I wish to thank all my Instructors who helped me grow in the Martial
Arts:
Amante P. Marinas Chief Instructor, World Arnis Lanada
Federation
Grandmaster Michael J. Wollmershauser, 8th Degree, President Of
the American Hapkido Association
The late Professor Fernando Visitacion, Vee Jitsu Arnis TE
Grand Master Yong Man Lee, Judo, Tang So Do
Master G. A. Vaccaro,Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Arnis
I especially wish to thank,
Grandmaster DR. Jung Hwan Park , President of the World Traditional
Hapkido Federation.
The information on this page is my
personal observation after years of training in the Arts
ART ST. ARMAND 6 TH. Dan Black Belt and Certified
Master Instructor of the
WORLD TRADITIONAL HAPKIDO FEDERATION
Under Grandmaster DR. JUNG HWAN PARK, President
"MODERN"=FRESH
"AMERICAN"=YANK "HAP"=COORDINATION
"KI"=INNER POWER "DO"=ART
So what is the new fresh concept of
Modern American Hapkido, its basic, its not really some thing new,
but actually some very old. Also its not some thing that we have
not heard about.
The one area that seems to
be missing is the pressure points, although many martial arts mention
pressure point , they do very little to use them. So it is my hope
to bring to the light the use of pressure points.
Hapkido, "The Art of Coordinated
Power", is technically a "soft" art, though it looks
like a hard style in many ways.
Most other martial arts deal with direct, straight movements, whereas,
Hapkido leads the attack of an opponent in a circle. Therefore, not
much strength is needed because the stronger the opponent's attack,
the more he resists, the more aggressive he becomes, the easier it
is for the Hapkidoist to defend himself or herself.
Hapkido is a total martial art, combining the locking and breaking
aspects of Aikido, the throwing aspects of Judo, the striking aspects
of Karate, and the footwork of Tae Kwon Do. Aside from the obvious
self-defense aspects of Hapkido, there are mysterious health benefits
as well.
Some sources say that the founder of Hapkido, Choi, Yong Sul was a
houseboy/servant (some even say "the adopted son") of Japanese
Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu Grandmaster Takeda, Sokaku. In Japan, Choi used
the Japanese name Yoshida, Tatsujutsu since all immigrant taken to
Japan took Japanese names at that time.
When written in Chinese script, the words "HapKiDo" and
"Aikido" are one and the same – being roughly pronounced
"Ah-She-Dow" in one Chinese dialect.
In order to understand the movements and techniques of Hapkido, one
must study and practice the theories of Yoo (flowing, as in water),
Won (circle theory) and Hwa (non-resistance or harmony). Softness,
adaptability, strength, patience, conformity - all ideas which are
present in the Eastern mind, and indeed in the mind of the Hapkido
practitioner when thinking of the theory of Yoo.
Ueshiba, Morihei, the founder of Aikido, was also a student of Takeda
(this is not disputed). Hapkido and Aikido both have significant similarities
to Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, so it would seem that Hapkido's link to
it is real, regardless of how and where Choi was trained.
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