Hapkido (also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do; Hangul: 합기도; Hanja: 合氣道) is a dynamic and highly eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employsjoint 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, including knife, sword, rope, jool bong (nunchaku), cane, short stick (dan bong), and middle length staff (joong bong, gun, bō (Japanese)) 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 character 合 hap means "coordinated" or "joining"; 氣 ki describes internal energy, spirit, strength, or power; and 道 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".

 

 

Techniques

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, standingjoint 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.

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

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.

Hapkido makes use of pressure points known in Korean as hyeol (혈; 穴) 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.

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(형; 形), the Korean equivalent of what is commonly known as "kata" in Japanese martial arts.

 

Kicking

 

 

 

 

A bidirectional kick.

 

 

 

 

A flying side kick.

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.

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 (유권술; 柔拳術) 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.

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 (Daehan Hapkido Hyub Hwe) for many years to come.

Other influences also were exerted on the kicking techniques of important hapkido teachers. Kwon Tae-Man (Hangul: 권태만) initially studied under Ji Han-Jae before immigrating to southern California in the United States. Han Bong-soo (Hangul: 한봉수) studied under Gwonbeop (권법; 拳法) and Shūdōkan karate from Yoon Byung-In(Hangul: 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 taekkyeon under Lee Bok-Yong (Hangul: 이복용).

Many other teachers like Myung Kwang-Sik (Hangul: 명광식), Jeong Kee-Tae (Hangul: 정기태), Lim Hyun-Soo (Hangul: 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.

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.

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

 

 

Hand strikes

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.

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.

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

 

 

Joint manipulation techniques

 

 

A hyperflexing wristlockused as a pain compliance technique.

 

 

The straight armlock is an example of a very effective elbowlock.

Many of hapkido's joint control techniques are said to be derived largely from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. They are taught similarly to aikido 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).

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 a '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[who?] to be inconsistent with aikido's more pacifistic philosophy.

Wristlocks

Hapkido is well known for its use of a wide variety of wristlocks. These techniques are believed[by whom?] 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.

Elbowlocks

Although well known for its wristlocking techniques, hapkido has an equally wide array of tactics which centre upon the manipulation of the elbow joint (see armlock). The first self-defense technique typically taught in many hapkido schools is the knifehand 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 (Korean: 수도; 手刀)", cutting into the elbow joint, in the hapkido manner.

 

 

Throwing techniques

 

 

Hapkido students practice throws andjoint manipulation in a dojang.

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 (the same Chinese characters are 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.

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.

 

 

Hapkido practitioners perform grapplingtechniques.

 

 

Hapkido holds many throwingtechniques in common with judo.

 

 

Nunchaku (Ssahng Jol Gohn; 쌍절곤), one of hapkido weapons.

The judo/yudo techniques were however adopted with adjustments made to make them blend more completely with the self-defense 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.

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 (Hangul: 공권 유술).