This is a small section of the introduction to a book I am writing about martial arts. The book is primarily about Hapkido the way it is practiced at our Dojang. The book is, however, to be broader in that it should outline principles that should help anyone who is involved in any martial art. It will have a broad as well as a specific content.

I would much appreciate any constructive comment and any ideas.

Why a traditional/modern martial art?

Why Modern?

Hapkido has been a living, developing and expanding martial art since Master Ji Han Jae developed it from the basis of Yong Sul Choi’s Hap Ki Yu Sul.
The Korean martial arts were in tatters after years of Japanese occupation and then civil war. Choi returned from Japan having mastered Aikijitsu and a whole generation of Korean martial artists were influenced by his teaching. Ji Han Jae was a precocious young man who as a young adult had gone far in Master Choi’s style and had also done other martial arts training. (Research and expand this).

Why should it be “traditional”?

Korea has a long martial arts tradition, many hundreds of years of it.

While this tradition was ruptured, almost severed, the modern Korean martial arts stand in the spirit of that tradition. Discipline, etiquette, respect and some code of honour are part of that Martial tradition.

Martial exponents all over the world have always needed to be restrained by the societies that produced them. Men and sometimes women of great martial skill required a code of honour so that they did not degenerate into thuggery and banditry (this did not always work of course). Imagine a medieval knight, equivalent in his time to a man in a tank, without a code of chivalry.

This book is an attempt to layout the system of Hapkido as taught at the Two Circles (Du Won) School.

Australian Hapkido was started in the late 1970’s. Sung Do Kim and Sung Su Kim, both founded schools in Sydney.

Over the last thirty years many new schools sprung up with new masters coming from Korea and students who went on to follow their own path.

It is a mistake to think in terms of right or wrong techniques in martial arts. There is unquestionably more than one way to do many things and they are usually quite valid. What this book and the Two Circles School is trying to do is to develop an internally consistent system where the training in one aspect relates directly to training in other aspects.

It has become fashionable to “improve” individual martial arts by adding techniques from another art. Of course this can be done. Many martial arts historians believe that this is how the Oriental martial arts developed. As one group developed new techniques, their opponents would have to come to grips with them, learn them, and develop counters etc.

When new elements are added to a martial art it is not just a matter of adding on. A martial arts system is a related whole. Each element relating to how other elements work. Footwork, timing, range, stance and balance are just a few of the things new techniques incorporated from another martial art are likely to influence.

Remember, martial arts have developed in different countries with different cultures, physical types, and very different underlying philosophies. They come from different social classes and sections of the community, warrior, monk, farmer, nomadic tribesmen etc. They serve different purposes, defence of the individual, defence of a group, nation or state, as well as for development of the individual or developing sets of values and discipline in groups of individuals. As well as having great differences in culture and education these groups also would have had very different amounts of time to dedicate to the study of martial arts.

Complex martial arts that have many aspects need to have those diverse elements connected in such a way as to weld them into a unified system.

The aim of this book is more than to just outline Hapkido the way we practice it at our Dojang, but to discuss how the separate parts of the art relate to each other and how we can train to improve that interrelation. This is as much for the development of our Dojang as it is to inform and promote discussion amongst readers.

From time to time we will be publishing articles on this site discussing various aspects of martial arts and other information. The topics covered will hopefully vary greatly ranging from the history of particular styles to details about certain techniques and training/fitness informaton. We will endevour to have various special guests write articles for the site to share their wealth of knowledge whenever possible.

If you're interested in writing an article for the site or would like to suggest a particular topic please let us know via an email or private message. Additionally, you can get involved by leaving comments on the articles you read. Letting us know what you think about the information provided will greatly help to improve any future articles.