Martial Fury

Hapkido

Hapkido is a Korean martial art that was developed and popularized by two men, Choi Yong Sul and Ji Han Jae. Credit for the founding of Hapkido is attributed to Choi since Ji Han Jae was only his student. Ji though, is mainly responsible for spreading the seeds of this martial art.

Hapkido is an effective and powerful martial art that contains soft techniques similar to Aikido and fierce techiques that of Tae Kwon Do.

This style emphasizes on circular movements for its techniques and strikes rather than in a linear fashion. The reason is, a Hapkido practicioner is taught to redirect the opponents energy and to take control of the situation by applying pressure to specific spots of the body.

Hapkido consists of kicks, hand strikes, joint locks, and throws. All techniques are to emphasize on the circular motion principles. A nasty kick like the one portrayed to the left probably hurts a little bit. =o)

The variety of kicks are very distinct to Korean background because of the similarities fo Tae Kwon Do. A commonly used hand strike in Hapkido would be an open hand attack.

Bruce Lee's final big screen appearance before his untimely death, featured a fight scene with Hapkido Grandmaster Ji Han Jae in the movie "Game of Death." Ji Han Jae is one of the highest ranking Hapido Masters in the world and was a student of Choi Yong Sul, the founder of Hapkido.

Hapkido Principles