History

The history of Hapkido has its share of historical controversy. The birth of this martial art can be traced to two primary individuals, however, Choi Yong Sul (b. 1904, d. 1986) and Ji Han Jae (b. 1936). As Ji was initially a student of Choi, the foundations of the art must be attributed to Choi, however.

Choi Yong Shul's training in the martial arts is also a subject of hot contention. Primarily there are two main beliefs concerning Choi's education in the martial arts. Choi was sent to Japan at a young age. Some claim that Choi was the adopted son of the patriarch of Daito-ryu Aikijutsu, Sokaku Takeda. This fact was overturned, however, by the research in Korea and Japan of Dr. Scott Shaw. Shaw states that Choi was a worker in the household of Takeda for many years. Tokimune Sokaku, Takeda Sokaku's son, in one report claims, however, that he never knew Choi. Some attribute this to the fact of prevailing racism against Koreans in Japan and the fact that Takeda maintained two distinct households. So far, there is no evidence to show that Choi ever studied Daitoryu except the claim made by Choi himself.

Note: Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was a well known student of Takeda.

On his return to Korea, Choi eventually began to teach martial arts. One of his early students was Ji Han Jae. Ji details that prior to moving his martial art studio from Daegu to Seoul, he also studied with a man known simply as Taoist Lee.

Ji is the teacher of Hapkido who incorporated traditional Korean kicking and punching techniques (from taekyon and hwarang) in the system and gave the resulting synthesis the name Hapkido in 1959. In 1984 Ji moved to the United States and founded Sin Moo Hapkido, which incorporates philosophical tenets, specific series of techniques and kicks, and healing techniques, into the art. Hapkido is the Korean pronunciation of Aikido and Choi Yong Sul opposed the name under which Ueshiba's martial art existed in Japan.

Korean sources often claim that Hapkido was influenced by supposed Korean indigenous martial arts and some even deny the Aikijujutsu connection. Korean people tried to wipe out Japanese influence in Korea. The Korean tendency to deny Japanese origins stems from some animosity toward the Japanese concerning their part in the History of Korea.