Aikido and Hapkido

I wonder if anyone knew abt hapkido. It originated from Korea and it was said that the grandmaster was a student of Sokaku Takeda, which taught O'sensei Daito Ryu. It says that this grandmaster of hapkido learned daito ryu when he was in Japan. When he returned, he developed this art but named his art in a different name. The meaning and pronounciation of "Hapikido" literally means the same as "Aikido" if it is read in Chinese. It has also the same meaning. Sokaku Takeda was really mischevious in teaching many outsiders the art as it was not allowed to teach it to outsiders.

Xent,

Our club is having a hapkido seminar this week end, and the instructer, Jeff Turner gave our club some back ground info. It seems that the grandmaster and O'sensei did study daito ryu at the same time under Sokaku Takeda. However, because the grandmaster was from Korea, he was given a Japanese name(that I wish I could remember). After his studies in Japan he returned to Korea and opened his "Hapkido" school.

From the description that Mr. Turner gave our sensei, Hapkido is like Aikido with an attitude. I think they focus on strikes, and some ground work, so I think Hapkido has a slightly more aggressive feel than most Aikido schools.

-Might have more info later.

Jason

Here's information from Stanley Pranin's online Encyclopedia of Aikido:

CHOI, YONG SUL

(20 July 1904-29 November 1986). B. Daegue, Korea. The founder of the Korean martial art of HAPKIDO (written with the same Chinese characters as aikido). Some sources claim that Choi was adopted into the family of Sokaku TAKEDA and lived and trained with him for 30 years and became his leading student and teaching assistant. An initial analysis of the extant DAITO-RYU documents and questioning of Takeda's son Tokimune have failed to bring to light any evidence in support of this claim. When queried about this matter, aikido DOSHU Kisshomaru UESHIBA stated that he was told that Choi, together with a number of Korean nationals, had participated in a Daito-ryu seminar in Asahikawa City in Hokkaido during the period when Morihei UESHIBA was residing there. However, he has not been able to confirm this. Another source states that Choi used the name "Tatsujutsu Yoshida" while in Japan. This author has perused a book on Hapkido and did find a number of techniques bearing a close resemblance to Daito-ryu and aikido arts. In any event, what, if any, exposure Choi had to Sokaku Takeda or Morihei Ueshiba is unclear and further research will be required to elucidate this matter.

-- Jun

My brother does Hapkido. From what I understand it is very much more similar to daito ryu than to Aikido. However, it has a modern philosophy that is similar to that of Aikido: do as little damage to the opponent as possible. This is of course stated with an asterisk: "'as little as possible' is subject to nage's discretion."

Their method of study reflects the idea that there is a range of severity of injury that can occur to an attacker. By learning how to inflict maximally severe damage, one can choose anywhere along the spectrum of injury up to the maximum.

Technically I would describe the art as similar to aikido and jujutsu, as well as to tae kwon do because they do a lot of kicks.

--JW

Hmm, but daito ryu records could not confirm that Choi was a student of Takeda. SOme even said that Choi only attended some seminars. Maybe its stealing..i saw 1 of hapikido moves, it was exacatly same as Aikido.

There used to be a gentleman posting on Aikido Journal called Bruce Sims. You should be able to find him through the AJ bulletin board search function. He is an Hapkido practicioner and historian. You may want to try and contact him for your answers.

I saw some Hapkido a long time ago when I was playing at practicing Tae Kwon Do, and it looks like a nice blend of Tae Kwon Do and Aikido or Daito Ryu; a bit like the way Shorinji Kempo resembles a mix of Aikido and Karate. Lots of similarities, lots of subtle differences. Nice MA though. I think technically Hapkido practitioners would have an easier time adapting ot Aikido than vice versa (can you do those double axle spinning roundhouse kicks??).

All MA seem to have their stories and legends, many of which are just pure bunk. Don't think it detracts much from the end result though.

Jonathan Wong (JW) wrote: My brother does Hapkido. From what I understand it is very much more similar to daito ryu than to Aikido. However, it has a modern philosophy that is similar to that of Aikido: do as little damage to the opponent as possible. This is of course stated with an asterisk: "'as little as possible' is subject to nage's discretion." --JW

As much as i understand your point, i wouldn't go so far as saying that HapKiDo is more similar to DaiToRyu (unless we consider only the DaiToRyu JuJutsu portion).

In HaPpKiDo, the joint locks are designed to break and dislocate.

To work that way they "leave openings", so as to get the joints in angles that you make them pop.

These "openings" make HapKiDo locks less eficient if you are restraining from making damage.

What style of HapKiDo does your brother pratices?

Many years ago I trained with a gentleman who taught Hapkido in Chicago. He believed it to be an integration of the percussive arts like TaeKwan Do and the teachings of Takeda Sensei.

If you look at it as such and think of how O'Sensei blended the art of sword with Takeda's teaching you can see how the arts started and seperated.

Hapkido is taught to inflict much damage and has many ferocious kicks and punches. It is really more like the old style of daito ryu with a mix of karate.