Hapkido (also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do) is a dynamic and eclectic Korean martial art.
A historical link to Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu is generally acknowledged, though the exact nature of which is clouded by the historical animosity between the Korean and Japanese peoples and the confusion following the end of the Second World War.
Hapkido aims to be an effective form of self-defense and employs joint locks, pressure points, throws, kicks, and other strikes. Hapkido practitioners train to counter the techniques of other martial arts as well as common "unskilled" attacks.
Although hapkido contains both long and close range fighting techniques, the purpose of most engagements is to get near for a close strike, lock, or throw. 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.
On the "hard-soft" scale of martial arts, hapkido stands somewhere in the middle, employing "soft" techniques similar to Aikido and "hard" techniques reminiscent of Taekwondo and tangsoodo. Even the "hard" techniques, though, emphasize circular rather than linear movements. Hapkido is an eclectic martial art, and different hapkido schools emphasize different techniques.
Hapkido seeks to be a fully comprehensive fighting style and as such tries to avoid narrow specialization in any particular type of technique or range of fighting. It maintains a wide range of tactics for striking, standing jointlocks, throwing techniques (both pure and joint manipulating throws) and pinning techniques. Some styles also incorporate tactics for ground fighting although these tactics generally tend to be focused upon escaping, controlling, striking and gouging tactics over submissions and emphasizing the ability to gain one's feet and situational awareness over pins.
Proper Hapkido tactics include using footwork and a series of kicks and hand strikes to bridge the distance with an opponent. Then to immediately control the balance of the opponent (typically by manipulating the head and neck), for a take down or to isolate a wrist or arm and apply a joint twisting throw, depending upon the situation; Hapkido is a comprehensive system and once the opponent's balance has been taken, there are a myriad of techniques to disable and subdue the opponent.
Hapkido makes use of pressure points known in Korean as 'hyul' which are also used in traditional Asian medical practices such as acupuncture. These pressure points are either struck to produce unconsciousness or manipulated to create pain allowing one to more easily upset the balance of one's opponent prior to a throw or joint manipulation.
Hapkido emphasizes self defense over sport fighting and as such employs the use of weapons, including environmental weapons of opportunity, in addition to empty hand techniques.
In Korean, derived from hanja, tae means to destroy with the feet; kwon means to strike or smash with the hand; and do means "path" or "way". Hence, taekwondo is loosely translated as "the way of the feet and fist". Taekwondo's popularity has resulted in the divergent evolution of the martial art. As with many other martial arts, taekwondo is a combination of combat technique, self-defense, sport, exercise, entertainment, and philosophy.
Tangsoodo or Tang Soo Do is an empty handed, traditional Korean martial art of self defense.
Tang Soo Do (Hangul: 당수도) is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese characters 唐手道. In Japanese, these characters mean "karate-do", but in contemporary Japanese karate-do is written with different characters (空手道). The Japanese pronunciation of both sets of characters is the same, but the newer version means "Way of the Empty Hand" rather than "Way of the T'ang (China) Hand", although it could also be interpreted as "Way of the China Hand".
Prior to the unification of the Kwans under the Korea Taekwondo Association, most of the major Kwans called their style Tang Soo Do, Kong Soo Do, or Kwon Bup. The first recorded use of the term "Tang Soo Do" in contemporary history was by Chung Do Kwan founder, Won Kuk Lee. The Chung Do Kwan, along with the rest of the Kwans, stopped using the name 'Tang Soo Do' and 'Kong Soo Do' when they unified under the name Taekwondo (and temporarily Tae Soo Do). The Moo Duk Kwan, being loyal to Hwang Kee, pulled out of the Kwan unification and remained independent of this unification movement, continuing to use the name 'Tang Soo Do'. Some Moo Duk Kwan members followed Hwang's senior student, Chong Soo Hong, to become members of a unified Taekwondo. Their group still exists today and is known as Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan (Moo Duk Hae) with an office in Seoul, Korea.
The late Hwang Kee officially changed the name of the Moo Duk Kwan style to Soo Bahk Do as early as 1957, shortly after his discovery of Korea's indigenous open hand fighting style of Subak. This change was officially registered, and the Moo Duk Kwan refiled with the Korean Ministry of Education on June 30, 1960. The organization was officially reincorporated as the "Korean Soo Bahk Do Association, Moo Duk Kwan."
Most schools of Tang Soo Do use the transcription "Tang Soo Do". However, scientific texts apply the official transcription 'tangsudo', written as one word. Some authors write "Tang Soo Do" and give "tangsudo" or "dangsudo" in the parenthesis.
Tang Soo Do continues to expand and flourish under numerous federations and organizations that, for various reasons separated from the Moo Duk Kwan. It can be argued that Tang Soo Do is one of the most widely practiced martial arts in the United States, although no official "census" of martial arts practitioners exists. Despite the style's nation of origin being different, many Tang Soo Do schools continue to advertise themselves as Karate schools, for reasons that can usually be traced back to the ease of marketing under that moniker.
By and large, Tang Soo Do uses the colored belt system instituted by Jigoro Kano, with minor deviations according to organization and/or individual school. One differentiating characteristic of the style however, is that the traditional black belt is frequently replaced by a Midnight Blue Belt for students who attain Dan rank, although many schools and organizations opt to use the black belt. The reason for the midnight blue belt is due to the belief in Korean culture, that black symbolizes "Death", or a finishing point. Practitioners of Tang Soo So believe that receiving ones black belt is another step, rather than the highest level of your training. Furthermore, Tang Soo Do incorporates a red-striped midnight blue (or black) belt to denote individuals who have reached the rank of Sabeomnim (사범님/師範님), or Master Instructor (usually awarded at Fourth Dan).
Wrestling is the act of physical engagement between two competitors competing for a physical advantage. Physical techniques which embody the style of wrestling are clinching, holding, locking and leverage. Avoiding potentially lethal techniques, wrestling has aspects of ritual fighting, but its basic principles are closely related to those of military hand-to-hand combat or self-defence systems.
Wrestling's popularity has grown so much that market demands for staged wrestling have caused the development of professional wrestling.
Submission wrestling (also called Grappling or submission fighting, and technically referred to as submission grappling) is a sports modality and a general term describing the aspect of martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission using submission holds. It brings together techniques from freestylewrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, folk American wrestling (catch-as-catch-can), sambo and judo. Submission grappling as an element of a larger sport setting is very common in judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, pankration, catch wrestling, shootfighting, shooto and others.
Grappling is a mode of fighting used by many different martial arts around the world. It is not a distinct martial art, but rather, similarly to striking, a collection of techniques and strategies aimed at defeating an opponent, these can be subdivided into:
Pinning Techniques; a victory condition in Wrestling and Judo and as as transitional technique in others.
Mixed Martial Arts schools and fighters may use the term "submission wrestling" to refer to their grappling methods while avoiding association with any one art. Submission wrestling is also sometimes used to describe the tactic (in mixed martial arts competition) that revolves around using submission wrestling skills to defeat an opponent.
Submission wrestling features prominent competition venues such as the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC), drawing competitors from around the world, as well as prestigious regional competitions like NAGA (the North American Grappling Association). The ADCC Championships feature cash prizes up to $40,000.
Submission wrestling has been accepted as an amateur sport in its own right within the jurisdiction of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) under the name "Grappling".
The World Grappling Committee will govern the style within the FILA umbrella. It is charged with sponsoring and promoting amateur tournaments under the International Olympic Committee banner. The first FILA World Wrestling Games to include grappling was held in Antalya, Turkey 2007. These championships differ from pre-established events such as the Abu Dhabi Combat Club which do not qualify as strictly amateur organizations.
Aikido , is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art practitioners could use to defend themselves without injuring their attacker.
Aikido emphasizes joining with an attack and redirecting the attacker's energy, as opposed to meeting force with force, and consists primarily of body throws and joint-locking techniques. In addition to physical fitness and technique, mental training, controlled relaxation, and development of "life energy" or "spirit" (ki) are emphasized in aikido training
Traditional Hapkido and Combat Hapkio explained:
Combat Hapkido is a new, modern style of Hapkido developed by Grandmaster John Pellegrini. It differs from other Hapkido styles philosophically as well as technically.
The following are a few examples:
Combat Hapkido is 100% SELF DEFENSE. There are no forms (Kata/Hyungs)
All Combat Hapkido kicks are directed to the lower part of the body
Combat Hapkido does not teach ‘acrobatic kicks.’
Combat Hapkido employs breakfalls and throws in a very limited manner
Combat Hapkido does NOT teach ‘traditional’ weapons like joot-do (bamboo sword) or fan. We teach cane, belt and other self-defense tools
Combat Hapkido teaches special firearms disarming techniques
Combat Hapkido contains a complete Ground Grappling program
Combat Hapkido, because it is flexible, dynamic and eclectic, continues to evolve
Combat Hapkido is not a sport and cannot be modified nor regulated to be one. There are no competitions, tournaments or championships
