The KOREAN Hapkido Federation

The Home Of The Korean Military Arts Is In The Republic Of Korea

The traditional Korean military arts are the birthright and the inherited legacy of the Korean people and nation.

Korean Hapkido Federation is the worldwide governing body for the traditional Korean military art of Hapkido. Hapkido is the "mother art" of the traditional Korean military arts.

There are other military arts which specialize in specific techniques, such as the striking techniques of TaeKwonDo. [We are speaking of the military art of TaeKwonDo, not of the martial sport of KukKi Taekwondo, which is the national sport of Korea, and which contains elements of the military art.]

In the ancient world, there were systems for developing a warrior, through lifelong education and training. These were holistic systems designed to develop the total person: The type of person needed for leadership roles. These formed the model for the present day Korean Hapkido Federation and its programs of Hapkido worldwide.

This is opposed to the specialized arts which had a more limited purpose. The classic example of this difference is the Okinawan martial art of Karate-do. While the warrior class occupying their island studied music, art, and calligraphy as a part of their military education, the farmers and peasants developed systems of fighting which could be employed unarmed or using the everyday tools that were immediately to hand. This division between the greater way and the lesser way in the military arts still exists today.

All of the Korean military arts today, were formed following the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula 1905-1945. One of the goals of the Japanese occupation was to destroy Korean culture, history, customs, and traditions. They very nearly succeeded. Even the current written Korean language, Hangul, dates from 1945 since the Japanese forbid its use during the occupation.

The Japanese imposed upon the Korean people the study and practice of Japanese martial arts. It should be noted that the true Japanese military arts were lost in the mid-19th Century, when the Emperor banned the Samurai, their practices and their education and training. Some study of martial arts continued, but even these were banned following the total defeat and unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire under their Emperor in 1945 to US Military Forces. The martial sports emerged thereafter.

A few of the ancient Korean arts survive today, arising from the ashes of the occupation. These are treated with a great deal of respect and are generally regulated today as folk arts, rather than as military arts.

It is common sense therefore, that the current Korean military arts arose from what existed in 1945. But, the Korean arts did not remain what they were in 1945. Far from it.

The Korean Hapkido Federation is the fourth generation of Hapkido. The first was the establishment of Hapkido training by Dojunim Young Sool Choi, the founder of Hapkido. The second was the organization known as the Korea Hapkido Association (KHA). Its President was Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae, a student of Dojunim Choi's who founded SongMuKwan Hapkido. The style of Hapkido practiced by the KHA was a remnant of the Japanese martial art of Daito-ryu AkiJuJitsu as brought to Korea by Young Sool Choi and then taught by Ji, Han Jae.

Next, there was the formation of the Korea Hapkido Federation (KHF). Ji's successor as the head of the Presidential bodyguards - Oh, Se Lim - was named as its President. Over the following years, Hapkido changed from being a Korean branch of a Japanese art, into a uniquely Korean military art, far surpassing its predecessor in philosophy, content, and practice.

Hapkido emerged as a true traditional military art system, the only such system of warrior education and training, outside the rare Buddhist monasteries continuing their own centuries of such tradition. Hapkido continues as a true living art, adapting and growing in scope and excellence.

In 2005, however, Oh, Se Lim changed the name of the KHF making it the Korea World Hapkido Federation, and making it a private for-profit corporation. This was perceived, very accurately, as a threat to Korean national security.

Hapkido is the system of combatives used by the Korean military. It is the system of defensive tactics taught to the police service. The President of the Republic of Korea ordered a new organization to be formed using the name abandoned by Mister Oh, and ordered all of the existing government contracts for training transferred from Mister Oh's organization to this new Korea Hapkido Federation.

In December 2007, a first-ever, week-long nationwide meeting of Hapkido grandmasters took place in Seoul. The results of that meeting were historic and far-reaching.

These include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Hapkido curriculum was reorganized top-to-bottom so as to re-introduce ancient Military art skills to the training;
2. A new and unified Hapkido organization was created. This organization - Korean Hapkido Federation - was immediately recognized as the governing body for Hapkido, by the agency recognized by the Korean government for such purpose;
3. A new President was elected to head the new Korean Hapkido Federation;
4. An International Division was created, by the Korean Hapkido Federation, to support and manage Hapkido education, training, membership, and services, for Hapkido practitioners living outside the Korean peninsula;
5. A Promotion Committee for international members was created and a Chairman appointed;
6. All existing rank, qualifications, and certification issued prior to the creation of the Korean Hapkido Federation are rendered null and void, and must be re-submitted to the Korean Hapkido Federation for reconsideration as to renewal and acceptance. This is the first time such a thing has ever happened in the Korean military arts.

The creation of the Korean Hapkido Federation and the actions taken by the Korean Hapkido Federation are a win-win situation for practitioners living outside Korea. The situation could also not be simpler.

There is no longer any barrier to belonging to the only true Hapkido organization in the world, the Korean Hapkido Federation. This website is your portal to that membership, education and training opportunities, and recognition on the same basis as anyone living in Korea, There is also one clear and unquestioned set of standards for the practice of Hapkido - worldwide. Forty-four Hapkido organizations united under the guidance of the Korean Hapkido Federation. You are invited to join us.

All purported organizations, schools, ranks, qualifications, and certificates, not issued or approved by Korean Hapkido Federation during or after December 2007, are invalid. It is that simple.

Korean Hapkido Federation is the present and the future of the traditional Korean military art of Hapkido: An art headquartered in the Republic of Korea. An art belonging to the Korean people, but which we are willing to share with any person of honor and integrity, provided they will maintain the same standard that we do.

 

We are the Korean Hapkido Federation.
We are true Hapkido.

Learn Hapkido as it is taught in Korea by becoming a member of one of our official branch member associations or Hapkido schools.

Welcome to the Korean Hapkido Federation Family!
Yours in Hapkido,
Grand Master Dong Kyun Kim
President, Korean Hapkido Federation