Akshay Kumar in Hapkido

HAPKIDO

Hapkido is a Korean martial art and form of self-defense that employs joint locks, techniques of other martial arts, as well as common unskilled means of attacks.

The birth of modern hapkido can be traced to the efforts of a group of Korean nationals in the post Japanese colonial period of Korea. Yong Sul Choi though is noted to have founded hapkido.

From 1919 to the beginning of World War II, Choi had studied Daito-ryu aiki-jujitsu in Japan. Around 1939, Choi combined his knowledge of aiki-jujitsu with the Korean styles of hwarangdo and taekyon. The art further evolved from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu or a closely related jujutsu system taught by Choi, who had lived in Japan for 30 years, when he returned to Korea after WWII. This system was later combined with kicking and striking techniques of indigenous and contemporary arts such as taekkyeon and tang soo do.

Until the 1960’s hapkido was known by various names: yu kwon sool, yu-sool, ho shin sool, and bi sool. In the early 1960’s, the Korean Kido-Association was formed and formalized under the leadership of Choi.

Hapkido training takes place in a dojang and contains both long and close range fighting techniques which utilize dynamic kicking and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges and pressure point strikes, jointlocks, or throws at closer fighting distances. Like most martial arts, hapkido employs a great number of punches and hand strikes, as well as elbow strikes. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, non-resisting movements, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the use of strength against strength.

Additionally, Hapkido utilizes traditional weapons including the short stick, cane, rope, nunchucku, sword, and staff which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.

The motion picture “Billy Jack” rocketed the Korean art to popularity in America. The movie was choreographed by Bong Soo Han, one of Choi's primary students. The movie's fight scenes laid the foundation for almost every action film that followed.

The “Billy Jack kick,” (crescent kick) was called "the kick felt around the world" because of the effect it had on martial arts enrollments. Soon after the movie hit theaters, thousands of new students flocked to martial arts schools all over the country eager to learn the moves made popular by the film’s star Tom Laughlin.