1957 as a third-degree black belt, Ji
is credited with changing the name of the art to its present form, Hapkidô,
from Hapki Yu Sool. In this way, Ji is thought to have emphasized Hapkidô
as a dô (Japanese; way of living) rather than merely a sool (Korean;
collection of techniques). In this way, whatever principles may be examined
on a physical plane, such as motion, balance, leverage, timing, and focus,
may also be regarded as principles existing on intellectual, emotional, and
spiritual planes. The result is that the art of Hapkidô is as much a method
of character development as a martial endeavor.
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