Hapkido
Translation: "Way of life"
Country of Origin: Korea

Hapkido is a Korean Martial Art familiar to most people knowledgeable in the Martial Arts field. Not many people, however, actually know of its origins and more importantly, what makes it unique. Hapkido was derived from Daito-ryu-Aikijutsu, combined with a blend of Korean TaeKyeon. Aikijujutsu was brought over from Japan to Korea in 1946 after World War II by Young-Sool Choi, the founder of Hapkiyoosool. Choi studied with the same Master of Aikijujutsu (Sokaku Takeda) as did Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. People often ask, "Why did they not just call it Aikijujutsu then?" Hapkiyoosool is how the Korean Language pronounces the same Kanji (Hanmoon) as the Japanese Language pronounces it Aikijujutsu. So in reality, it was the same thing by a different name at that time. Choi, Young-Sool taught a man named Ji, Han-Jae. Ji, Han-Jae started his own school and added kicks and strikes from the art of TaeKyeon creating a new form of martial art. In that school, our current president Chang, Young-Shil learned Hapkiyoosool being taught under the names of Hapkisool or Hapkiyoosool. "Sool" means "technique". "Do" means "way". Hapkido is a way of life, Hapkiyoosool are the techniques.