I do make an error here explaining the history of Hapkido, stating that its creator, Choi Yong Sool, was influenced by Aikido, when in fact he and the creator of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei, were both individually influenced in Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu by Takeda Sōkaku. I gained historical understanding from my Korean grandmaster, which it appears I slightly misunderstood due to the language barrier, and used it here rather than researching further to confirm. I figured personal testimony from a second generation master trumped anything I could get online. It does, as he definitely understands the history completely, but I just misunderstood it, hence the mistake here. Thanks to all who pointed it out
Hapkido is a good self defense art and its this insane Jujitsu that has it wrong as in a real street fight the last place you want to be is on the ground with an attacker wile his buddies kick your head in see and most scumbags who would attack you seem to have buddies along.I practice Silat but i think learning both Hapkido and Silat would be an awesome combo for self defense.Lastly never feel the need to reduce your arts power just because others dont like it as you and your art are powerful. Those who clime into rings to sport fight rarely can actually fight on the street well but your art was one of the arts that was created for self defense as it should be as martial arts were created for that purpose in the first place including having been a way to train troups in the past.
@@paolothorpe1461 Wrestling yes but the pro wrestling moves not the high school wrestling were the goal is to pin your opponent.I have the Judo Gene La bell training videos which i have worked over and over again and again plus some Jujitsu however boxing is only good in the ring as it is a sport and in the street you loose that buffer zone that the boxing gloves provide and end up breaking your hand in a real fight.
@@Thes564 dont feel the hand break in a fight due to adrenaline, and if you break your hand then that means you dont know how to punch correctly. Pro Wrestling moves dont work, The F-5, Shooting Star Press, Pedigree and Sweet Chin Music dont work. Double legs, single legs, German Suplexes, are what work
In the 70’s, I took hapkido at school and it included everything, strikes, locks, throw, and grappling. We did three types of sparring . 1. Kicking and punching . 2. Standing grabbing with throws. 2. On the ground grabblng. We also practiced self-defense and rehearsed combinations where we strike vital areas first and run away, or do a joint lock, or a throw and finish off with a stomp.
Ex-cop and Hapkido black belt. Hapkido is a seriously misunderstood art that hides in plain sight. The circular breathing and philosophy kept me centered and stable even in some pretty bad situations. Thank you for the video.
Hapkido is q great 👍 art , don't allow somof these bjj and mma zealots tell you different. Hapkido exist for a reason and it's certainly battle proven.
Surprisingly, the Marines martial arts programs relies heavily on Hapkido, as do special forces I've met in combat. Mostly we used it to "man handle" POWs and insurgents that were lighter than us with a full combat load or stronger/bigger than the smallest Marine. In the video he mention spies or secret agents but the truth couldn't be more real.
Ex-bouncer here. Been doing hapkido for 50 years. Seemed to have worked OK for that job. A lot of my students went into the military, police work, or prison guards. Seems to work OK.
Yes, Hapkido is great for police and bouncers who have to handle drunks and gangsters. My Korean master instructor trained the Wellington Police and Wellington Prisons Officers. In New Zealand, the policemen and prisons officers are educated up to university levels.
lmao we had a dude that does hapkido come to our bjj gym, he was into crossfit too he was quite swole and had about 30lb on me, he lasted about 2 minutes and had to tap to being pressured from mount, and im a white belt approaching blue
I studied Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, and Hapkido and Hapkido was, by far, the most useful. It helped me to control situations where I needed to defend myself but didn't want to hurt my attacker. Mostly with drunk people at bars. It may also have saved my life when someone put a gun to my head in an attempt to rob me. Training kicked in and without thought I disarmed him just before the gun was at my head. I don't know if he would have shot me but he sure was trying to rob me. Having the ability and training to defend yourself without causing serious damage to the person you are defending against has been invaluable. For certain people, like working at a bar, a prison, police, and military I can't recommend it enough. From what I've seen it is modern, flexible, and willing to adopt new techniques if they prove to be effective.
I’ve heard many stories like you’re and I’m grateful to know your training has served you beneficially. Those sound like some of the most extreme situations we can experience. I agree on the Hapkido front, as a younger person I enjoyed the TKD aspects of the art I learned, but as I got older I gravitated more and more to the teachings of HKD. Yes, for the practicality in the self defense techniques but also all of the intangibles I think that come with the art in general
I would argue, based on your efforts, that we could all evolve with this defense method. Thank you for validating my years long study of what might suit me - hurrah to you!
I spent time in Korea, the way they teach there is more dynamic, as far as almost everyone had military training. Many people in my dojang were police, military or pro fighters and bodyguards. A few injuries, but training was serious. The attitude was very traditional. Respect was number 1. Belts were not so important, but your age and knowledge were used to improve every class. I think the main point wasn't money. Sometimes the head teacher would drill you do hard a couple of days. Then call you to the front the third day and call everyone to attention, then award you a belt. Usually to claps and tears of joy. The higher students really helped the lower students, like a big extended family. Even me, a Migook Saddam (Foreigner) Thank you all my Hung Nim (Big Brothers) in Korea. You are great people.
@MattHinkamp Great explanation! I was once a student of Hapkido as a teenager. Didn’t last long (only a yellow belt), but it made an impression on me enough to start studying Aikido in my 30’s. I enjoy the variety of resources on the internet and you have now become one of mine! 😃. Thanks for sharing and posting!
All Hapkido I've ever studied or taught has crossed into groundwork and striking, it ultimately comes down to the teacher and style that you study under, I also study BJJ and have done Boxing and kickboxing, but Hapkido is very diverse and really depends on who you train with and what not
It’s an art that has become so separate across federations, that sometimes the only thing that one Hapkido school shares with another is the name of the art. Of course, I can only speak from the schools and instructors I’ve experienced, what’s important is finding an instructor and school that gel with your interests and focuses in martial arts
Yes you're right, Hapkido has just as much ground work as flowing and locking techniques, going to the ground we use all kinds of arm bar and leg, knee chokes etc techniques. Our grandmaster emphasizes that we know all anatomy and joint Locks for that as well as soft spots for attack if need be.
Yep. There are literally thousands of techniques. Striking, kicking, joint locks of all kinds similar or identical to jujitsu, because it is Aiki Jujitsu, plus Korean style kicks:) its a very powerful and versatile traditional martial art.
@@milrlite2482 Also I need to mention that I when I fall, I used the judo way to fall. When I was taking Hapkido, the mat won 100% of the time, I remember the pain and I think I developed arthritis of the elbow, should ers and fingers. its a good think the instructor left after a year. His construction job was over in our area.
@SupremeEgyptianGodsman I agree with you. I read the history of Hapkido according tot he some Aikido organization, In this article, it stated that the founder , Choi stayed with Soke Takeda and his classmate was O sensei. I related this article to my Japanese Aikido sensei he looked at me. He said to me with a cold mean stare.. i thought he was going to execute 1st to 5th movement in rapid succession. I had to apologize. I see what you mean. I think Aikijujistu is more of a combat involve from what I remember in a couple of demonstration in the '70's.
I am a first degree black belt in hapkido I have trained in hapkido for 4 years until I left my hapkido school because I wanted to train in something else which I am currently In muay thai and brazilian jiu jitsu but I still use hapkido while I am sparring in muay thai well just the kicks from hapkido I use while I am sparring I gotta admit I miss training in hapkido full time but my hapkido master passed away a few months ago but I have decided I will start back teaching hapkido when I have some time when I am not training in muay thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu.
@@thememaster7 hapkido is an wonderful art to learn the only reason why I only use the kicks from hapkido because I can't use hapkido fully in muay thai for example spear hand strikes are illegal in muay thai,small joint manipulation is illegal in muay thai and a few other techniques the only thing I can use from hapkido into muay thai while sparring is the kicks
Matt, i study uechi ryu an okinawan style of karate . This style isnt massively popular either because we dont focus on flashy kicks and compete . I really appreciate your remarks on studying an art because you enjoy it and it enhances your community. It is great to have holistic approach and be humble like that . Great video!!
That is a hard style of karate. Personally I think it’s one of the more effective MA. I trained in Goju then moved to Wado and transitioning from a hard style MA to one that uses more tai sabaki was a real change. But I did find Wado more practical and worked better for me so I stick with it for 8 years. Achilles injury took me out of it unfortunately. But I’m healed now and I’m really interested in Hapkido (wanted to learned Judo but I’ve read there are lots of injuries associated with that and I’m in my 50s now).
I have only recently started studying Hapkido. I've trained in other arts, principally Jiu Jitsu, Shorei Ryu Karate, and Muay Thai. But I've also dabbled with a handful of others including Shotokan, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, and Systema. I've worked in both law enforcement and tactical security. When thinking about getting back into martial arts, I started to think critically about each of the times that I've had to go hands on with someone in real life. I came to the realization that in every physical encounter I've been in, not once did I kick or strike anyone. Every time it was about gaining control and compliance of the other person. When I came to that realization, I asked my self if that's the case, then I why am I studying strike based martial arts? What I need is something more grappling based. Likewise, I have never used any of the jiu jitsu I've learned in a real confrontation. It was always grab an arm/hand and get control. It is for these reasons that I have decided to look more closely at Hapkido.
in Dojunim Ji Han Jae's lineage of hapkido (the one that is most spread all over the world) there actually is a large enfasis on striking( punching, kicking, elbows, knees, everything)
Sin Moo Hapkido do a lot of striking, low or close to the ground attack kicking techniques. I think there are almost 5k techniques from white white belt Gup to 8th Dan. Not to mention some weapons.
This! I studied hapkido from 8-15 years old. Acquiring my red belt just before highschool. Most of our lower belts were stand up grappling for pressure points and locks, kicks,punches, stretches. We stretched 2-3 times per class. Once I made green belt we started adding strikes to the ends of our defensive grabs and throws. Brown belt was awesome. Learned a ton of body throws and momentum throws with an emphasis on kicking power. I vividely remember that belt. It was so fun. This was all 20+ years ago. Our instructor was a Vietnam vet army ranger.
The Hapkido dojang where I tried had a great emphasis on strikes and our grappling was on par with various BJJ students who visited. However, I've since found that curriculum varies greatly from one Hapkido school to another.
Hapkido has become one of the most variant arts because we never had a centralized federation or association. The original masters kind of just took the basic techniques and made them into their own styles, emphasizing different things from school to school. Whereas, in BJJ for instance, you can pretty much bounce from gym to gym and know what you’re gonna get
I agree with your comment. It is rather unpopular because of the painful locks. My master instructor was 7 th Dan Hapkido and 7 th Dan Taekwondo and ex- captain in South Korean First Airborne Brigade. He taught the police and prison officers and it worked fine. His style had almost no forms and little sparring. These are the weaknesses - lack of sparring. Maybe it was too dangerous to spar.
@@supershooter20 we didn't have forms either, but we sparred almost every class. We did striking-only sparring, grappling only, strikes with takedowns and/or full striking and grappling combined, depending on the focus of that class.
I do both but they have different purposes in my life, I like slotting some bjj techniques into my Hapkido practice because at the end of the day if it comes to a situation where I have to use it, I will use all the resources I have available to me.
I studied hapkido for over four years. In my experience it is completely different to aikido. There was both striking and grappling. It was one of the hardest martial arts for me to learn because there was so much content.
Something I find good about Hapkido is it’s variety from school to school. With no central governing, federations split off and focused on what they were interested in. It does create for a bit of a mess sometimes, but you also get the benefit of finding schools that specialize in certain things
Dojunim Choi Yong Sul was not influenced by Aikido. He developped Hapkido( or Hapkiyukwonsul ) based on the Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu he had learned with Takeda Sokaku Sensei ( who tautht O Sensei Ueshiba Morihei too, founder of Aiikido ).
Correct it is just debated what he learned directly, what he watched and what he improvised as Takeda didn't award him any teaching license or acknowledge him as a direct student in his lineage. It's all up for debate and no one really knows the answer other than he was around Takeda a lot.
Been training hapkido and kuk sool for long time and found your videos just recently have to say I really enjoyed them ,like the way you look and talk about hapkido,
Practiced with Judo and Tao Kwon Do . Kicking and Grappling mixed with it helps it to become a better all around self defense program. Called Hwa Rang Do. It is a Korean art also. I liked Hapkido and Judo because the attacker has to come to you .Add low kicks or leg sweeps . That 3 to 5 feet boundry really helps better with self defense. Some street fights go to the ground within 20-30 seconds for the most part. You can also throw one attacker into another once their lined up. It is easier to use their body weight against the other . More power than a punch by most people.
I think Hapkido is an excellent martial art! I have been practicing martial arts for about 55 years (mostly Kung Fu based) and have been an instructor since 1982. My focus (from a physical perspective) is on practical self defense, however I think that ultimately the point of martial arts training is to make a better person, not a better "fighter".
I have a huge turn around in my regards to Hapkido. I practiced this for some years and thought it unpractical to a real street fight. But realistically, all the elements to survive an encounter are there in Hapkido. It is a truly beautiful art.
Thank you for saying that. When you claim to know or understand something, your mind subconsciously shuts the door on it to an extent. I will never be the greatest martial artist, fighter, or philosopher, but I can make it my goal to learn something each day and be satisfied with that
Hapkido has Aikijujutsu origins in common with Aikido but is not at all like Aikido. I am 60 and spent my life as a bouncer, bodyguard and have all but lived in hard bars and clubs. My Hapkido has served me very well.
Your explanations are sensible, modest, and grounded, and you don’t exaggerate and talk about the benefits rather than aggression l. Thus is a sound and great approach.
So much depends on the teacher. I’ve seen so many videos of various style black belts that are so lazy in form. My old Moo Du Kwan teacher wouldn’t let anyone get away with poor technique. My later Aikido teacher was focused very much on practicality, and indeed, I was once grabbed from behind and the attacker ended up on his back in front of me. I barely knew what I was doing. My short time with Hapkido was also practical and rewarding.
Absolutely. It’s all about finding a good school and instructor...it’s cool how it becomes instinct after enough practice, and it bypasses your need to critically think first, which can save those few split seconds that could mean danger vs safety
I trained in HKD for over 11 years, and yes there is a view that groundwork is a weak point, and is one of the reasons I left HKD, but upon learning groundwork I began to realise a few things, blending with your opponent, and redirecting your opponents energy along with circular movement are the basics for groundwork too, once understood, you will be amazed at how many HKD techniques you can fit into ground work. If you are contemplating ground work, take some lessons in a ground art along side your HKD, once the basics are learnt and put it into practice, you will find its not an alternative to Hapkido, but an extension. @ Leo Parafuso , good luck on your Hapkido journey, it will be a blast, trust me.
Peter Ingram it’s true. Technique is technique! I encourage anyone and everyone to branch our and take the best aspects from as many arts as they can. Avoiding narrow-minded approaches is the best way to not let something blind you and give you the wrong kind of bias
I found one tool that helps my ground game and that is called shredding....it counters all grappling situations immediately as you steal your opponents consciousness while performing an overwhelming attack on their face, eyes, throat, and head. And best of all it fits into Hapkido's self defense aspects as we are not training to roll around with an opponent like in sport. We are wanting to finish the fight quickly.
After reading this i feel like a solid well instructed Japanese Jujutsu would x all the boxes that hapkido misses the mark on when it comes to ground work
Hmmm.. What I learned from Hap Ki Do was primarily about wrist manipulation. From there, arm locks and takedowns were accomplished. It served me well working as a door man in a few establishments by escorting troublemakers out on their tip toes. I'm also trained in Boxing, Muay Thai, and BJJ and have used it coupled with BJJ to aid in escaping holds, along with getting holds.
The way you train and teach your students will dictate how well they actually apply there techniques. I've studied hapkido my entire life. Second generation practitioner. My father was army special forces and taught hand to hand combat to green barets. I have used my hapkido in real fights threwout my life and had no problem winning or just easily defending myself without fighting . When I teach my student I give them realistic approach to what there learning and as long as you incorporate, bag work, sparring and good combinations to your training as well as conditioning and hard sparring they will learn what they can apply fairly easily. You only need a hand full of grappling techniques to get back to your feet. have the students roll as part of sparring. Sparring sessions should be wrestling/grappling no strikes. Stand up no grappling. Then one person attacks the other defends with grappling and switch. Then a free for all. The students will get so much better this way. Sparring is a tool not a game of tag. I have several experiences where my students had to stand up for themselves and used techniques i taught them. Hapkido is a great style to learn it falls in the teachers hands as far as how useful it will be to the students!
@@MattHinkamp Re: Mr. Anthony Rogers remark about self defense , that's the definition of self defense that I'm speaking about . Mr. Rogers articulated what true self defense is really all about .
I have been learning Hapkido for a very long time, started with an uncle at Five and I’m thirty seven now. Hapkido has served me well many times over the years. And while I’ve used it for self defense, I can boast that a majority of those who considered me enemy now call me friend and brother. Keep training ❤
@@MattHinkamp Not alot of striking that's not true Hapkido uses the unarmed moves of Aikido,Judo,Jujitsu and the different styles of Karate and used the moves of Kendo and weapon moves of Aikido for example every move that's in Taekwondo I's in Hapkido.
@@kellersmith1917 I realize that my wording on that is misleading. What I mean when I compare striking in Hapkido to the MMA for instance, is that the endgame ideally when using Hapkido is harmony, and a safe immobilization without injuring the attacker or defender. When that isn’t possible, of course we resort to the more dangerous strikes that we train. Hope this clears things up
@@MattHinkamp You also stated that it was not for military combat etc. That is also not true it is the main form of hand to hand combat for Korean marines. Every Korean male is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido and it is used in warfare. It is used to break multiple joints along legs and arms with hand and leg techniques and to provide killing blows. It has 575 moves in it and as stated above is made up of all of the Tae Kwon Do moves for the striking which only covers roughly half of its moves. It goes into defending / disarming knifes, guns, and their use in close combat. There is even an entire area of fighting with an old man's cane. This form of fighting is mostly for war and killing your opponent. It is not going to be something you can really use in MMA.
@@natenesler5028 context is important here. I said we are not sending people to war and developing secret agents to fight in the streets. Sure, there is use for this art in military combat training, but the vast majority of people who join martial arts do not take it to war or join any military program. Most of us take it as an activity or lifestyle. Also, in today’s world, with advanced weaponry and tactics, hand to hand combat in war is few and far between compared to when these techniques were founded
I must have taken a different Hapkido, we did a lot of kicking, punching and ground fighting. There were def complex forms and a lot of wrist work and throws. I thought it was well rounded.
Hapkido is a viable effective martial art. IMO it is a very well rounded martial art incorporating punches, kicks, locks, throws, grappling, and forms. The forms are not widely known, or taught unfortunately. There is practical bunhae, and muscle memory training in them. Anyone who says Hapkido is useless should explore the art more in depth. IMO the modernization, and amalgamation of Korean martial arts has left many concepts, and techniques lost to the sands of time. I can understand why many Korean martial arts seem fragmented, and incomplete to the uninitiated.
Hapkido is practised for self-defense not sport. It can be very painful and harmful if not practised properly. A lot of demonstrated Hapkido is for show only and in training sessions, you don't see it at all! Too many people think MMA is the ultimate but it is still a competition, even sport. I am speaking as a black belt in judo and Taekwondo spending a total of some 8 years training under Japanese and Korean masters sent to train the military and police force (no, these trainees do not have port bellies like the ones in the US). I also trained in Hapkido , Shaolin Temple boxing (5 Ancestors style) and spent short stints training in Praying Mantis Kung-fu and Taichi-chuan.
@Chuck Mos The problem with that definition is now it's subjective to who's learned it. But if you insist on thinking this way, there's nothing I can do.
@@DJKID777 Where are the Aikido or Tai Chi masters in high level MMA? There are Nak muays, judokas, BJJ/sambo/karate/TKD practitioners, wrestlers, boxers/kickboxers etc who do extremely well. Oh right, because those fighting systems actually implement practical techniques.
Very well put together video Matt. You have opened my eyes to a new form of martial arts that will no doubt set me on a virtuous path of self discipline and righteousness. Thank you
Hapkido is great, comprehensive martial art, do judo and taekwondo sports for combat experience, and practice the dangerously effective techniques carefully with a good partner or you will have injuries. I have always described Hapkido as taekwondo and judo plus lots more
Yes I do love the hybrid style of Hapkido. I think nowadays a lot of the arts mesh more together as people take the best aspects of each, but I like how HKD was pretty much that way from the start, even though it is still a relatively young art. Thanks for the insight sir
Respect. 2:40 "The purpose of a martial artists shouldn't be how can I use this negatively against my opponents, but rather how can I use this positively for myself and those around me"
I like hapkido.. Its a very well rounded discipline.. Where most emphasize on 1 dimensions of fighting.. If I were to take any of the disciplines Ive learned.. Id start with western boxing.. Then BJJ.. And Hapkido to round it all out, Hapkido truly encompasses it all. encompasses everything..
Boxing is actually a really good one to learn even if you suck at striking. Being able to slip a punch and have great footwork will set up all sorts of options. Like a kick. A kick so hard even if the person tries to grab it their arm breaks.
@@mattr.1887 Best to combine. They're both useful in particular circumstances. As a stand alone thing, BJJ is probably better. Hapkido is more like salt is to food--it's not something you would use by itself; it's just something to enhance what you already have. The only situation I can think of outside of an all out fight where Hapkido might be helpful is if somebody grabs you in an unwelcome way.
Hapkido, the traditional style taught in Korea, or in America by Master Bong Soo Han, is one of the most complete Martial Arts. It is effective in all forms. Striking, Kicks, Punches, throws, and the ground. One of the big mistakes is people talk about when the fight goes to the ground. BJJ usually starts on the ground. If you have average take down defense, which you can learn in a few months of training, BJJ becomes ineffective. In most traditional Hapkido DoJangs, the ground element is taught much later. Since the majority of life is spent on your feet. So to cultivate a ground posture is ineffective and increases the risk of injury. Thank you for the good content.
Appreciate the perspective. I believe that you can always become more well rounded, and use other arts to supplement your knowledge, but there is never an endpoint. As with any subject, we can never learn everything, we can only approach completion. Thanks for the comment
I have the greatest respect for all martial Arts. They all have their limitations because the students have limitations in time, age, physical capabilities. Thank you for responding.
Every BJJ match starts on the feet, and they do teach takedowns. The places I trained at didn't spar on the feet, I think this is a mistake. I'm saying you are partially correct.
@@camb7683 I'm referring more to the posture used in grappling and BJJ. The posture is already broken and hunched over. Because the goal is to go to the ground to take the fight to the ground. Bjj doesn't have a goal to keep a fight standing. But, if they do add standing components, it's not bjj anymore, so I get the desire not to add it. All martial Arts are effective on their own terms and should not be forced top add all other aspects. Mma is more for the purpose of sport than it is an art.
@@fearlessway I disagree with you on MMA , it is the closest thing you will get to a legal street fight. I dont know enough about Hapkido to comment on it but it sounds like mma to me
Hapkido is a great traditional martial art. As good as any other. I no long study Hapkido, but I have been kickboxing for decades now, and I feel that Hapkido has many practical and useful applications for competitions or bartenders/bouncers. I have been doing so since the late 80’s and just worked last night. You can’t, and don’t want to, hit people, or injure them in anyway. You just want to solve a situation. Hapkido does offer tremendously fabulous kicks, as well as nice judo type throws. I can’t use those at all in my work, but it has applications at my small kickboxing club. But, the self defense part of Hapkido works very well for situations where you don’t want to severely injure people, but must stop them.
Exactly. The goal is keeping everyone safe, even the aggressor, unless there are absolutely no other possible outcomes. Then you have to resort to more dangerous force
Based on your video, if the goal is being active for health while doing a fun activity, Hapkido could be your thing. In terms of fighting, maybe Hapkido can help during clinching which can lead to a takedown. It's not a recommended base discipline for MMA, but it would be nice to see which moves can be used for MMA.
I took combat hapkido for 2 years..way back 24 years ago, and as you say, I have found the foundational movements and use of leverage and footwork have aided me even this far out from the training, I never stopped studying various arts but that is my foundation. Now I want to a actually train in jujitsu and kick boxing with a mma instructor,.he also teaches hapkido so he knows where I come from. Should be fun.
I started in combat hapkido 26yrs ago, we transitioned and evolved into practical hapkido. I absolutely love the practicality of our hapkido n how its evolved, recieving my masters a couple yrs ago n i still continue my journey,
Best description of the benefits most TMA can bring to one’s life. The critics only possible valid point is how these TMA are marketed to attract new members- quite a few clubs I’ve trained in had that “you will be able to use this practically” credo. I wish more TMA clubs would try to advertise with all of the real benefits their styles can have on members. This would also weed out those who would seek more competition combat styles as well. Great video!
Yeah, I feel you. In the states it seems to appeal better to people when you advertise the more superficial and flashy things an art has to offer, which is a side effect of modernization
@@MattHinkamp Do you think Hapkido is ok for a mid 50s guy coming from 8 years of Wado Ryu? The club I trained at closed and I'm looking for something that would continue the line of close contact MA and joint locks/throws, etc. I'm just a little worried about the high kicks. That is not my forte any more (not that limber at this age)
@@soundtreks i definitely think so. Every school is different but if you have a conversation with the instructor first they should be more than willing to accommodate your interests. Any good school is willing to adapt to any person who walks through the door. Good luck in your search
I really respect the message in all of the videos I’ve seen by you. A lot of people however seem to get sucked into the romance of martial arts without remembering the practical applicable correlation in the modern day. Pure focus on one style can be for 100 different reasons, right down to just using it to bring positive action to other areas of your life, discipline and fitness, for example. You can also take a small effective fraction from 100 different styles, forms and martial arts and free flow them into a lucid form of combat. And that’s what’s beautiful about MMA. Nothing is fixed, no style is better or worse in martial arts, everything is looked at with practical eyesight. This whole style may not work today… however, this move is undeniable, what if I blended it with this move from this other martial art… people that think MMA is it’s complete own thing don’t see things like Tony Ferguson use Wing Chun to create split second, muscle memory, in the pocket offensive decisions with an elbow over the top or Lyoto Machida literally issuing the karate kid crane kick for a flash knockout. Traditional martial arts are everywhere in MMA, including the weird ones that loads of people doubt because overall as 1 style it isn’t as impressive. Bruce Lee was on to something with his original idea for Jeet Kune Do.
1:58 ...from this position, a simple twist of his waist is a joint dislocation to the elbow. Notice the Grand-Master secure "absolute wristlock death" position...a sure spiral fracture, before even showing the next technique. This is the essence of the craft...chess vs. checkers. Deep truth hidden in plain sight. For those who know, and as the creator implies...studying Hapkido; once you understand that one must "strike to twist and twist to strike"...negotiating the harmony of hard and soft energy and style is a paradigm shift.
Good message and presentation. Very respectable. I like how this separates those who want to learn the art as a way of well rounding the self, vs using the art in conjunction with being a "fighter".
I see the two things as very separate. Otherwise, martial arts would only be viable for a very small percentage of the population. Today we have many other reasons to practice it. Thank you for watching and commenting
I got my BB through the IHF. The 1st Dan was basically for self-defense, while the 2nd Dan was more a combat style where you were trained to start and win a fight, and the 3rd Dan was for weapons training with the primary weapon being a sword much like the Japanese katana. From my experience, I agree that the training varies from dojang to dojang. The master in our school, Master Jin-O Kang, said that HPKD was a foundation on which you built. Many graduates of the school went on to Muay Thai, Judo, BJJ, or MMA training. I was very happy with the training I got and the good people I met along with the excellent instructors. On average, the 1st Dan would take 4.5 to 10 years to complete; the 2nd, 2+ years; and the 3rd, 5+ years of training.
Do what ever you enjoy because you will more than likely never need to use it in the street. Just being in good condition with decent flexibility gives you an edge anyway.
Great video bro im training in Hapkido rt now under 3 different organizations. I like it a lot... I know how to fight. But I'd rather not if I don't need too. 3rd degree blk blt bjj 3rd dan blk blt ashihara karate Student in: CSW, Arnis, WC, MT, and H.E.M.A.
I disagree with you about Hapkido Striking range for it trains you strike at points that will destroy movement. I been practicing Hapkido since the 1970s and learned more deadly strikes then any other art I have seen. My instructor had ways of striking in fact white Balt basic your learn 15 strikes off punch. Each strike deliver right will hurt if not stop the fight or kill, I learn so many strikes at points on the body to setup for throw. Pain is center for hapkido. I did learn lot of ground attacks but it illegal in the sports. Like judo blocks in Hapkido are NOT legal it stop judo since is sport. I have the greatest respect for MMA training and fightering but they are limited where lo strike. They have rules hapkido does not. MMA has rule to prevent taking out a knee. Hapkido has so many strikes and in different ways. Keep up the review..
I have trained in hap ki do andnit helped me prevent someone from pick pocketing me in Rio Dijanrio Brasil. The wrist grab allowed me to control the situation without harming the person while I was able to get away .. It works just fine for me. I have studied Tae Kwon do, mua Thai and kick boxing and hap ki do I find is practical and my favorite
I've done hapkido for almost 3 years now and the owner has 2 other schools... each school teaches it different, mine does judo and hapkido so we do a lot of grappling and such, the other teaches hapkido and I believe kick boxing so ofc they focus on striking... hapkido is an amazing martial art if you do pressure testing and sparring, like wing chun it improves other things as well!
Sounds like you found a good place to train. You can integrate so many arts even though you’re technically practicing just one, and I think that’s necessary to work on being a complete martial artist
The main thing I have learned thus far in my almost one full year of Hapkido is that it has one main purpose--to survive and hopefully win a fight after trying unsuccessfully to avoid it. There is no competition type attacks taught, no kata, no illegal moves. Hapkido is about doing as much damage as necessary to incapacitate, disarm, or escape an attacker. Some of it I would NEVER deploy in a street fight! Mainly the complicated wrist locks etc. Those are for a subdued opponent who is no longer attacking. They look cool and impressive in a controlled environment with a docile training partner but my feeling is they would get you destroyed on the street because there is such a small margin for error. Hapkido teaches old school stuff like taking out the knees, eye gouges, throat punches, kicks to the groin, fist to the solar plexus etc. Most people can do those things--Hapkido teaches you to do them even better!
I agree, there is more to martial arts than self defense. But, HKD is practical for self defense. I train with a bodyguard who owns his own agency. I asked him about ground fighting in HKD. He asked me who is protecting his client when he's on the ground and who is protecting him from his opponent's friend while he grapples his opponent. He uses the locks to break joints fast and moves on. Likewise, I know a bouncer who swears by HKD.
There is no comprehensive martial art that covers every scenario. As a physical therapist, I’ve learned A LOT about human anatomy and biomechanics. I know how the body is supposed to move, and how it’s NOT supposed to move. Hapkido takes those vulnerable positions of joints to gain literal leverage over another person with minimal force. It’s as simple as opening a door. Are you going to push a swinging door open as close to the hinges as possible? Or near the outside opposite the hinges? The answer is opposite of the hinges because that’s where you generate the most torque, with the least amount of force. This is the basis for hapkido, and throwing a body, restraining, or gaining the upper hand in a fight comes from understanding where you are in space and where your target is in space. The best way to deal with a fight you can’t run away from, is by knowing how to keep distance with strikes, but also knowing how to move another person’s body with ease when they come in close. In case you think people in training are over exaggerating when they flip a body, look up the golgi tendon organ reflex and the muscle spindle reflex. These 2 reflexes are things that you have no control over, and occur when a muscle is stretched too much, or a muscle’s tendon becomes suddenly stretched near it’s limit. Your body will reflexively relax the antagonist muscle to allow the muscle or tendon being stretched to relax, because your bicep can’t perform a curl unless the tricep relaxes the same amount. When this reflex is forcefully caused in a person’s joint, the body will do whatever it can to prevent muscles or tendons from tearing, and the jump is what the body ends up doing to prevent that from happening, as well as preventing joints from dislocating or bones breaking.
Thank you for providing some extremely in-depth and educated insight, with tangible examples. I appreciate your way of explaining technique using your medical background. I find myself noticing things about the body, but my education is in engineering, not medical, so sometimes I struggle to put into words what I see and feel happening. You’ll find me explaining something and saying “the body doesn’t like when you do this to it. Why? Not sure, I’m not a doctor 😆”
@@MattHinkamp Our bodies are basically machines, and muscles are the ropes that are connected to bones and along those paths are multiple pulleys. If you think about the bicep, it goes from (generally) the shoulder to your forearm. When you curl a 15lb dumbbell, the bicep pulls on the forearm, with a fulcrum being essentially your elbow. Think about how strong your bicep is to pull on a lever, where the bicep pulls on the bone being only a few inches away from the fulcrum and the dumbbell you're lifting is around 30 inches away. It puts into perspective how much force muscles can contract with to perform daily functions. And 15lbs is light weight considering a gallon of milk is 5lbs.
I'm remembering a scene from a movie called "They Call Me Bruce" which is a parody of martial arts movie. I didn't see the movie entirely, but the scene I'm recalling is how the character talks his way out of a fight with other martial artists. This a lot harder than fighting at times. Incidentally I recall a video from Scholagladiatoria where he points out in incidents where a fight goes to the ground, to which he describes reports in that regard, where fights go to the ground, and the opposition's friends step in and attack the other fighter on the ground. So as realistic as it might that the fight will go to the ground, it also realistic that someone is going to step and attack the other person.
Hapkido is fine for self-defense. It is a viable fighting art. No, your opponent in an actual fight isn't going to allow any techniques to be done on them. Pressure testing your skills is important.
Absolutely. You can train a single technique dozens of times with no resistance and develop confidence in it, only to not be able to do it anymore as soon as the opponent tries to get out of it. But as you practice with resistance (pressure testing) you find your own solutions to make the technique still work depending on what the opponent gives you. But having that compliant practice to start with is important in building the foundation of knowing why your end goal is supposed to be
I studied all the way up to 3rd degree blackbelt level Hapkido. I have used it more times than I can count. From Hapkido, I went on to learn some Tae Kwon Do and Aikido as well as some Judo and Jiujitsu and various weapons training. I love Hapkido though. I’ll always have my base in Hapkido as something close to my heart.
I started practicing Sin Moo Hapkido when I was younger, after moving to other city, where I currently live, I've been practicing Combat Hapkido and the difference between those two are that there are no flashy kicks or other flashy movements in Combat Hapkido, just straight self defence, which I like more since I don't really like jumping kicks (reason for that is I'm not young anymore :D ) however, I loved Sin Moo Hapkido, it was basically karate combined with bjj and judo, even tho I've never practiced judo or bjj before but I have some experience with karate. It's honestly good stuff, it depends on how you practice.
Not sure what Hapkido you've been studying but back in the day before BJJ and mma came along it was a force to be reckoned with. Plenty of strikes and Grappling was on par with Judo. On top of that Taekwondo practioners would often study Hapkido to compliment there training. Phillip Rhee from best of the best and Wang In-Sik from way of the dragon and the young master. Are both notable practioners. The art was always sound. ua-cam.com/video/QKfLl2Cc7Fk/v-deo.html - Hapkido Tournament 70-80s Part 1 ua-cam.com/video/zGp4CRKO4g4/v-deo.html - Hapkido Tournament 70-80s Part 2
I am thrice removed from the founder Choi Dojunim. My teacher's teacher always said you must train Judo simultaneously with HKD to make it effective. I must add our HKD is striker heavy and we always spend time doing all three levels, ground and stand up grappling and striking as taught to us. This makes it a very effective system.
Never studied hapkido, wish I did. Because it empathizes self defense first & how to fall correctly. Not all fights have to end up in mma match. I studied basic Japan karate and that totally sucked! The self defense moves were so none practical. Wish I could go back in time & have studied hapkido. 👍
Dj Roly G. Every art brings something different to the table. The key is finding the one that best suits your interests. And the good news is there are no laws against dabbling into other arts and taking the best aspects from each
Dj Roly G. We have an 84 year old professor of philosophy from MacMaster University, it's not late at all. Hapkido, be water my friend and add these tools to your toolbox of martial arts !!
@@MattHinkamp Thank you for mentioning it. Every art is significant & has something to offer. There really ia no such as a superior martial as each art conquers on another just like the natural elements of the world (Water, fire, earth, etc).
@@cesarcanete3402 also important to note that some arts favor certain personality types and natural skill sets over others. So there is no way to make a blanket statement on which is “best” without taking the individual into consideration
The frank introspection and circumspection are profound. How many practitioners of their respective styles mention the weaknesses in their chosen art? I haven't heard a single one until now. In stark contrast, they argue how their art is effective in all situations, against all opponents, against all styles. I believe there is an ethos and a pedagogy in many Hapkido schools that is unique from Japanese and Chinese styles. The focus is not about the perfect spacing of feet in a stance or the angle and placement of a strike. There is no exhaustive taxonomy of techniques and their many variations. For those interested in these things, karate would be the art that would embody these characteristics. While the instruction seems less exact and more free flowing, the Hapkido practitioner's body eventually learns. Since there is no single accepted technique, no sacred canon of appropriate execution, Hapkido practitioners are able to make the adjustments to make the technique work for him or her. It rewards the thinker, the motivated. The techniques become yours, even if you need to train them up like dogs you picked up as puppies. You do not serve the technique and those who deemed it to be executed in a specific manner. It may take the time it takes to become a brown belt to learn a front kick correctly in Hapkido, while the karateka can snap a beautiful high front kick with mechanical perfection after the first year. When it is learned, though, it is yours, and not something that is borrowed from its composer to be performed following an instruction book. An excellent video.
I took 2 years of hapkido. It is pretty lethal and deadly. At times the class was interrupted and the Sensei would have us to leave, because special classes would come in to teach the SWAT team and the Navy seals. It is close quarters to the point, take down and control. It is none of that acrobatic, flying, spinning, martial arts. Hapkido is involving ; lockups, bone breaking and death.
"It's not the style that counts. It's how you use it". Maybe there is a misunderstanding but I feel that just about any martial art can be good in a fight if you do hard sparring and practice real life scenarios.
You are right. Yet Master Choi did add other things to what he learned from others. As well we should. And Master Choi did say were his art come from. Others Koreans changed history. ( So they think. L. O.L. )
Trained hapkido almost 20 years . From Korean grandmaster in judo and tkd. The real deal. He taught the US military self defense who were stationed at the border or south and North Korea. He considered hapkido combat fighting style. We did a lot of joint locks, kicking, strikes, plus judo throwing and ground work.
It works but you will have to adjust on different sizes of attackers. I tried it in real life before, to be honest. I don't feel comfortable using most of the techniques in the streets. But it does and can work based on the level of experience of the practitioners.
The best advice I think is to pick some of your favorite basic techniques, drill those significantly more than all the others, and just as important practice with as many sizes of people that you can. That way you see the constants that work no matter the size of the opponent. When working with people your size, lack of proper technique can be masked by a little extra strength applied. As the opponent grows in size, that strength becomes negligible and forces you to do the technique properly for it to work
The solution for me, is that I cross train. My BJJ instructor also has black belts in Hapkido and TKD, so we work on strikes and kicks some of the time, work on Hapkido-style self defence from stand up and as a means to get to the ground on other days, and then of course we do BJJ too.
I've finally learned for about 2 years...I have a black belt in kenpo, but always wanted to learn hapkido👍🏻 only had to defend myself once...thank God I didn't get hurt, the other guy wasn't so lucky. I used hapkido to take this guy out. I hate violence and i hate when guys get drunk and try to use their mma bullshit while drunk..lol....🤦🏻♂️
@@MattHinkamp oh Matt it's great man.. I've developed such confidence and it totally changed my life. I'm 46 years old , I took up kenpo when I was 18. Then when I was 33 a hapkido studio opened up and i just felt this connection to it. I didn't get a chance to learn more, the school shut down unfortunately. So I just practice what I learned in the year I was learning it. I was at this apple bee type of place here in long island and this bald buff guy was drunk and embrassing himself and his girl. He was doing push-ups and crunches on the floor in front of everyone lol.... showing off. He thought I say something to him or to his girlfriend but I didn't, we were on our way out anyway. I was with my then girlfriend , it happened so fast, but he pushed me from the back, hard, I did a simple sidekick kick to his face then he just grabbed him from my shirt and I basically did a Steven seagal flip on him and he went down, hit his head on the floor then everyone broke it up. I was scared, but seconds later I was hyped with adrenaline I was ready for him to get up but I put my hands up and left. I got into my car and my hands were shaking...smh...I've never been in a fight like that. And this dude was big guy. I'm 6'1 about 215 I'm not muscular, I'm regular you know.... I'm strong...solid..but it worked my training.. 🙏🏻👍🏻 this guy was like 250 6'3 maybe. Bragging he was this mma champion..🙄 Anyway man..be safe be cool.
@@ProfessorKenneth quite the story, thanks for sharing. I’ve heard similar things from a few seasoned martial artists and the calmness and control is a common vein in all of them, glad it worked out well for you
Aikido and Hapkido are both based off of Daito Ryu jiujitsu. Hapkido incorporates other aspects from other Korean styles that became Taekwondo, which were based off of Chinese hand or ( Kung Fu ) and that's what makes it most effective
I like Hapkido but it is great for performance and film. It has some techniques that are applicable like any martial art, buts it’s very flashy. Learn the basics of MMA(Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) then add Hapkido, Aikido etc. Wesley Snipes is my favorite practitioner by the way 👍
Brian Cottingham great points. For any newcomer I think doing unbiased research first is important in finding what art is right for them. Understand why you’re taking martial arts and what you want to receive from them and go from there
From your understanding of what Hapkido really is I can tell you are not well informed. This may be because of the Mc dojo issue hurting all styles. Every art you have mentioned are pretty much included in traditional Hapkido I have 25 years of training and instructing I also have many years of training in other styles though not jujitsu or muay thai. If you believe Hapkido is for show then you would probably not understand that sports combat arts are a watering of real martial arts, great for comps but crap for real life. Hapkido has no tournaments traditionally the rule is survive without a referee.
@@Sabumnim666 Trust I'm well informed, I've attended seminars I disagree. I believe "combat martial arts", such as the ones I stated are the best styles for modern day fighting and survival. The techniques have proven to work. MMA is the "highest" form of competition/combat. Everything goes except for of course groins shots, eye gouges, etc. People argue that MMA fighters cant fight w/o rules, they don't know how to fight dirty in real situation, but here is the thing, they do and they can do it better than the average joe and a person who studies a "traditional style". Because they actually fight under pressure and there opponent is non-complaint. Hapkido is cool and it has techniques that are useful. I get its a mixture of Taekkyon, Aiki-Jutusu, Judo, and Tang soo Do, so there are similarities to MMA but MMA styles have proven to work.
@@briancottingham1674 No you do not know the history as you have just highlighted. I have many years of training and worked in security and had to deal with quite a few who boasted their prowess most were just that Boast. I am happy for you to attend seminars I am sure you were told a lot.
Came here when I saw that Robert Whittaker had a black belt in Hapkido, and I wanted to understand its purpose. Would have liked some commentary on whether or not Hapkido is used by renowned MMA fighters like Whittaker (an ex UFC Champion) that are well-qualified in it. Has he thrown Hapkido to the wayside and only use his Karate and BJJ? Had he ever blended some Hapkido in his style. If he hasn't I think that would back up the argument in your video.
Did Hapkido for a long time now also train BJJ the two go together extremely well. For me one is the holistic martial art with some use (hapkido) and the other is the one if someone who tries to pick a fight doesn't take my "back away" signals.
WHAT is the name of that form at 2:12. I've been trying to remember how to do it (practiced Hapkido about six years ago) but cannot find a video anywhere on it. I THINK it was Ki Hop Hyung, but I may be misspelling it.
Every where I go to check about martial arts I hear everyone talk about ground fighting, which don’t get me wrong is great knowing how to control a fight from the ground is great. However most of the fights I’ve been in that are real fights have never been one on one it usually been at least two on with me being the one. Not to mention going to the ground when you have two bulging disks is never a good idea. So would people please stop knocking more traditional martial arts by saying mma is all great. MMA is highly effective and Brazilian Jujitsu is great but not everyone can learn it. I need an art that is more standing and focuses less on ground fights.
Good video but I don’t think you addressed the main issue most have with martial arts which is that they often advertise in ways that make it sound like they are really effective when in reality they aren’t and idk if hapkido does this a lot but most places do so I’m just gonna assume that, and after a while a lot of practitioners get arrogant believing themselves to be invincible or at the very least good at fighting when they aren’t and that gets people hurt or worse. I just think martial arts studios should be up front with what they are attempting instead of falsely advertising to appeal to the weak who need actual martial arts and not that, that’s all just pointing that out other than that I mostly agree with your points.
I agree with this. There is a lot of false advertisement out there. There is nothing wrong with teaching other aspects than combat, but lying to your students can put them in danger and it is generally agreed upon across the martial arts world that these schools aren’t legit
I do make an error here explaining the history of Hapkido, stating that its creator, Choi Yong Sool, was influenced by Aikido, when in fact he and the creator of Aikido, Ueshiba Morihei, were both individually influenced in Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu by Takeda Sōkaku.
I gained historical understanding from my Korean grandmaster, which it appears I slightly misunderstood due to the language barrier, and used it here rather than researching further to confirm. I figured personal testimony from a second generation master trumped anything I could get online. It does, as he definitely understands the history completely, but I just misunderstood it, hence the mistake here.
Thanks to all who pointed it out
Hapkido is a good self defense art and its this insane Jujitsu that has it wrong as in a real street fight the last place you want to be is on the ground with an attacker wile his buddies kick your head in see and most scumbags who would attack you seem to have buddies along.I practice Silat but i think learning both Hapkido and Silat would be an awesome combo for self defense.Lastly never feel the need to reduce your arts power just because others dont like it as you and your art are powerful. Those who clime into rings to sport fight rarely can actually fight on the street well but your art was one of the arts that was created for self defense as it should be as martial arts were created for that purpose in the first place including having been a way to train troups in the past.
@@Thes564 Wrestling and Boxing is what you need to learn
@@paolothorpe1461 Wrestling yes but the pro wrestling moves not the high school wrestling were the goal is to pin your opponent.I have the Judo Gene La bell training videos which i have worked over and over again and again plus some Jujitsu however boxing is only good in the ring as it is a sport and in the street you loose that buffer zone that the boxing gloves provide and end up breaking your hand in a real fight.
@@Thes564 dont feel the hand break in a fight due to adrenaline, and if you break your hand then that means you dont know how to punch correctly. Pro Wrestling moves dont work, The F-5, Shooting Star Press, Pedigree and Sweet Chin Music dont work. Double legs, single legs, German Suplexes, are what work
In the 70’s, I took hapkido at school and it included everything, strikes, locks, throw, and grappling. We did three types of sparring . 1. Kicking and punching . 2. Standing grabbing with throws. 2. On the ground grabblng. We also practiced self-defense and rehearsed combinations where we strike vital areas first and run away, or do a joint lock, or a throw and finish off with a stomp.
Ex-cop and Hapkido black belt. Hapkido is a seriously misunderstood art that hides in plain sight. The circular breathing and philosophy kept me centered and stable even in some pretty bad situations. Thank you for the video.
Love this, glad it served you well in your experiences. Thank you for commenting
Where were you a brother in blue ?
Hapkido is q great 👍 art , don't allow somof these bjj and mma zealots tell you different. Hapkido exist for a reason and it's certainly battle proven.
@@markdaniels4178 Totally true! 👍💪
Surprisingly, the Marines martial arts programs relies heavily on Hapkido, as do special forces I've met in combat. Mostly we used it to "man handle" POWs and insurgents that were lighter than us with a full combat load or stronger/bigger than the smallest Marine. In the video he mention spies or secret agents but the truth couldn't be more real.
Ex-bouncer here. Been doing hapkido for 50 years. Seemed to have worked OK for that job. A lot of my students went into the military, police work, or prison guards. Seems to work OK.
Yes, Hapkido is great for police and bouncers who have to handle drunks and gangsters. My Korean master instructor trained the Wellington Police and Wellington Prisons Officers. In New Zealand, the policemen and prisons officers are educated up to university levels.
Maybe more suitable for close contact
TheAnonyy yes and I agree and I use my taekwondo for my distance
lmao we had a dude that does hapkido come to our bjj gym, he was into crossfit too he was quite swole and had about 30lb on me, he lasted about 2 minutes and had to tap to being pressured from mount, and im a white belt approaching blue
chen Wang lol, then he's probably not a real hapkidoist then since jiujitsu is part of the Hapkido curriculum lol
I studied Tang Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, and Hapkido and Hapkido was, by far, the most useful. It helped me to control situations where I needed to defend myself but didn't want to hurt my attacker. Mostly with drunk people at bars. It may also have saved my life when someone put a gun to my head in an attempt to rob me. Training kicked in and without thought I disarmed him just before the gun was at my head. I don't know if he would have shot me but he sure was trying to rob me. Having the ability and training to defend yourself without causing serious damage to the person you are defending against has been invaluable. For certain people, like working at a bar, a prison, police, and military I can't recommend it enough. From what I've seen it is modern, flexible, and willing to adopt new techniques if they prove to be effective.
I’ve heard many stories like you’re and I’m grateful to know your training has served you beneficially. Those sound like some of the most extreme situations we can experience. I agree on the Hapkido front, as a younger person I enjoyed the TKD aspects of the art I learned, but as I got older I gravitated more and more to the teachings of HKD. Yes, for the practicality in the self defense techniques but also all of the intangibles I think that come with the art in general
@@MattHinkamp Thanks, I'm enjoying your videos and look forward to more.
Why was it useful? Did you ask your enemies to attack you in slow motion?
Holy shit I've done those exact three in that order! Hapkido was also my favorite! (:
I would argue, based on your efforts, that we could all evolve with this defense method. Thank you for validating my years long study of what might suit me - hurrah to you!
I spent time in Korea, the way they teach there is more dynamic, as far as almost everyone had military training. Many people in my dojang were police, military or pro fighters and bodyguards. A few injuries, but training was serious. The attitude was very traditional. Respect was number 1. Belts were not so important, but your age and knowledge were used to improve every class. I think the main point wasn't money. Sometimes the head teacher would drill you do hard a couple of days. Then call you to the front the third day and call everyone to attention, then award you a belt. Usually to claps and tears of joy. The higher students really helped the lower students, like a big extended family. Even me, a Migook Saddam (Foreigner) Thank you all my Hung Nim (Big Brothers) in Korea. You are great people.
@MattHinkamp Great explanation! I was once a student of Hapkido as a teenager. Didn’t last long (only a yellow belt), but it made an impression on me enough to start studying Aikido in my 30’s. I enjoy the variety of resources on the internet and you have now become one of mine! 😃. Thanks for sharing and posting!
All Hapkido I've ever studied or taught has crossed into groundwork and striking, it ultimately comes down to the teacher and style that you study under, I also study BJJ and have done Boxing and kickboxing, but Hapkido is very diverse and really depends on who you train with and what not
It’s an art that has become so separate across federations, that sometimes the only thing that one Hapkido school shares with another is the name of the art. Of course, I can only speak from the schools and instructors I’ve experienced, what’s important is finding an instructor and school that gel with your interests and focuses in martial arts
the same is very similar to what I experience in capoeira
Indeed my father trained with a teacher who taught alot of striking with elbows and high kicks favoured
I was gonna say if you want to do one on one try the other disciplines but if you want to try 10 on one try Hapkido
There was an amazing amount of striking and grappling in Won Mu Hapkido.
Yes you're right, Hapkido has just as much ground work as flowing and locking techniques, going to the ground we use all kinds of arm bar and leg, knee chokes etc techniques. Our grandmaster emphasizes that we know all anatomy and joint Locks for that as well as soft spots for attack if need be.
Yep. There are literally thousands of techniques. Striking, kicking, joint locks of all kinds similar or identical to jujitsu, because it is Aiki Jujitsu, plus Korean style kicks:) its a very powerful and versatile traditional martial art.
michael myers yes it is, totally agree !!
@@milrlite2482 Also I need to mention that I when I fall, I used the judo way to fall. When I was taking Hapkido, the mat won 100% of the time, I remember the pain and I think I developed arthritis of the elbow, should ers and fingers. its a good think the instructor left after a year. His construction job was over in our area.
@SupremeEgyptianGodsman I agree with you. I read the history of Hapkido according tot he some Aikido organization, In this article, it stated that the founder , Choi stayed with Soke Takeda and his classmate was O sensei. I related this article to my Japanese Aikido sensei he looked at me. He said to me with a cold mean stare.. i thought he was going to execute 1st to 5th movement in rapid succession. I had to apologize. I see what you mean. I think Aikijujistu is more of a combat involve from what I remember in a couple of demonstration in the '70's.
I am a first degree black belt in hapkido I have trained in hapkido for 4 years until I left my hapkido school because I wanted to train in something else which I am currently In muay thai and brazilian jiu jitsu but I still use hapkido while I am sparring in muay thai well just the kicks from hapkido I use while I am sparring I gotta admit I miss training in hapkido full time but my hapkido master passed away a few months ago but I have decided I will start back teaching hapkido when I have some time when I am not training in muay thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu.
Nothing wrong with expanding your horizons! Good luck
So only the kicks are good?
@@thememaster7 hapkido is an wonderful art to learn the only reason why I only use the kicks from hapkido because I can't use hapkido fully in muay thai for example spear hand strikes are illegal in muay thai,small joint manipulation is illegal in muay thai and a few other techniques the only thing I can use from hapkido into muay thai while sparring is the kicks
@@HybridMMAExtreme Are spear hand strikes illegal in mma?
@@thememaster7 yes spear hand strikes very illegal in mma
Matt, i study uechi ryu an okinawan style of karate . This style isnt massively popular either because we dont focus on flashy kicks and compete . I really appreciate your remarks on studying an art because you enjoy it and it enhances your community. It is great to have holistic approach and be humble like that . Great video!!
Thanks for the comment!
That is a hard style of karate. Personally I think it’s one of the more effective MA. I trained in Goju then moved to Wado and transitioning from a hard style MA to one that uses more tai sabaki was a real change. But I did find Wado more practical and worked better for me so I stick with it for 8 years. Achilles injury took me out of it unfortunately. But I’m healed now and I’m really interested in Hapkido (wanted to learned Judo but I’ve read there are lots of injuries associated with that and I’m in my 50s now).
I have only recently started studying Hapkido. I've trained in other arts, principally Jiu Jitsu, Shorei Ryu Karate, and Muay Thai. But I've also dabbled with a handful of others including Shotokan, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, and Systema.
I've worked in both law enforcement and tactical security. When thinking about getting back into martial arts, I started to think critically about each of the times that I've had to go hands on with someone in real life. I came to the realization that in every physical encounter I've been in, not once did I kick or strike anyone. Every time it was about gaining control and compliance of the other person.
When I came to that realization, I asked my self if that's the case, then I why am I studying strike based martial arts? What I need is something more grappling based. Likewise, I have never used any of the jiu jitsu I've learned in a real confrontation. It was always grab an arm/hand and get control. It is for these reasons that I have decided to look more closely at Hapkido.
thank you
in Dojunim Ji Han Jae's lineage of hapkido (the one that is most spread all over the world) there actually is a large enfasis on striking( punching, kicking, elbows, knees, everything)
Sin Moo Hapkido do a lot of striking, low or close to the ground attack kicking techniques. I think there are almost 5k techniques from white white belt Gup to 8th Dan. Not to mention some weapons.
This! I studied hapkido from 8-15 years old. Acquiring my red belt just before highschool. Most of our lower belts were stand up grappling for pressure points and locks, kicks,punches, stretches. We stretched 2-3 times per class.
Once I made green belt we started adding strikes to the ends of our defensive grabs and throws. Brown belt was awesome. Learned a ton of body throws and momentum throws with an emphasis on kicking power. I vividely remember that belt. It was so fun.
This was all 20+ years ago. Our instructor was a Vietnam vet army ranger.
The Hapkido dojang where I tried had a great emphasis on strikes and our grappling was on par with various BJJ students who visited. However, I've since found that curriculum varies greatly from one Hapkido school to another.
Hapkido has become one of the most variant arts because we never had a centralized federation or association. The original masters kind of just took the basic techniques and made them into their own styles, emphasizing different things from school to school. Whereas, in BJJ for instance, you can pretty much bounce from gym to gym and know what you’re gonna get
I agree with your comment. It is rather unpopular because of the painful locks. My master instructor was 7 th Dan Hapkido and 7 th Dan Taekwondo and ex- captain in South Korean First Airborne Brigade. He taught the police and prison officers and it worked fine. His style had almost no forms and little sparring. These are the weaknesses - lack of sparring. Maybe it was too dangerous to spar.
@@supershooter20 we didn't have forms either, but we sparred almost every class. We did striking-only sparring, grappling only, strikes with takedowns and/or full striking and grappling combined, depending on the focus of that class.
I do both but they have different purposes in my life, I like slotting some bjj techniques into my Hapkido practice because at the end of the day if it comes to a situation where I have to use it, I will use all the resources I have available to me.
i have been teaching Hapkido for 41 years and that had been a problem all along.
I studied hapkido for over four years. In my experience it is completely different to aikido. There was both striking and grappling. It was one of the hardest martial arts for me to learn because there was so much content.
Something I find good about Hapkido is it’s variety from school to school. With no central governing, federations split off and focused on what they were interested in. It does create for a bit of a mess sometimes, but you also get the benefit of finding schools that specialize in certain things
Exactly Hapkido techniques are so hard and we have striking and defense and grappling and we have swords knifes its literally alot of techniques
Dojunim Choi Yong Sul was not influenced by Aikido. He developped Hapkido( or Hapkiyukwonsul ) based on the Daito Ryu Aiki Jujutsu he had learned with Takeda Sokaku Sensei ( who tautht O Sensei Ueshiba Morihei too, founder of Aiikido ).
Correct it is just debated what he learned directly, what he watched and what he improvised as Takeda didn't award him any teaching license or acknowledge him as a direct student in his lineage. It's all up for debate and no one really knows the answer other than he was around Takeda a lot.
I study WT TKD. Your video has sent an excellent message for all Traditional Martial Arts. Thank you!
Alan Hayes thanks for watching! I made a video on TKD as well, since I study both arts
Been training hapkido and kuk sool for long time and found your videos just recently have to say I really enjoyed them ,like the way you look and talk about hapkido,
Practiced with Judo and Tao Kwon Do . Kicking and Grappling mixed with it helps it to become a better all around self defense program. Called Hwa Rang Do. It is a Korean art also. I liked Hapkido and Judo because the attacker has to come to you .Add low kicks or leg sweeps .
That 3 to 5 feet boundry really helps better with self defense. Some street fights go to the ground within 20-30 seconds for the most part. You can also throw one attacker into another once their lined up. It is easier to use their body weight against the other . More power than a punch by most people.
I think Hapkido is an excellent martial art! I have been practicing martial arts for about 55 years (mostly Kung Fu based) and have been an instructor since 1982. My focus (from a physical perspective) is on practical self defense, however I think that ultimately the point of martial arts training is to make a better person, not a better "fighter".
This is a great way to go about it, thank you for sharing your perspective
I have a huge turn around in my regards to Hapkido. I practiced this for some years and thought it unpractical to a real street fight. But realistically, all the elements to survive an encounter are there in Hapkido. It is a truly beautiful art.
The biggest take away I got from your video is how you are open to everything, I wish more people had your mindset.
Thank you for saying that. When you claim to know or understand something, your mind subconsciously shuts the door on it to an extent. I will never be the greatest martial artist, fighter, or philosopher, but I can make it my goal to learn something each day and be satisfied with that
Hapkido has Aikijujutsu origins in common with Aikido but is not at all like Aikido. I am 60 and spent my life as a bouncer, bodyguard and have all but lived in hard bars and clubs. My Hapkido has served me very well.
Your explanations are sensible, modest, and grounded, and you don’t exaggerate and talk about the benefits rather than aggression l. Thus is a sound and great approach.
So much depends on the teacher. I’ve seen so many videos of various style black belts that are so lazy in form. My old Moo Du Kwan teacher wouldn’t let anyone get away with poor technique. My later Aikido teacher was focused very much on practicality, and indeed, I was once grabbed from behind and the attacker ended up on his back in front of me. I barely knew what I was doing. My short time with Hapkido was also practical and rewarding.
Absolutely. It’s all about finding a good school and instructor...it’s cool how it becomes instinct after enough practice, and it bypasses your need to critically think first, which can save those few split seconds that could mean danger vs safety
I trained in HKD for over 11 years, and yes there is a view that groundwork is a weak point, and is one of the reasons I left HKD, but upon learning groundwork I began to realise a few things, blending with your opponent, and redirecting your opponents energy along with circular movement are the basics for groundwork too, once understood, you will be amazed at how many HKD techniques you can fit into ground work. If you are contemplating ground work, take some lessons in a ground art along side your HKD, once the basics are learnt and put it into practice, you will find its not an alternative to Hapkido, but an extension. @ Leo Parafuso , good luck on your Hapkido journey, it will be a blast, trust me.
Peter Ingram it’s true. Technique is technique! I encourage anyone and everyone to branch our and take the best aspects from as many arts as they can. Avoiding narrow-minded approaches is the best way to not let something blind you and give you the wrong kind of bias
I found one tool that helps my ground game and that is called shredding....it counters all grappling situations immediately as you steal your opponents consciousness while performing an overwhelming attack on their face, eyes, throat, and head. And best of all it fits into Hapkido's self defense aspects as we are not training to roll around with an opponent like in sport. We are wanting to finish the fight quickly.
@@iammichael1094 hmm, nothing like a fool proof plan.
it all comes from jiu jitsu, so it makes sense.
After reading this i feel like a solid well instructed Japanese Jujutsu would x all the boxes that hapkido misses the mark on when it comes to ground work
Worked for me when I needed it. Studied it from 1988 till 1998 , then found Gracie jiu jitsu
Hmmm.. What I learned from Hap Ki Do was primarily about wrist manipulation. From there, arm locks and takedowns were accomplished. It served me well working as a door man in a few establishments by escorting troublemakers out on their tip toes. I'm also trained in Boxing, Muay Thai, and BJJ and have used it coupled with BJJ to aid in escaping holds, along with getting holds.
The way you train and teach your students will dictate how well they actually apply there techniques. I've studied hapkido my entire life. Second generation practitioner. My father was army special forces and taught hand to hand combat to green barets. I have used my hapkido in real fights threwout my life and had no problem winning or just easily defending myself without fighting . When I teach my student I give them realistic approach to what there learning and as long as you incorporate, bag work, sparring and good combinations to your training as well as conditioning and hard sparring they will learn what they can apply fairly easily. You only need a hand full of grappling techniques to get back to your feet. have the students roll as part of sparring. Sparring sessions should be wrestling/grappling no strikes. Stand up no grappling. Then one person attacks the other defends with grappling and switch. Then a free for all. The students will get so much better this way. Sparring is a tool not a game of tag. I have several experiences where my students had to stand up for themselves and used techniques i taught them. Hapkido is a great style to learn it falls in the teachers hands as far as how useful it will be to the students!
This is all good insight. Thank you for watching
@@MattHinkamp Re: Mr. Anthony Rogers remark about self defense , that's the definition of self defense that I'm speaking about . Mr. Rogers articulated what true self defense is really all about .
I was gonna say if you want to do one on one try the other disciplines but if you want to try 10 on one try Hapkido
I have been learning Hapkido for a very long time, started with an uncle at Five and I’m thirty seven now. Hapkido has served me well many times over the years. And while I’ve used it for self defense, I can boast that a majority of those who considered me enemy now call me friend and brother. Keep training ❤
The dojan im frequently training, we do a lot of boxing and ground practice. It's very cool
Glad you found a place you enjoy training at!
@@MattHinkamp Not alot of striking that's not true Hapkido uses the unarmed moves of Aikido,Judo,Jujitsu and the different styles of Karate and used the moves of Kendo and weapon moves of Aikido for example every move that's in Taekwondo I's in Hapkido.
@@kellersmith1917 I realize that my wording on that is misleading. What I mean when I compare striking in Hapkido to the MMA for instance, is that the endgame ideally when using Hapkido is harmony, and a safe immobilization without injuring the attacker or defender. When that isn’t possible, of course we resort to the more dangerous strikes that we train. Hope this clears things up
@@MattHinkamp You also stated that it was not for military combat etc. That is also not true it is the main form of hand to hand combat for Korean marines. Every Korean male is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido and it is used in warfare. It is used to break multiple joints along legs and arms with hand and leg techniques and to provide killing blows. It has 575 moves in it and as stated above is made up of all of the Tae Kwon Do moves for the striking which only covers roughly half of its moves. It goes into defending / disarming knifes, guns, and their use in close combat. There is even an entire area of fighting with an old man's cane. This form of fighting is mostly for war and killing your opponent. It is not going to be something you can really use in MMA.
@@natenesler5028 context is important here. I said we are not sending people to war and developing secret agents to fight in the streets. Sure, there is use for this art in military combat training, but the vast majority of people who join martial arts do not take it to war or join any military program. Most of us take it as an activity or lifestyle. Also, in today’s world, with advanced weaponry and tactics, hand to hand combat in war is few and far between compared to when these techniques were founded
I just signed up for hapkido, wish me luck. Great video by the way and also, will you be making more hapkido videos? If so I will subscribe
Yes, I make videos on Taekwondo and Hapkido, the arts I study and teach. Thanks for the comment and good luck training
I trained in Hapkido. I had lots of fun. Don't get me wrong it's hard work but it is fun
CHARLES REIMER Great thoughts!
I must have taken a different Hapkido, we did a lot of kicking, punching and ground fighting. There were def complex forms and a lot of wrist work and throws. I thought it was well rounded.
Hapkido is a viable effective martial art. IMO it is a very well rounded martial art incorporating punches, kicks, locks, throws, grappling, and forms. The forms are not widely known, or taught unfortunately. There is practical bunhae, and muscle memory training in them. Anyone who says Hapkido is useless should explore the art more in depth. IMO the modernization, and amalgamation of Korean martial arts has left many concepts, and techniques lost to the sands of time. I can understand why many Korean martial arts seem fragmented, and incomplete to the uninitiated.
Certainly! Lots of people judge books by their covers, my goal with this channel is bringing more separate mindsets in martial arts to common ground
Those who criticize Hapkido nd Aikido should learn and understand these Arts. These 2 arts have much to offer just have patience nd keep an open mind
Hapkido is practised for self-defense not sport. It can be very painful and harmful if not practised properly. A lot of demonstrated Hapkido is for show only and in training sessions, you don't see it at all! Too many people think MMA is the ultimate but it is still a competition, even sport. I am speaking as a black belt in judo and Taekwondo spending a total of some 8 years training under Japanese and Korean masters sent to train the military and police force (no, these trainees do not have port bellies like the ones in the US). I also trained in Hapkido , Shaolin Temple boxing (5 Ancestors style) and spent short stints training in Praying Mantis Kung-fu and Taichi-chuan.
Hapkido is more effective than aikido
Aikido can work effectively as well, if you know how to use it. I like both of them and Tai Che. They're work great together.
Hapkido takes more power while aikido takes more precision pon your timing and interceptions
@Chuck Mos It's not that difficult to tell if the martial art failed or the martial artist when you've got a few months experience in it.
@Chuck Mos The problem with that definition is now it's subjective to who's learned it. But if you insist on thinking this way, there's nothing I can do.
@@DJKID777 Where are the Aikido or Tai Chi masters in high level MMA? There are Nak muays, judokas, BJJ/sambo/karate/TKD practitioners, wrestlers, boxers/kickboxers etc who do extremely well. Oh right, because those fighting systems actually implement practical techniques.
Very well put together video Matt. You have opened my eyes to a new form of martial arts that will no doubt set me on a virtuous path of self discipline and righteousness. Thank you
This means a lot Stephen. Thanks. Wanna go to Iceland?
Hapkido is great, comprehensive martial art, do judo and taekwondo sports for combat experience, and practice the dangerously effective techniques carefully with a good partner or you will have injuries. I have always described Hapkido as taekwondo and judo plus lots more
Yes I do love the hybrid style of Hapkido. I think nowadays a lot of the arts mesh more together as people take the best aspects of each, but I like how HKD was pretty much that way from the start, even though it is still a relatively young art. Thanks for the insight sir
this video was beautiful good job brother
I trained Hapkido as a minor to my Tae Kwon Do training years ago. It's a nice additive to any martial art.
I agree. They work very well in conjunction
Hapkido has served. Me well as a bouncer and several street attacks. It is VERY practical
Respect. 2:40 "The purpose of a martial artists shouldn't be how can I use this negatively against my opponents, but rather how can I use this positively for myself and those around me"
I like hapkido.. Its a very well rounded discipline.. Where most emphasize on 1 dimensions of fighting.. If I were to take any of the disciplines Ive learned.. Id start with western boxing.. Then BJJ.. And Hapkido to round it all out, Hapkido truly encompasses it all. encompasses everything..
Great way to think about it. Yes, every art has its strengths it can offer to practitioners
Boxing is actually a really good one to learn even if you suck at striking. Being able to slip a punch and have great footwork will set up all sorts of options. Like a kick. A kick so hard even if the person tries to grab it their arm breaks.
When I started taking BJJ, I won a few matches by using hapkido techniques until I was asked not to. They do work in certain situations.
Do you feel it works better than bjj? Or is it best to combine them?
@@mattr.1887 Best to combine. They're both useful in particular circumstances. As a stand alone thing, BJJ is probably better. Hapkido is more like salt is to food--it's not something you would use by itself; it's just something to enhance what you already have. The only situation I can think of outside of an all out fight where Hapkido might be helpful is if somebody grabs you in an unwelcome way.
Hapkido, the traditional style taught in Korea, or in America by Master Bong Soo Han, is one of the most complete Martial Arts.
It is effective in all forms. Striking, Kicks, Punches, throws, and the ground.
One of the big mistakes is people talk about when the fight goes to the ground. BJJ usually starts on the ground. If you have average take down defense, which you can learn in a few months of training, BJJ becomes ineffective.
In most traditional Hapkido DoJangs, the ground element is taught much later. Since the majority of life is spent on your feet. So to cultivate a ground posture is ineffective and increases the risk of injury.
Thank you for the good content.
Appreciate the perspective. I believe that you can always become more well rounded, and use other arts to supplement your knowledge, but there is never an endpoint. As with any subject, we can never learn everything, we can only approach completion. Thanks for the comment
I have the greatest respect for all martial Arts. They all have their limitations because the students have limitations in time, age, physical capabilities. Thank you for responding.
Every BJJ match starts on the feet, and they do teach takedowns. The places I trained at didn't spar on the feet, I think this is a mistake. I'm saying you are partially correct.
@@camb7683 I'm referring more to the posture used in grappling and BJJ. The posture is already broken and hunched over. Because the goal is to go to the ground to take the fight to the ground. Bjj doesn't have a goal to keep a fight standing. But, if they do add standing components, it's not bjj anymore, so I get the desire not to add it.
All martial Arts are effective on their own terms and should not be forced top add all other aspects. Mma is more for the purpose of sport than it is an art.
@@fearlessway I disagree with you on MMA , it is the closest thing you will get to a legal street fight. I dont know enough about Hapkido to comment on it but it sounds like mma to me
Hapkido is a great traditional martial art. As good as any other. I no long study Hapkido, but I have been kickboxing for decades now, and I feel that Hapkido has many practical and useful applications for competitions or bartenders/bouncers. I have been doing so since the late 80’s and just worked last night. You can’t, and don’t want to, hit people, or injure them in anyway. You just want to solve a situation. Hapkido does offer tremendously fabulous kicks, as well as nice judo type throws. I can’t use those at all in my work, but it has applications at my small kickboxing club. But, the self defense part of Hapkido works very well for situations where you don’t want to severely injure people, but must stop them.
Exactly. The goal is keeping everyone safe, even the aggressor, unless there are absolutely no other possible outcomes. Then you have to resort to more dangerous force
Based on your video, if the goal is being active for health while doing a fun activity, Hapkido could be your thing. In terms of fighting, maybe Hapkido can help during clinching which can lead to a takedown. It's not a recommended base discipline for MMA, but it would be nice to see which moves can be used for MMA.
I took combat hapkido for 2 years..way back 24 years ago, and as you say, I have found the foundational movements and use of leverage and footwork have aided me even this far out from the training, I never stopped studying various arts but that is my foundation. Now I want to a actually train in jujitsu and kick boxing with a mma instructor,.he also teaches hapkido so he knows where I come from. Should be fun.
Awesome! To me a blend of everything is the way to go!! Thanks for the comment
I started in combat hapkido 26yrs ago, we transitioned and evolved into practical hapkido. I absolutely love the practicality of our hapkido n how its evolved, recieving my masters a couple yrs ago n i still continue my journey,
Best description of the benefits most TMA can bring to one’s life. The critics only possible valid point is how these TMA are marketed to attract new members- quite a few clubs I’ve trained in had that “you will be able to use this practically” credo. I wish more TMA clubs would try to advertise with all of the real benefits their styles can have on members. This would also weed out those who would seek more competition combat styles as well. Great video!
Yeah, I feel you. In the states it seems to appeal better to people when you advertise the more superficial and flashy things an art has to offer, which is a side effect of modernization
@@MattHinkamp Do you think Hapkido is ok for a mid 50s guy coming from 8 years of Wado Ryu? The club I trained at closed and I'm looking for something that would continue the line of close contact MA and joint locks/throws, etc. I'm just a little worried about the high kicks. That is not my forte any more (not that limber at this age)
@@soundtreks i definitely think so. Every school is different but if you have a conversation with the instructor first they should be more than willing to accommodate your interests. Any good school is willing to adapt to any person who walks through the door. Good luck in your search
I really respect the message in all of the videos I’ve seen by you. A lot of people however seem to get sucked into the romance of martial arts without remembering the practical applicable correlation in the modern day. Pure focus on one style can be for 100 different reasons, right down to just using it to bring positive action to other areas of your life, discipline and fitness, for example. You can also take a small effective fraction from 100 different styles, forms and martial arts and free flow them into a lucid form of combat. And that’s what’s beautiful about MMA. Nothing is fixed, no style is better or worse in martial arts, everything is looked at with practical eyesight. This whole style may not work today… however, this move is undeniable, what if I blended it with this move from this other martial art… people that think MMA is it’s complete own thing don’t see things like Tony Ferguson use Wing Chun to create split second, muscle memory, in the pocket offensive decisions with an elbow over the top or Lyoto Machida literally issuing the karate kid crane kick for a flash knockout. Traditional martial arts are everywhere in MMA, including the weird ones that loads of people doubt because overall as 1 style it isn’t as impressive. Bruce Lee was on to something with his original idea for Jeet Kune Do.
1:58
...from this position, a simple twist of his waist is a joint dislocation to the elbow. Notice the Grand-Master secure "absolute wristlock death" position...a sure spiral fracture, before even showing the next technique. This is the essence of the craft...chess vs. checkers. Deep truth hidden in plain sight.
For those who know, and as the creator implies...studying Hapkido; once you understand that one must "strike to twist and twist to strike"...negotiating the harmony of hard and soft energy and style is a paradigm shift.
Actually hapkido is the martial art of the South Korean army so they seem to believe there's some practicality in it
Good message and presentation. Very respectable. I like how this separates those who want to learn the art as a way of well rounding the self, vs using the art in conjunction with being a "fighter".
I see the two things as very separate. Otherwise, martial arts would only be viable for a very small percentage of the population. Today we have many other reasons to practice it. Thank you for watching and commenting
Thank you.
I got my BB through the IHF. The 1st Dan was basically for self-defense, while the 2nd Dan was more a combat style where you were trained to start and win a fight, and the 3rd Dan was for weapons training with the primary weapon being a sword much like the Japanese katana. From my experience, I agree that the training varies from dojang to dojang. The master in our school, Master Jin-O Kang, said that HPKD was a foundation on which you built. Many graduates of the school went on to Muay Thai, Judo, BJJ, or MMA training. I was very happy with the training I got and the good people I met along with the excellent instructors. On average, the 1st Dan would take 4.5 to 10 years to complete; the 2nd, 2+ years; and the 3rd, 5+ years of training.
Do what ever you enjoy because you will more than likely never need to use it in the street. Just being in good condition with decent flexibility gives you an edge anyway.
Great video bro im training in Hapkido rt now under 3 different organizations. I like it a lot... I know how to fight. But I'd rather not if I don't need too.
3rd degree blk blt bjj
3rd dan blk blt ashihara karate
Student in: CSW, Arnis, WC, MT, and H.E.M.A.
Amazing! You certainly have your bases covered...I appreciate you watching. I’ve done a small amount of BJJ and would like to dabble in it more
I disagree with you about Hapkido Striking range for it trains you strike at points that will destroy movement. I been practicing Hapkido since the 1970s and learned more deadly strikes then any other art I have seen. My instructor had ways of striking in fact white Balt basic your learn 15 strikes off punch. Each strike deliver right will hurt if not stop the fight or kill,
I learn so many strikes at points on the body to setup for throw. Pain is center for hapkido. I did learn lot of ground attacks but it illegal in the sports. Like judo blocks in Hapkido are NOT legal it stop judo since is sport. I have the greatest respect for MMA training and fightering but they are limited where lo strike. They have rules hapkido does not. MMA has rule to prevent taking out a knee. Hapkido has so many strikes and in different ways. Keep up the review..
My Korean TKD instructor taught me some Hapkido the joint locks are no joke you either submit or stuff breaks, a great art when combined with others.
I have trained in hap ki do andnit helped me prevent someone from pick pocketing me in Rio Dijanrio Brasil. The wrist grab allowed me to control the situation without harming the person while I was able to get away ..
It works just fine for me.
I have studied Tae Kwon do, mua Thai and kick boxing and hap ki do I find is practical and my favorite
I've done hapkido for almost 3 years now and the owner has 2 other schools... each school teaches it different, mine does judo and hapkido so we do a lot of grappling and such, the other teaches hapkido and I believe kick boxing so ofc they focus on striking... hapkido is an amazing martial art if you do pressure testing and sparring, like wing chun it improves other things as well!
Sounds like you found a good place to train. You can integrate so many arts even though you’re technically practicing just one, and I think that’s necessary to work on being a complete martial artist
The main thing I have learned thus far in my almost one full year of Hapkido is that it has one main purpose--to survive and hopefully win a fight after trying unsuccessfully to avoid it. There is no competition type attacks taught, no kata, no illegal moves. Hapkido is about doing as much damage as necessary to incapacitate, disarm, or escape an attacker. Some of it I would NEVER deploy in a street fight! Mainly the complicated wrist locks etc. Those are for a subdued opponent who is no longer attacking. They look cool and impressive in a controlled environment with a docile training partner but my feeling is they would get you destroyed on the street because there is such a small margin for error. Hapkido teaches old school stuff like taking out the knees, eye gouges, throat punches, kicks to the groin, fist to the solar plexus etc. Most people can do those things--Hapkido teaches you to do them even better!
I agree, there is more to martial arts than self defense. But, HKD is practical for self defense. I train with a bodyguard who owns his own agency. I asked him about ground fighting in HKD. He asked me who is protecting his client when he's on the ground and who is protecting him from his opponent's friend while he grapples his opponent. He uses the locks to break joints fast and moves on. Likewise, I know a bouncer who swears by HKD.
Yes, the game changes entirely when things go to the ground, especially when multiple people are involved
There is no comprehensive martial art that covers every scenario.
As a physical therapist, I’ve learned A LOT about human anatomy and biomechanics. I know how the body is supposed to move, and how it’s NOT supposed to move. Hapkido takes those vulnerable positions of joints to gain literal leverage over another person with minimal force.
It’s as simple as opening a door. Are you going to push a swinging door open as close to the hinges as possible? Or near the outside opposite the hinges? The answer is opposite of the hinges because that’s where you generate the most torque, with the least amount of force. This is the basis for hapkido, and throwing a body, restraining, or gaining the upper hand in a fight comes from understanding where you are in space and where your target is in space.
The best way to deal with a fight you can’t run away from, is by knowing how to keep distance with strikes, but also knowing how to move another person’s body with ease when they come in close.
In case you think people in training are over exaggerating when they flip a body, look up the golgi tendon organ reflex and the muscle spindle reflex.
These 2 reflexes are things that you have no control over, and occur when a muscle is stretched too much, or a muscle’s tendon becomes suddenly stretched near it’s limit. Your body will reflexively relax the antagonist muscle to allow the muscle or tendon being stretched to relax, because your bicep can’t perform a curl unless the tricep relaxes the same amount. When this reflex is forcefully caused in a person’s joint, the body will do whatever it can to prevent muscles or tendons from tearing, and the jump is what the body ends up doing to prevent that from happening, as well as preventing joints from dislocating or bones breaking.
Thank you for providing some extremely in-depth and educated insight, with tangible examples. I appreciate your way of explaining technique using your medical background. I find myself noticing things about the body, but my education is in engineering, not medical, so sometimes I struggle to put into words what I see and feel happening. You’ll find me explaining something and saying “the body doesn’t like when you do this to it. Why? Not sure, I’m not a doctor 😆”
@@MattHinkamp Our bodies are basically machines, and muscles are the ropes that are connected to bones and along those paths are multiple pulleys.
If you think about the bicep, it goes from (generally) the shoulder to your forearm. When you curl a 15lb dumbbell, the bicep pulls on the forearm, with a fulcrum being essentially your elbow. Think about how strong your bicep is to pull on a lever, where the bicep pulls on the bone being only a few inches away from the fulcrum and the dumbbell you're lifting is around 30 inches away.
It puts into perspective how much force muscles can contract with to perform daily functions. And 15lbs is light weight considering a gallon of milk is 5lbs.
@@rickymohar5016 great perspective. Thanks again
I'm remembering a scene from a movie called "They Call Me Bruce" which is a parody of martial arts movie. I didn't see the movie entirely, but the scene I'm recalling is how the character talks his way out of a fight with other martial artists. This a lot harder than fighting at times. Incidentally I recall a video from Scholagladiatoria where he points out in incidents where a fight goes to the ground, to which he describes reports in that regard, where fights go to the ground, and the opposition's friends step in and attack the other fighter on the ground. So as realistic as it might that the fight will go to the ground, it also realistic that someone is going to step and attack the other person.
Good information! I came across this video while searching UA-cam. I was curious if there is a practical self-defense that you do suggest?
Hapkido is fine for self-defense. It is a viable fighting art. No, your opponent in an actual fight isn't going to allow any techniques to be done on them. Pressure testing your skills is important.
Absolutely. You can train a single technique dozens of times with no resistance and develop confidence in it, only to not be able to do it anymore as soon as the opponent tries to get out of it. But as you practice with resistance (pressure testing) you find your own solutions to make the technique still work depending on what the opponent gives you. But having that compliant practice to start with is important in building the foundation of knowing why your end goal is supposed to be
@@MattHinkamp Thats why you have to punch to a vital point first to break the resist, then you can do your joints.
I studied all the way up to 3rd degree blackbelt level Hapkido. I have used it more times than I can count. From Hapkido, I went on to learn some Tae Kwon Do and Aikido as well as some Judo and Jiujitsu and various weapons training. I love Hapkido though. I’ll always have my base in Hapkido as something close to my heart.
I trained in Hapkido for 5 years. I agree with everything in you video.
I started practicing Sin Moo Hapkido when I was younger, after moving to other city, where I currently live, I've been practicing Combat Hapkido and the difference between those two are that there are no flashy kicks or other flashy movements in Combat Hapkido, just straight self defence, which I like more since I don't really like jumping kicks (reason for that is I'm not young anymore :D )
however, I loved Sin Moo Hapkido, it was basically karate combined with bjj and judo, even tho I've never practiced judo or bjj before but I have some experience with karate.
It's honestly good stuff, it depends on how you practice.
Not sure what Hapkido you've been studying but back in the day before BJJ and mma came along it was a force to be reckoned with. Plenty of strikes and Grappling was on par with Judo. On top of that Taekwondo practioners would often study Hapkido to compliment there training. Phillip Rhee from best of the best and Wang In-Sik from way of the dragon and the young master. Are both notable practioners. The art was always sound.
ua-cam.com/video/QKfLl2Cc7Fk/v-deo.html - Hapkido Tournament 70-80s Part 1
ua-cam.com/video/zGp4CRKO4g4/v-deo.html - Hapkido Tournament 70-80s Part 2
Practice hapkido techniques skills next level hapkido
I am thrice removed from the founder Choi Dojunim. My teacher's teacher always said you must train Judo simultaneously with HKD to make it effective. I must add our HKD is striker heavy and we always spend time doing all three levels, ground and stand up grappling and striking as taught to us. This makes it a very effective system.
Those two arts are such a great pairing
Never studied hapkido, wish I did. Because it empathizes self defense first & how to fall correctly. Not all fights have to end up in mma match. I studied basic Japan karate and that totally sucked! The self defense moves were so none practical. Wish I could go back in time & have studied hapkido. 👍
Dj Roly G. Every art brings something different to the table. The key is finding the one that best suits your interests. And the good news is there are no laws against dabbling into other arts and taking the best aspects from each
Dj Roly G. We have an 84 year old professor of philosophy from MacMaster University, it's not late at all. Hapkido, be water my friend and add these tools to your toolbox of martial arts !!
@@MattHinkamp Thank you for mentioning it. Every art is significant & has something to offer. There really ia no such as a superior martial as each art conquers on another just like the natural elements of the world (Water, fire, earth, etc).
@@cesarcanete3402 also important to note that some arts favor certain personality types and natural skill sets over others. So there is no way to make a blanket statement on which is “best” without taking the individual into consideration
The frank introspection and circumspection are profound. How many practitioners of their respective styles mention the weaknesses in their chosen art? I haven't heard a single one until now. In stark contrast, they argue how their art is effective in all situations, against all opponents, against all styles.
I believe there is an ethos and a pedagogy in many Hapkido schools that is unique from Japanese and Chinese styles. The focus is not about the perfect spacing of feet in a stance or the angle and placement of a strike. There is no exhaustive taxonomy of techniques and their many variations. For those interested in these things, karate would be the art that would embody these characteristics.
While the instruction seems less exact and more free flowing, the Hapkido practitioner's body eventually learns. Since there is no single accepted technique, no sacred canon of appropriate execution, Hapkido practitioners are able to make the adjustments to make the technique work for him or her. It rewards the thinker, the motivated. The techniques become yours, even if you need to train them up like dogs you picked up as puppies. You do not serve the technique and those who deemed it to be executed in a specific manner. It may take the time it takes to become a brown belt to learn a front kick correctly in Hapkido, while the karateka can snap a beautiful high front kick with mechanical perfection after the first year. When it is learned, though, it is yours, and not something that is borrowed from its composer to be performed following an instruction book.
An excellent video.
Very well stated. Thank you!
I took 2 years of hapkido. It is pretty lethal and deadly. At times the class was interrupted and the Sensei would have us to leave, because special classes would come in to teach the SWAT team and the Navy seals. It is close quarters to the point, take down and control.
It is none of that acrobatic, flying, spinning, martial arts.
Hapkido is involving ; lockups, bone breaking and death.
Great video! Excellent points!
"It's not the style that counts. It's how you use it". Maybe there is a misunderstanding but I feel that just about any martial art can be good in a fight if you do hard sparring and practice real life scenarios.
Well its basically Daito ryu jujutsu. Later koreans invented that it had elements of their folkloric combat dance.
You are right. Yet Master Choi did add other things to what he learned from others. As well
we should. And Master Choi did say were his art come from. Others Koreans changed history.
( So they think. L. O.L. )
Trained hapkido almost 20 years . From Korean grandmaster in judo and tkd. The real deal. He taught the US military self defense who were stationed at the border or south and North Korea. He considered hapkido combat fighting style. We did a lot of joint locks, kicking, strikes, plus judo throwing and ground work.
Thank you for the great informative video.
Does Hapkido train full contact?
Hapkido was good enough for the Green Berets, who were trained in the essential aspects of the art during the Vietnam War.
Hapkido it is More effective on self defense against any size human being.
If you have self confidence.
Just like Japanese jujutsu
It works but you will have to adjust on different sizes of attackers. I tried it in real life before, to be honest. I don't feel comfortable using most of the techniques in the streets. But it does and can work based on the level of experience of the practitioners.
The best advice I think is to pick some of your favorite basic techniques, drill those significantly more than all the others, and just as important practice with as many sizes of people that you can. That way you see the constants that work no matter the size of the opponent. When working with people your size, lack of proper technique can be masked by a little extra strength applied. As the opponent grows in size, that strength becomes negligible and forces you to do the technique properly for it to work
@@MattHinkamp yes sir thank you for your input. And thank you for sharing incredible insight into this style.
add catch wrestling and hapkido is a whole other beast and lose the hip chambered [unches. great art
The solution for me, is that I cross train. My BJJ instructor also has black belts in Hapkido and TKD, so we work on strikes and kicks some of the time, work on Hapkido-style self defence from stand up and as a means to get to the ground on other days, and then of course we do BJJ too.
I think that’s the single greatest thing you can do, is keep your horizons open. Everyone has something different to bring to the table
I've finally learned for about 2 years...I have a black belt in kenpo, but always wanted to learn hapkido👍🏻 only had to defend myself once...thank God I didn't get hurt, the other guy wasn't so lucky. I used hapkido to take this guy out. I hate violence and i hate when guys get drunk and try to use their mma bullshit while drunk..lol....🤦🏻♂️
I’m glad your training has served you well...I’ve never tried kenpo but it does intrigue me as well
@@MattHinkamp oh Matt it's great man.. I've developed such confidence and it totally changed my life. I'm 46 years old , I took up kenpo when I was 18. Then when I was 33 a hapkido studio opened up and i just felt this connection to it. I didn't get a chance to learn more, the school shut down unfortunately. So I just practice what I learned in the year I was learning it.
I was at this apple bee type of place here in long island and this bald buff guy was drunk and embrassing himself and his girl. He was doing push-ups and crunches on the floor in front of everyone lol.... showing off. He thought I say something to him or to his girlfriend but I didn't, we were on our way out anyway. I was with my then girlfriend , it happened so fast, but he pushed me from the back, hard, I did a simple sidekick kick to his face then he just grabbed him from my shirt and I basically did a Steven seagal flip on him and he went down, hit his head on the floor then everyone broke it up.
I was scared, but seconds later I was hyped with adrenaline I was ready for him to get up but I put my hands up and left. I got into my car and my hands were shaking...smh...I've never been in a fight like that. And this dude was big guy. I'm 6'1 about 215 I'm not muscular, I'm regular you know.... I'm strong...solid..but it worked my training.. 🙏🏻👍🏻 this guy was like 250 6'3 maybe. Bragging he was this mma champion..🙄
Anyway man..be safe be cool.
@@ProfessorKenneth quite the story, thanks for sharing. I’ve heard similar things from a few seasoned martial artists and the calmness and control is a common vein in all of them, glad it worked out well for you
I think you’re supposed to learn both Hopkido and Taekwondo together… not isolated…
Aikido and Hapkido are both based off of Daito Ryu jiujitsu. Hapkido incorporates other aspects from other Korean styles that became Taekwondo, which were based off of Chinese hand or ( Kung Fu ) and that's what makes it most effective
I like Hapkido but it is great for performance and film. It has some techniques that are applicable like any martial art, buts it’s very flashy. Learn the basics of MMA(Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) then add Hapkido, Aikido etc. Wesley Snipes is my favorite practitioner by the way 👍
Brian Cottingham great points. For any newcomer I think doing unbiased research first is important in finding what art is right for them. Understand why you’re taking martial arts and what you want to receive from them and go from there
From your understanding of what Hapkido really is I can tell you are not well informed. This may be because of the Mc dojo issue hurting all styles. Every art you have mentioned are pretty much included in traditional Hapkido I have 25 years of training and instructing I also have many years of training in other styles though not jujitsu or muay thai. If you believe Hapkido is for show then you would probably not understand that sports combat arts are a watering of real martial arts, great for comps but crap for real life. Hapkido has no tournaments traditionally the rule is survive without a referee.
@@Sabumnim666 Trust I'm well informed, I've attended seminars I disagree. I believe "combat martial arts", such as the ones I stated are the best styles for modern day fighting and survival. The techniques have proven to work. MMA is the "highest" form of competition/combat. Everything goes except for of course groins shots, eye gouges, etc. People argue that MMA fighters cant fight w/o rules, they don't know how to fight dirty in real situation, but here is the thing, they do and they can do it better than the average joe and a person who studies a "traditional style". Because they actually fight under pressure and there opponent is non-complaint. Hapkido is cool and it has techniques that are useful. I get its a mixture of Taekkyon, Aiki-Jutusu, Judo, and Tang soo Do, so there are similarities to MMA but MMA styles have proven to work.
@@briancottingham1674 No you do not know the history as you have just highlighted. I have many years of training and worked in security and had to deal with quite a few who boasted their prowess most were just that Boast. I am happy for you to attend seminars I am sure you were told a lot.
I agree but I would say learn traditional first...Then got to mma.
Came here when I saw that Robert Whittaker had a black belt in Hapkido, and I wanted to understand its purpose. Would have liked some commentary on whether or not Hapkido is used by renowned MMA fighters like Whittaker (an ex UFC Champion) that are well-qualified in it. Has he thrown Hapkido to the wayside and only use his Karate and BJJ? Had he ever blended some Hapkido in his style. If he hasn't I think that would back up the argument in your video.
Hapkido kept me alive and well growing up on the streets of the inner city of Chicago
Glad to hear this
Did Hapkido for a long time now also train BJJ the two go together extremely well. For me one is the holistic martial art with some use (hapkido) and the other is the one if someone who tries to pick a fight doesn't take my "back away" signals.
Appreciate and respect your approach to martial arts. Thanks for sharing
WHAT is the name of that form at 2:12. I've been trying to remember how to do it (practiced Hapkido about six years ago) but cannot find a video anywhere on it. I THINK it was Ki Hop Hyung, but I may be misspelling it.
Is that black belt Peter Rosenberger in middle @ 1:25?
Every where I go to check about martial arts I hear everyone talk about ground fighting, which don’t get me wrong is great knowing how to control a fight from the ground is great. However most of the fights I’ve been in that are real fights have never been one on one it usually been at least two on with me being the one. Not to mention going to the ground when you have two bulging disks is never a good idea. So would people please stop knocking more traditional martial arts by saying mma is all great. MMA is highly effective and Brazilian Jujitsu is great but not everyone can learn it. I need an art that is more standing and focuses less on ground fights.
Good video but I don’t think you addressed the main issue most have with martial arts which is that they often advertise in ways that make it sound like they are really effective when in reality they aren’t and idk if hapkido does this a lot but most places do so I’m just gonna assume that, and after a while a lot of practitioners get arrogant believing themselves to be invincible or at the very least good at fighting when they aren’t and that gets people hurt or worse. I just think martial arts studios should be up front with what they are attempting instead of falsely advertising to appeal to the weak who need actual martial arts and not that, that’s all just pointing that out other than that I mostly agree with your points.
I agree with this. There is a lot of false advertisement out there. There is nothing wrong with teaching other aspects than combat, but lying to your students can put them in danger and it is generally agreed upon across the martial arts world that these schools aren’t legit