Early connections to Aikijujitsu
and Aikido.
Chinese civilization spread into Korea and Japan heavily influencing
the indigenous peoples of these lands. All three of these countries
in turn have had important influences on each other. Korean travelers
brought many skills with them to Japan including Buddhism and certain
martial arts skills. From 668 A.D. the Shilla kingdom dominated the
Korean peninsula and there was a florescence of martial arts along
with many other cultural developments. Oral sources in Korea tell
of a Paekje kingdom prince who traveled to Japan to escape political
persecution and brought with him a martial art that was based mainly
on defensive techniques, circularity and the use of an opponent's
force against them called Yu Sool.
The Japanese were meticulous in keeping family and clan records and
Grandmaster Huh Ill Woong has a copy of the Daito Ryu family scroll
that lists the third name as this prince who brought new techniques
and organization to the previously disjointed family martial arts.
.
Yu Sool translates roughly as "soft art" and it may have
been derived from Chinese sources. It was very popular in Korea by
1150 A.D. Its techniques were characterised by a passive combat attitude
where the enemy was allowed to make the first move and his attack
being directed to the defender's advantage. Throws (mechigi), grappling
techniques (kuchigi), and assaulting techniques (kuepso chirigi) composed
the main body of the art. There were twenty four basic and ten secret
methods comprising the original repertoire.
Dr An Ja San has stated in his book of ancient Korea Chosun Moo Sa
Yongoong Jun, a biography of Korean warriors, that the Yu Sool school
was considered similar to jujitsu and was known under the name of
Soo Bak-Gi and Taek Kyon. Every year during the month of May the King
of Chosun held competitions in this form of unarmed combat at Kak
Chon Pavilion on Ma Am mountain. The contest winner was awarded a
prestigious government post. Participation was compulsory for all
soldiers and three winners of these annual contests were Lee Yi Min,
Jang Jong Boo and Sa Kyang Sung who became leading generals during
the Koryo Dynasty.
Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu.
Aikijujitsu was propagated according to the Japanese system of hierarchical
transmission by blood, adoption or affiliation. It was said to have
been founded by Prince Teijun, the sixth son of emperor Seiwa (850-880
A.D.) who was the 56th ruler of Japan. Tsunamoto, Prince Teijun's
eldest son, was given the name Minamoto and the art was passed down
through succeeding generations of the Minamoto family. Yoshimitsu
Minamoto (1056-1127 A.D.) is regarded as the actual founder of the
"Daito Ryu" (great eastern style). Yoshimitsu's grandson,
Yoshikiyo (some records indicate that he may have been the second
son of Yoshimitsu) founded the Takeda branch of the Minamoto family
in the province of Kai. Takeda is a place in the province of Kai.
It is recorded that Yoshimitsu studied anatomy by dissecting bodies
of war dead and criminals and his house "Daito mansion"
has given its name to his system of Aikijujitsu, hence we have the
name "Daito Ryu". The techniques were passed on to successive
generations as the secret art of the Takeda house and made known only
to members and retainers of the family. In 1574, Takeda Kunitsugu
moved to Aizu. Thereafter the art remained an exclusively samurai
practice and handed down within the family until Japan emerged from
isolation into the Meiji period in 1868. Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943
and 32nd in line from Yoshimitsu), the then head of the family began
to teach the art outside of the Takeda household and began to travel
widely, finally settling in Hokkaido.
Choi Yong Sul.
It is here that the Korean connection again appears. The most widely
known figure in the establishment of Hapkido is Choi Yong-Sul. There
are many varying accounts of Choi's training in Japan and each particular
story must be seen in the context of who is writing it. Much of Japanese
history is written from an ethnocentric point of view , particularly
in relation to Korean history. An example of this is the way Korean
history was rewritten to the Japanese viewpoint during their brutal
occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. During this period the Japanese
tried to completely eliminate Korean thought, cultural arts and the
foundation of traditional Korean martial arts as these posed a threat
to their authority in an occupied land.
Choi was born in 1904 at Chung Buk province in Korea. Some have said
that he lost his parents at an early age. He is thought to have been
in Japan by 1913 where he was a houseboy/servant, perhaps even the
adopted son of Daito Ryu Aikijujitsu Grandmaster Takeda Sokaku. Martial
arts historian Kim Jeong Yoon from Seoul says that after Choi was
orphaned he was taken to Japan by a Japanese family. He then spent
four years living in a temple before Takeda, a close friend of the
abbot, took him in. Perhaps a more authoritative account comes from
Suh Bok Sub, Choi's first student in Korea.
In an interview with Michael Wollmershauser of Massachusetts in 1996
Suh Bok Sub stated that Choi had told him that he was born into a
very poor Korean family who lived close by to a candy factory run
by a Japanese couple. The couple took a liking to Choi and, as his
family could not afford him, they allowed the couple to return to
Japan with their son. This accords with the Kim Jeong-yoon's account.
As a Japanese couple took him to Japan there was no problem Choi entering
Japan. The couple left Choi at a Buddhist temple so they could travel
more widely in Japan and so that Choi could be given an education.
Apparently Choi was not interested in schooling and was causing some
minor problems by fighting and having a lack of discipline.
The head of the temple sent him to a friend of his by the name of
Sokaku Takeda. Choi then cleaned Takeda's dojo for five years after
which the master permitted him to learn aikijujitsu. In Suh Bok Subs
interview he mentions Choi showing a photograph of Takeda to him and
explaining to Suh that Takeda was his surrogate father.
Many Aikijujitsu exponents cannot accept the proposition that Choi,
a Korean of low status in Japanese eyes could have possibly been taught
or been close to Takeda. On the other hand Bernie Lau, an Aikijujitsu
researcher and instructor in February's 1987 edition of Black Belt
commented that one of the more famous styles related to Daito Ryu
is Hapkido. In addition he makes the comment that Uyeshiba Morehei,
Aikido founder and a former student of Takeda, was so far below in
social status than the other of Takeda's disciples that he could not
even get a proper recommendation to study under Takeda.
In Japan, Choi used the Japanese name Yoshida Tatsujutsu (or Tatujutu)
since Japanese law at the time required everyone to use a Japanese
name. Dr He-Young Kimm explains that on Choi's return to Taegue city
in Korea in 1945 after the end of the Japanese occupation, a bag with
his martial arts certificates and money was stolen. This has been
confirmed by Suh Bok Sub who states that the bag was stolen at Younson
train station after Choi returned to his home town of Yong Dong then
decided to locate to Taegu city after he found no one to meet him
at the train station. However there is no official records in the
Daito Ryu to reflect the granting of a teaching certificate.
Perhaps the reason no records exist is the fact that despite Choi's
close relationship with Takeda he was not Japanese and therefore excluded
from the records or that he did not pay any money for lessons and
thus there is no registration of payment.
Some claim that Choi's training was limited to just attending seminars.
Regardless of these conjectures, Choi spent thirty two years in Japan
off and on and his techniques reflect a definite link to Daito Ryu
Aikijujitsu. Recent information has come to light in the form of a
personal interview with Master Choi in 1982 in New York where he details
the early years of his life. It seems he was abducted by the Japanese
couple and then abandoned by them because he was being extremely difficult.
This would account for him arriving at a Buddhist monastery because
they often looked after orphans. Suh Bok Sub also mentions that by
the time he returned to Korea to stay after the war he was married
to a Korean woman and he had three daughters and a son. It seems he
had traveled from Japan to Korea previously and met his wife on one
of these visits.
Jang In Mok
We now come to a most interesting development that does not appear
in much of the Hapkido literature. Still living today in Taegue city
is Grandmaster Jang In Mok who also trained under Takeda Sokaku. Grandmaster
Jang is eighty three years old which makes his birth year 1912. He
has a scroll that lists his training record in the Daito Ryu. Even
though Jang In Mok was born later than Choi Young Sool they were contemporaries
in Japan studying under Takeda and they both returned to Taegue city
in Korea in 1945. Jang is a doctor of oriental medicine and massage
but also used to teach Hapkido. As his career was mainly as a doctor
he did not produce large numbers of students. Further research on
Grandmaster Jang's early years in Japan is presently continuing and
should he provide us with any further information it is certain to
improve our resolution into this window of the past.
From these two men who trained under Takeda Sokaku there has been
a florescence of Hapkido masters who have spread the art around the
world to the benefit of tens of thousands of students. As in any creative
art each master has stamped their personal style and emphasis on their
Hapkido. Dr Kim He Young documents many of the early Hapkido masters
who trained under Choi Yong Sool. Among those listed are Suh Bok Sub,
Kim Moo Wong (Shin Moo Kwan Hapkido), Ji Han Jae (Sin Moo Hapkido),
Lee Joo Bang (founder of Hwarang Do), Suh In Hyuk (founder of Kuk
Sool Won), Won Kwang Wha (Moo Sool Kwan Hapkido) and Kim Jung Yun
(Han Pul). What is clear is that Suh Bok Sub was Choi Yong Sool's
first student in Korea and his first lesson was on Sunday , February
22, 1948. At the present, the two highest ranking students of Choi
Yong Sool are Grandmaster Im Hyon Soo (9th degree) teaching in Taegu
city, Korea, Grandmaster Chin il Chang (9th degree) in New York city
and head of Hapkido (under Choi's system) . Grandmaster Ji Han Jae
(10th Dan) heads his extensive Sin Moo Hapkido organization.
Understanding these historical connections is an important component
in any serious study of Hapkido and the martial arts journey.
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