Hapkido
The modern world is a much safer place than any other time in history. If you live in a developed country, chances are you will never have to use physical force to save your life, health, or dignity.
But imagine that one day you are forced to defend yourself, your family, or your property and there is no other option in sight. At this very moment, the physical and mental skills you can apply are the single most valuable thing you possess.
As the ancient Chinese proverb goes “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”. This still rings very true today.
Hapkido is a hybrid martial art designed for self-defense originating from Korea that includes a complete arsenal of techniques both for striking and on the ground.
Our aim at Eagle Martial arts is to train Hapkido in a way that can be applied, not just practiced.
What is Hapkido?
Martial Arts? Judo? Self Defence? Taekwondo? Karate?
Hapkido was created in Korea as a form of self-defense. The name literally means “The way of coordination and internal power” and it‘s characterized by combining dynamic striking, kicking, deflection techniques, throws, takedowns, grappling locks as well as a vast array of joint locking techniques.
This makes Hapkido a complete martial art and one of the original “mixed martial arts”. The creator of the style Choi Yong-Sool adapted the Japanese art Daito-ryu Aiki jiu-jitsu when he returned to his country after spending 30 years in Japan.
He and his followers saw the need to add more and more aspects to Hapkido from other martial arts, that have proven themselves to be applicable in real combat. Kicks and strikes from indigenous Taekkyon (parent style of modern Taekwondo) were added first, then various throws and ground fighting techniques from judo.
The main goal of Hapkido is to rapidly subdue and render any attacker helpless without the use of brute force. Instead, practitioners seek to gain the advantage through manipulation of body position and applying leverage to incapacitate without the use of strength. The control over the opponent allows the Hapkido artist to choose to defuse the situation without causing harm or inflict serious damage if wanted. This makes Hapkido a preferred system for many law enforcement personnel throughout the world.
Traditional Hapkido is based on 3 important principles.
- Principle of Nonresistance to force- this principle teaches to not act directly opposing the opponent’s force. Balance and fluidity are used to redirect and use the opponent’s force against them.
- Principle of Circular motion- using circular motions allows the gathering of greater energy and using it in the techniques. All the movements in Hapkido are free-flowing and natural.
- Principle of water- in short, this means to fluidly adapt to the circumstances of the opponent and the surroundings. One must be able to adapt and respond to every situation. This principle also shows the flowing nature of the moves in Hapkido.
Of course, we can analyze these concepts in much greater detail, but perhaps we will do this in another article. This one is just to familiarize you with the basic principles and what you will learn if you choose to train Hapkido.
How we train Hapkido at EMA
Kicking, Striking, Throwing, Techniques, Ground Work & Application
At Eagle Martial Arts we view martial arts to be much more than kicking and punching. Martial arts should teach you a wide array of skills and attributes. In addition to learning how to defend yourself physically, you will become confident, collected, and aware in a large range of situations.
Our Hapkido program can provide you with the complete toolset for this. We developed Eagle Martial Arts to fill many of the gaps between traditional martial arts and real-life scenarios.
In the last couple of decades, the rise of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts exposed a lot of gaping holes in many traditional disciplines and beliefs. In addition, the large usage of cameras pretty much everywhere also documented many real altercations that everybody can watch on the internet.
With this knowledge, we followed the example of early Hapkido masters and expanded the already very potent traditional style with some aspects from other battle-proven styles like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. The result is a comprehensive curriculum for the modern world.
Still, we encompass all the values and techniques from traditional Hapkido and we are proudly a part of the Global Hapkido Association.
Even more benefits of Hapkido
Strength, Cardio, Flexibility, Stress Relief, Fun
Training in martial arts is a never-ending journey to self-improvement and immense mental development. But it’s also a great workout for the body. Systematic training will undoubtedly increase your muscle strength, flexibility, and cardio.
The flowing and non-resistant nature of Hapkido reduces the chance of injuries and harm significantly, especially in comparison with modern combat sports training.
And last, but definitely not least one of the most beneficial aspects of training martial arts is stress relief. When you focus on perfecting the techniques you forget everything else in your life. All the real or perceived problems you have go away at least for the duration of the practice.
Hapkido’s reliance on technique and precision rather than strength makes it perfect for all types of people. Your journey in Hapkido and martial arts is one of mastery of yourself, not others, and can begin at Eagle Martial Arts.
