what kind of MA is hapkido?

[kick540]

hi everyone!

i have a question that is going to seem really weird to put here. i was just thinking, what kind of martial art is hapkido exactly, and what does it focus on? i mean, do you do mostly self defense, or if weapons (what kind?).

thanks.

[oneninja]

Hapkido is a koren martial art based on kicking without retraction,circular offense and defense and complete penetration of your opponents defenses and is mainly a self defense system.As for weapons I really am not sure.I also believe they use alot of joint locks and take downs,hope this has helped you out.

[hapkidofighter]

hello kick540-
i study hapkido under grand master bong soo han- there are a bunch of different styles of hapkido- most are pretty simular- there is 'traditional hapkido' which has very few kicks and strikes and is basicly just daito-ryu aiki jujitsu- the style of hapkido i do has loads of kicks- i heard it has more kicks than any other system- hapkido is a very complete art- it covers all the aspects of fighting- kicks (which is what its most well known for), punches and different hand strikes, throws like judo, more joint locks than one could ever learn in a life time, ground fighting (at higher dan levals), weapons, pressure points- ill type here what the student manual of my school defines hapkido as
'Hapkido is a powerful and innovative korean martial art. Lierally translated, the word HAP means coordination of harmony, KI denotes the essence of power, and DO means the art, or the way. Hapkido employs powerful kicking techniques as Korean Tae Kwan Do, thorwing techniques of japanese Aikido, judo and Jujitsu, hand techniques as Chinese Kenpo. It is concise and practicle, the result of a 1300 year pursuit of the ultimate lifestyle.'

[Kosh]

I think that pretty much somes it up.

You mentioned kicking without retracting...but i have been taught to kick using snap kicks and (not sure what you call them) kicks which follow through. Aswell as kicks to the ground, kicks from the ground, combination spin kicks, 540s, 540 crescents, handplant kicks (batido etc), double triple quadruple kicks...i can do 5 on a good day...kicks off walls, even running up people.

As mentioned there are also a huge array of locks. As you advance you sort of learn more 'advanced' versions of the basic moves which are remarkably painful.

Also if you think its like Aikido (which many ppl do) i think it is quite different. We dont really on the other person to run at you with a hugh swinging punch. Many moves us very small twists rather than big circles. There is an emphasis on doing as little as possible since if you move someones hand, they will react.

Hope that is informative.

Marc

[Hapkido]

Hapkido is a koren martial art based on kicking without retraction,circular offense and defense and complete penetration of your opponents defenses and is mainly a self defense system.As for weapons I really am not sure.I also believe they use alot of joint locks and take downs,hope this has helped you out.
u definately dont go to my dojo....we rarely kick.

[DC_Benny]

We kick like crazy at our dojang.

[Thomas]

Different schools of Hapkido teach kicking diofferently, with different inlfuences and to a different degree. Take a look at some of the threads below for some good discussions on different schools... especially in dealing with kicks:
Daito-ryu comparison… talks about kicking (gets heated)
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9023&page=1&pp=15
Kicking is kicking
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16255&highlight=kick
Kicks
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15388&highlight=kick
Hapkido kicking vs TKD kicking
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11512&highlight=kick
What does TKD have that Hapkido doesn’t
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4280&highlight=kick
Beware HKD with TKD masters (Gets very heated)
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2678

[Paratus]

I would say the others have fairly well described it. I would just say the differences in the types of hapkido I've seen are the kicks and slight differences in the execution of joint locks. For example, how big of a circle (if at all) will be used, or will torque on the wrist be more emphasised than a circle, etc.

[AussieNath]

Do you think it's a fair statement to say that TKD and HKD compliment each other?
TKD for ranged kicking etc and HKD for close range/ground fighting?

[nj_howard]

Do you think it's a fair statement to say that TKD and HKD compliment each other?
TKD for ranged kicking etc and HKD for close range/ground fighting?
actually, i'd hesitate to say that, primarily because the objectives of the two arts tend to be quite different. most tkd today is sports-oriented, with heavy emphasis on tournament (competition) fighting. hapkido may use some of the same kicking techniques that you'll find in tkd, but the applications are self-defense. while you make a good point about the ranges the two arts can be used at, if you are a hapkido practitioner and an opponent is at tkd kicking range, there's probably no need (yet) to initiate anything. the high, long-range tkd kicks are much easier to defend against than grappling-range low kicks. which is probably why traditional hapkido makes a lot of use of close-range low kicks.

i've seen a number of tkd people come to cross-train in hapkido over the years, and most of them seem to have difficulty adapting to the informal, almost improvised stances of hapkido and its circular movement and footwork. it's just very different from what they're accustomed to.

[JayTee]

i've seen a number of tkd people come to cross-train in hapkido over the years, and most of them seem to have difficulty adapting to the informal, almost improvised stances of hapkido and its circular movement and footwork. it's just very different from what they're accustomed to.

Agreed 100%. We have had several TKD black belts come and train with us. In two instances they walked out of the changeroom on their first day with their BB's on. Our instructor laughed and had them do a little sparring with an orange belt in one case, and a yellow belt in another. In both instances after 30 seconds they realized that maybe it'd be a good idea to start with a white belt.

In one of those cases, the yellow belt was a ringer, as he'd been doing some serious unsanctioned NHB chicken-fighting in the 'states in the days before the advent of UFC. He was a tough, fast mofo, but his skill-level with throws and twisting relegated him to orange at our club.

That said, one of them went on to be VERY good, although he had to unlearn some bad habits and that took a while.

TKD's great fun to watch, and a marvellous sport, but it lacks somewhat in its combat-ready applicability.

[nj_howard]

In one of those cases, the yellow belt was a ringer, as he'd been doing some serious unsanctioned NHB chicken-fighting in the 'states in the days before the advent of UFC. He was a tough, fast mofo, but his skill-level with throws and twisting relegated him to orange at our club...

jaytee, just out of curiosity, how did this guy defend himself against throws and joint locks, if you ever saw him fight and somebody tried them on him? i'm just curious because i'm constantly reading posts on other boards from mma people who all seem to believe that hapkido and jujutsu are useless in ufc / nhb fighting.

TKD's great fun to watch, and a marvellous sport, but it lacks somewhat in its combat-ready applicability.

imo, you're absolutely right. it's like a lot of sports - lots of fun to watch, the people are great athletes. but (again imo) sport tkd is a far cry from self-defense. just to repeat a cliche, high kicks are just not well suited to the street.

having said that, to watch a real expert in hapkido is also great. everything is very fluid, there's very little movement by the defender, lots of circles, excellent balance, and usually some kind of brutal finish (done with control in training, of course). it's just that there's nothing sporting about it.

[TigerAnsTKDLove]

hello! hkd is a korean martial art. hkd consists of take downs, strikes,counters,grabs and i know our school uses some kicking but not much. i also know there is grappling involved. hkd is a great art! :D

[d33pthought]

my instructor used to teach hapkido. In fact, he's a 5th dan in it. What are the health risks of practicing it, since he says he doesn't still teach because of back problems it may or may not have caused. Any older hapkido artists around to comment?

[nj_howard]

my instructor used to teach hapkido. In fact, he's a 5th dan in it. What are the health risks of practicing it, since he says he doesn't still teach because of back problems it may or may not have caused. Any older hapkido artists around to comment?
interesting question... i'd say the health risks depend significantly on the skill and control of your training partners, and on your understanding of your own limitations at any point... seems to me that the 2 greatest risks in traditional hapkido (with little emphasis on kicking) would be injuries from joint locks and from being thrown / swept / etc. be sure you are comfortable breakfalling before you take full hip and shoulder throws, and be sure that you train with people who understand that wrist and, especially, elbow locks can be very dangerous if they're not done with control, and with sensitivity to your partner's pain and flexibilty / mobility limits.

the only "serious" injury i've had in years of training was a torn biceps tendon in my left arm, came from taking a hip throw that involves the person getting thrown having his elbow locked across the defender's abdomen as part of the technique. even so, i suspect that there was a problem already there in my arm, and that the throw i took was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

when you get into the hapkido styles that do a lot of kicking, the risks should be similar to those of any other art that emphasizes kicking, like tkd.

[blessed_samurai]

I'm going to itterate what Hapkido is to my instructor and then tell you what it means to me: Hapkido is an art that connects the mind , body , spirit together by blending with your opponent.
It is mostly a self defense art that does use weapons such as: cane, rope, staff, and sword

What it means to me is simply a way to save your ass, break down the other person, and have fun doing it.

[MacKiDo]

Do you think it's a fair statement to say that TKD and HKD compliment each other?
TKD for ranged kicking etc and HKD for close range/ground fighting?


The style of Hapkido I am training in puts a fair amount of emphasis on kicking and much of it is not low/short kicking, but it certainly doesn't resemble any of the TKD kicking that I've seen. It's been discussed a fair bit on this forum as "release" kicking.

A number of the people who train at our school have previously reached dark belt colors in other arts, mostly TKD or one of styles of Karate, and I have heard a lot of discussion of having to "unlearn" the rigid stances and strikes from those arts. Which makes some sense, as they are generally regarded as "hard" or "earth element" martial arts and Hapkido is regarded as a "soft" or "water element" art. It seems to be a big adjustment to go from the hard forms of TKD to the looser, more yielding body posture of HKD.

I'm not sure that TKD and Hapkido would complement each other, unless the style of Hapkido you were learning was one which didn't include striking techniques, as Hapkido mentioned.

[nj_howard]

A number of the people who train at our school have previously reached dark belt colors in other arts, mostly TKD or one of styles of Karate, and I have heard a lot of discussion of having to "unlearn" the rigid stances and strikes from those arts. Which makes some sense, as they are generally regarded as "hard" or "earth element" martial arts and Hapkido is regarded as a "soft" or "water element" art. It seems to be a big adjustment to go from the hard forms of TKD to the looser, more yielding body posture of HKD.
yes, this is very consistent with my experience as well, both in my own case and in the cases of other students. i came to hapkido from a korean karate style called ji do kwan, and had to unlearn the hard formal stances exactly as you describe. at first i tried to do all of the techniques in formal ji do kwan stances, and it just didn't work. i've also seen other students who came into hapkido from karate-based arts go thru the same process.

i think your description of hapkido "stances" as loose and yielding is very accurate.