| Every culture has its own methods of how to | | | | his martial art to his soldiers as well as to |
| fight regardless of religion or political beliefs. While | | | | American soldiers serving in Korea. |
| you might want to take the moral high road and | | | | His beliefs and his vision of a different approach |
| not fight there are people in this world who won't | | | | to teaching martial arts led General Choi to |
| give you that option, and than the only thing that | | | | combine elements of Taek Kyon and Karate |
| remains is to fight. The nation of Korea like so | | | | techniques to develop a modern martial art. He |
| many others found itself fending off invaders, and | | | | called it TaeKwonDo, which means "the way of |
| like others before them they developed martial | | | | the feet and the hands", and this name was |
| arts. The two most prominent Korean martial arts | | | | officially adopted on April 11th, 1955. |
| styles in existence today are Taekwondo and | | | | Taekwondo would eventually be spread around |
| Hapkido. | | | | the world by American military personnel |
| Taekwondo dates back to the Silla dynasty in | | | | stationed in Korea. Among those to train in Korea |
| Korea, and was developed for the military. | | | | was a young Air Force enlisted man named |
| Hapkido, though practiced prior to World War II, | | | | Chuck Norris who would go to make martial arts |
| came into being after the war and is billed as a | | | | history. As a sport Taekwondo can be exciting, |
| purely defensive art. Both of these Korean martial | | | | but those with United States military training |
| arts are now practiced around the world. | | | | never saw it as a replacement for what they had |
| Taekwondo was first taught to the elite Hwarang | | | | already been taught which was Jujutsu. The lack |
| warriors of the Silla dynasty, an ancient Korean | | | | of grappling the ability to deal with modern |
| kingdom. The style focuses primarily on kicks, and | | | | weapons limits someone who practices |
| was included with a soldier's traditional military | | | | Taekwondo. That is not to say isn't good to train |
| training and education. The style was practiced | | | | in Taekwondo, but it won't be an effective self |
| openly for centuries, but the martial art was | | | | defense system. |
| forced underground during the Japanese | | | | Hapkido is another popular Korean martial art that |
| occupation and colonization during the early 20th | | | | has close ties to the Japanese martial arts as well. |
| century. | | | | Hapkido is a direct adaptation of the popular |
| The Japanese were harsh invaders and did their | | | | Japanese martial art Aikido. Many in Korea |
| best to change Korean culture, and make the | | | | consider Taekwondo to be a hard martial art |
| Koreans more like them. The treatment was | | | | while Hapkido is a soft martial art. Just like those |
| brutal, but the Japanese did share their martial | | | | who practice Aikido, those who practice Hapkido |
| arts training with the Korean people and those | | | | consider the spiritual side very important and say |
| who had the opportunity to train in Japan and | | | | the martial art is about uniting harmony and |
| China would share what they learned and adapt | | | | energy, and those who practice Hapkido pride |
| Taekwondo accordingly. That Japanese influence | | | | themselves in that their martial art is purely self |
| would shape modern Tae Kwon Do. | | | | defense. A Hapkido student will try to use their |
| When General Choi, the most commonly | | | | attacker's energy against them like in other |
| acknowledged founder of Tae Kwon Do, became | | | | martial arts, but unlike Jujutsu; they always allow |
| older he went to Japan to study. Choi had been | | | | the attack make the first move and try to react |
| studying calligraphy and Taek Kyon in Korea under | | | | to the attack. |
| Han Il Dong and upon arrival in Japan he started | | | | Korean Martial Arts for Self Defense |
| to study Shotokan Karate as a student of a | | | | Like most martial arts, both Hap Kido and Tae |
| Korean named Kim Hyun-soo. After two years of | | | | Kwon Do take years to master. But once |
| intensive training he was presented with a first | | | | mastered, will they work in real life self defense. |
| Dan Black Belt in Shotokan. He then went to | | | | At the end of the day, a punch is still a punch and |
| Tokyo University where he was able to visit the | | | | a kick is still a kick, so you have to look at where |
| Shotokan and perhaps train on occasion under | | | | the system is today. Tae Kwon Do is an Olympic |
| Master Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan. | | | | Sport, like Judo, Wrestling and Boxing; the focus is |
| General Choi earned his second Dan (second | | | | on the sport rules. Athletes are trained to avoid |
| degree black belt) in Shotokan and, around this | | | | methods that would get them disqualified. The |
| time, he started teaching, and became an | | | | same can be said for mixed martial arts. While |
| instructor at the Tokyo YMCA. (There are | | | | brutal in nature, they are designed for safety. |
| pictures of Gen. Choi as a student at the main | | | | In the case of the Korean martial art of Hapkido, |
| Shotokan dojo when he was a student in Japan | | | | practitioners focus on less combat and more |
| which has been published in "Taekwon-Do Times" | | | | peace. Like Aikido, Hapkido was developed for |
| magazine.) | | | | people who seek a higher spiritual plane, not |
| Conscripted into the Japanese army in 1943, Choi | | | | combat. The idea of "Combat Hapkido" is about |
| was posted to Pyongyang where he became | | | | the same as saying "Combat Buddhism". It just |
| involved in the Korean Independence Movement, | | | | doesn't make any sense. Hapkido has spiritual |
| resulting in his imprisonment. Wanting to maintain | | | | intentions NOT combat roots. Self Defense is not |
| good physical and mental health during his | | | | a style or a way of life it's a skill, a skill that can |
| imprisonment, he practiced Karate, alone at first, | | | | be easily learned and recalled. If you wish to |
| then by teaching it to the staff of the prison and | | | | follow the path of the martial warrior, scholar, |
| the other prisoners. Until his liberation at the end | | | | then a martial art is what you seek. If you want |
| of the war he practiced and developed much of | | | | to know what works, then start training in hand |
| the martial art. | | | | to hand combat. If you want the best of both |
| Becoming an officer in the new Korean Army | | | | worlds, do both. A true warrior is a student first. |
| after the end of the war, he continued to teach | | | | |