|
|
|
|
History of Hapkido
Choi, Young Sool (1904-1986), one of the most influential people in the development of modern Korean martial arts, was born in Chung Buk province in Korea. Choi's parents died when he was very young. In 1913 he was taken to Japan from Korea by a Japanese candy maker. Choi was eight or nine years old at the time. The candy maker ultimately abandoned Choi due to his uncontrolable energy. He began to wander the streets as a beggar and was regularly assaulted by other children. As is tradition in Japan, non-Japanese are literally looked upon as literally non-humans; thus Choi's life in Japan was filled mostly with hardship and discrimination. He was given over to the BUddhist temple for disciplline. While visited that temple, a friend of the priest named Takeda Sokaku took notice of Choi because of his unique situation. Takeda took Choi into his home to serve as his houseboy. Choi was given the Japanese name of Tatujutu Yoshida. Choi's Japanese name has also been given as Asao, Yoshida by some sources. An attempt at education was not successful because Choi was disinterested in schoolwork and often wound up in fights with other school children. Consequently, he was unable to get a formal education. Unable to attend school, Choi spent his days doing work around the home and dojo of his master, Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943). Takeda taught a style called Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu. Somehow during his exposure to the dojo over the next 30 years, Choi acquired the techniques of Aiki-Jujutsu. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was also a student of Takeda for 5 years. The fact that Choi knew what he was doing is proof enough. Some claim that Choi's Daito-Ryu training was limited to attending seminars but, we all know that you can't learn as much as he knew by merely attending seminars. Hapkido's significant similarities to Daito-Ryu-Aikijujutsu gives proof that Hapkido's link to it is real. Choi returned to Korea after Takeda's death and began studying the kicking techniques of TaeKyeon(after all; how can you defend against something you don't understand). He eventually called his style "HapkiYooKwonSool" or "Hapkiyoosool". Korean sources tend to emphasize the Korean arts lineage of Hapkido over the Aikijujutsu lineage, with some even omitting the Aikijujutsu connection. However, as noted above, the connection can be seen in the techniques. It is doubtful, as has been suggested, that Choi was adopted by Takeda. This not the custom in Japan, neither then or now, for Japanese families (especially prominent Japanese families) to adopt Korean children. Supporting the scenario that Choi was merely a houseboy is the lack of any listing of his name, either Korean or Japanese, in any of the official records of Daito-Ryu Aki Jujitsu. Nonetheless, it must be recognized and understood that Choi did in fact learn this art and bring it to Korea after the death of Takeda at the end of World War II. Upon his return to Korea in the winter of 1945, Choi changed his name back to Choi, Young-Sool.
|
