If anyone talks about Korean martial arts people automatically assume that the talk is about the Olympic sport taekwondo. Many people haven’t heard of hapkido but it is also another martial art that originated from Korea. Hapkido means “the way of coordination and internal power” and the basic principle here is also the same as taekwondo that is the utilization of kicks and strikes however apart from kicks and strikes this style is more diverse and consists of manipulations techniques like throws, deflections and joint locks. It is believed to be more effective and better for self defense then taekwondo but it doesn’t have the same fame as taekwondo as it is not an organized sport like taekwondo.

There are several problems related to hapkido that I have noticed and one of them is that there are just too many organizations out there that give out the ranks and belts. What many of these organizations do wrong is that they give you the high ranks very fast. That eventually is not good for hapkido but they carry on with the practice because some organizations want to get the maximum number of member from all around the world. Because of the competition by so many organizations they don’t care about the quality that much awarding the higher ranks quickly on their members so they can keep them with them and attract new people from all over the world; this ultimately damages hapkido reputation.

Where you should get to the 7 Dan black belt after 30 years of hapkido training and to the 8th dan in minimum 40 years you end up getting their way to quickly while people don’t actually deserve that rank. So how to deal with the problem I did describe it a little bit in the end above and that is that if you want to start training hapkido you have to find out a good instructor and their training history. How long has he trained hapkido and for how long has he been training hapkido himself. If the internet age of today checking out the history and reputation of an organization is very easy via click of a few buttons. So if you want to learn hapkido get your research done and join a proper organization to avoid the problems later.

Taekwondo is one of the most common forms of martial arts in the world today. It traces its origins to Korea where it is both an art and a sport. The Korean interpretation of the name is as follows: “tae” means “to break with foot”, “kwon” means “to strike or to break with the fist”, and “do” means art, method or way. Taekwondo is a martial art that incorporates a number of different defense martial art styles borrowed from nations surrounding Korea. It is an art that has evolved for over 2000 years, with the modern one having aspects of some earlier styles such as T’ang-su, Kwon Su, Kwonpup, Subak(also called Taek kyon), Tae Kwonpup, judo, and Karate.

The earliest evidence of Taekwondo goes as far back as 50 BC. Martial art styles at the time involved a combination of various forms unarmed combat, aimed at developing speed, strength, and survival skills in young warriors. At this time, Korea was divided into 3 kingdoms, namely Koguryon (37BC- 668AD), Paekje (18BC- 600AD), and Silla (57BC- 935AD). Taekwondo was first developed in Koguryon, but the Silla kingdom is credited with its growth and influence. Silla unified the three kingdoms after it defeated the Paekje and Koguryon kingdoms in 600 AD and 668 AD respectively, led by an elite nobility of young men, called Hwa Rang Do(meaning the way of the flowering manhood).

The Hwa Rang Do warriors were devoted to developing the mind and body in service to the Silla kingdom. They spent their lives studying history, Taek kyon, Confucian philosophy, ethics, military tactics and Buddhist morality. They lived by an ancient honor-code referred to as “The 5 Codes of Human Conduct”. These were loyalty, trustworthiness, filial duty, justice, and valor. Over time, the Hwa Rang Do transformed from a military outfit to a group that specialized in music and poetry. Taek kyon became a recreational activity and a sport. When the Koryo Dynasty came to power in 936 AD, it reverted to being a military art.

People later traveled to different places to learn other forms of martial arts. Those who were experts in Subak also begun teaching the public. The Yi dynasty (1397-1907), oversaw the writing of the first Taekwondo book. It was also at this time that Subak gradually begun to fade with people preferring to use debate instead of military options to settle conflicts. Thus, the art reverted to being a recreational sport again. When Japan conquered Korea in 1909 and ruled there for 36years, the need to learn Subak as a military art was once again rekindled. After the liberation of Korea, there arose many variants of Taek kyon due to the influence of other forms of martial arts. The first Taekwondo School started at this time. Thereafter, more schools came about with each claiming to teach the ancient Subak. At the height of the Korean War, the various forms of Taek kyon were harmonized and referred to as Taekwondo.