HISTORY
Choi Yong Sool
Hapkido creator, grand master Choi Yong Sool, was born in 1904 in the village of Yong Dong, Korean province of Chung Buk. He became an orphan at a very young age and was taken to Japan in 1912 by Morimoto. Choi was given the Japanese name of Yoshida Asao or Yoshida Tatujutu. It was common to adopt a Japanese name once you came to live there. In Japan Choi was abandoned in the city of Moji and traveled alone to Osaka, where he was intercepted by the police. Since he had no relatives in Japan, he was sent to the Buddhist temple in Kyoto. He lived under monk Kintaro Wadanabi’s responsibility. During his stay at the Buddhist temple, he became fascinated by the war-themed paintings and artworks. When the monk Wadanabi noticed his interest on the matter, Choi was introduced to Sokaku Takeda (1829-1943), the 32ndheir to Daito-Ryu-Aikijujutsu.
Portrait of Master Choi
This fighting system consisted of 3808 techniques and was founded by Minamoto Yoshimitsu in the XI century. Takeda was from the Japanese clan Aiju, the samurai lineage. He adopted Choi as a house worker at his home at the mountain of Shin Su. He remained there for thirty years, attending daily classes taught by his master Takeda, along with Japanese colleagues, one of them being Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido’s founder. Takeda also taught classes to the royal family and to the highest authorities of the Japanese government, always accompanied by Choi.
When world war II began, many things changed in Japan. The emperor, as a last resort, created a special division composed of the most prominent masters at the time. The entire Daito-Ryu class was recruited, with the exception of Takeda and Choi. After the Japanese lost the war, Sokaku Takeda decided to end his life by starvation.
After the war, the Japanese army left Korea, allowing Choi to return to his native land, during the winter of 1945. On his return trip, Choi lost his luggage, containing some money and all the documents and certificates awarded to him by Takeda. After his arrival at Taegu, broke and now with a family to take care of, Choi had to make ends meet selling rice cakes. With his savings, he was able to purchase some pigs and fed them with grains obtained from a local brewery. In a February morning of 1948, when Choi was headed to the brewery, a group of men tried to cut the line to get the grains. When they tried to attack him, Choi took a defensive stance, and with never seen before techniques, eliminated all the threat. The brewery owner, Suh Bok Sub was impressed by the effectiveness of those techniques and questioned Choi about that fighting method. Choi replied saying he had trained in Japan and that this martial art was known as Yu Sul or Yawara (the Korean translation to Jiu-Jitsu). Suh Bok Sub then asked Choi to teach him that, to which he first refused. Suh Bok Sub then offered him more grains and some money.
Master Choi during a demonstration.
Realizing he had a Family to feed, Choi accepted the offer, becoming then Suh Bok Sub’s father bodyguard. Suh Bok Sub went on to become Choi’s first student and first black belt. From this time came many techniques known today in Hapkido, like dobok grabs and throws, originally from Judo. Choi started teaching in Taegu, in 1948, remaining there until his death, at the age of 82. Because he had a strong personality, many of his students took different paths, not continuing Choi’s teachings in the art of Yu Sul.
In 1951/52 Choi and Suh Bok Sub opened the Korean Yu Kwon Sool Hapki Dojang school, the first real school to pass his knowledge to his students. In 1958 Choi opened the first school to have “Hapkido” in its name. Some of his first students were Won Kwang Wha, Kim Moo Hong, Kim Jung Yoon. Later came new students, like Ji Han Jae, born in Andong in 1936, he trained intensively under Choi for 7 years (1949-1956) and came to share Hapkido with the world.
Source: Tedeschi, M. (2000). Hapkido: Traditions, Philosophy, Technique. Boston, MA. Weatherhill.
The Korea Hapkido Federation
Founded in 1965 by the greatest masters of the time, it is still the most respected Hapkido Federation of the world. Its main office is still located in Seoul, keeping the traditional aspect of Hapkido. The blue and red found in the emblem are the Ying and Yang (positive and negative). The hand represents grand master’s Choi’s and it was drawn by one of his students. The writing on the emblem was added by the Korean government in recognition of the organization.
EulJiKwan
Master Kim Yong Jin
Eul Ji Kwan, one of the oldest and biggest schools in Hapkido takes its name from one of the greatest generals in Korea’s history, General Eulji Mundeok. As history tells, he was a great leader, military strategist and aggressive in battle.
Eul Ji Kwan’s founder, master Kim Yong Jin was one of the first students of master Ji Han Jae. Eul Ji Kwan was established on October 1st, 1961 when master Kim was a 7th degree black belt. The school characterizes itself by being structured like the military, and by the aggressiveness of its techniques, emphasizing effectiveness, rather than choreographed movements.
Ju Ung Seo
Master Ju was born on March 20th, 1966 near Jecheon in South Korea. He began practicing Hapkido at the age of 7, and after 18 years of daily practice, he opened his own school, the "EulJiKwan Dojang" in Jecheon in 1991. Five years later he then started to practice Teakgyeon and soon began to teach it a few years later. He is currently 8th Dan in Hapkido and 7th Dong of Taekgyeon.
Grand Master Ju is responsible for the ChungCheong Buk Do region at the Korea Hapkido Federation, as well as the official instructor of the Jecheon police. Master Ju started to teach internationally in the early 2000s in order to introduce Hapkido and Taekgyeon abroad. Every year, a growing number of people follow his teachings and pupils invite him to give seminars in many countries such as France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece, Kingdom of Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia, Morocco, Ghana, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Angelo, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Australia, Brazil.
Master Ju Ung Seo
He founded in 2013, the group for development and research of the Korean martial arts, which he became president of in 2015. Then, in 2016, he founded the "Euljikwan World Union" to unify Korean and Overseas Masters and to promote Euljikwan around the world. His school and also called style, Eul Ji Kwan, is mainly focused on joint control. However, it is a very complete style including a lot of kicks, hand strikes, falling techniques and even forms.