What Is Hapkido? A Korean Martial Art's Journey to Thailand

When I started learning nunchaku with Khru Hop at Central Ramindra, I did not even know that what I was learning was part of Hapkido. I only found out as my black belt test approached. Looking back into it, I learned that the name 합기도 (Hapkido) is written with the Chinese characters 合氣道, usually translated as 합 (合, hap), coordination or harmony; 기 (氣, gi), energy or breath; and 도 (道, do), the way. Together they describe a philosophy that avoids meeting force with force and instead turns the opponent's own force into a tool for controlling the situation.

Historically, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture records that after Korea's liberation in 1945, Choi Yong-sul (최용술) returned from Japan and opened a training hall in Daegu. His teacher is known to have been Takeda Sokaku (武田惣角) of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu (大東流合気柔術). At first Choi called what he taught yawara (柔) or hapki-yusul (合氣柔術); the name Hapkido came into use when his students opened training halls under it in 1961. The Korean kicks and strikes seen in Hapkido today were added by later students. Some lines trace them to taekkyeon (택견), others to different sources, and the question is still disputed. That is why Hapkido carries Japanese-style joint locks and Korean-style kicks in one art.

In Korea itself, Hapkido split into several organisations from the 1970s, such as the Korea Hapkido Association (대한합기도협회), founded in 1971, and the International Hapkido Federation (I.H.F.), founded by Grand Master Myung Jae-nam (명재남) in August 1974. He later created Hankido in 1984, and the same organisation also teaches the sword art Hankumdo. Its headquarters moved to Yongin in 1993, and since 2001 its black belts have counted for bonus points in Korean police recruitment. Today Myung Sung-kwang (명성광) is the federation's president. With so many organisations, technique names, syllabi and belt systems do not match exactly from one line to the next.

In my own family, Hapkido has always gone hand in hand with Taekwondo: my wife and Ken both hold black belts in the two arts. Taekwondo gives fast, powerful kicks, while Hapkido fills what competition Taekwondo does not stress: escaping grabs, joint locks, breakfalls and dealing with weapons at close range. Today Hapkido in Thailand is a full competitive sport. Thailand hosted the WORLD I.H.F. HAPKIDO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024 at the Nonthaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation stadium on 3-4 August 2024, with athletes from 12 countries competing for a royal trophy bestowed by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and the Director-General of the Department of Physical Education opened the event. The association's calendar also lists provincial, regional and inter-school competitions, so Hapkido is no longer the supplementary art I knew in the past.

Thailand does not have a single Hapkido association, and each one is tied to a different Korean line. From the associations' own documents, I could confirm the following. The Thailand Hapkido Association (THA) describes itself as a member of the International Hapkido Federation (I.H.F.), handled registration and published the outline for the 2024 world championships, and runs both a colour-belt promotion syllabus and a black belt preparation camp. The Hapkido Martial Arts Association organises youth Hapkido championships. The Moo Moo Kwan line (무무관) has its parent association in Korea, and Moo Moo Kwan Hapkido (Thailand) publishes its own syllabus and belt system.

From what I have seen of this scene, having several associations at once spreads training opportunities across more areas, but it also means belt names and tests differ by affiliation. If you are choosing where to train, the first question to ask is which association the instructor belongs to, and which organisation will issue your black belt.

The Hapkido curriculum really does cover fighting at every range. The Thailand Hapkido Association's website divides it into striking vital points, joint locking and controlling an opponent empty-handed, and weapons, while many lines list throws and breakfalls as a separate area, making four in all: strikes with fists, elbows, knees and feet; joint locks and breaks; throws with breakfalls (낙법, nakbeop), which the Standard Korean Language Dictionary defines as techniques for protecting the body safely when falling; and weapons, including the short stick, cane, long staff, sword and the nunchaku I trained in directly. The breakfall principle is the same one behind ukemi (受身) in judo.

I will admit plainly that joint locks and close-range throws were never my strength or my preference. By temperament I prefer direct fighting like karate or Chinese boxing. But I cannot deny how useful these techniques are for real self-defence, especially when a larger opponent grabs you at a range where punches and kicks have no room to work. So I sent my wife and children to train seriously in Hapkido. Today our family has three instructors who hold Hapkido black belts: Patty, 2nd Dan; Ken, 2nd Dan; and Michelle, 1st Dan, who also holds a 1st Dan in nunchaku. Some of my students have also taken nunchaku to competition and won gold medals. What I saw clearly is that breakfalls are an essential foundation: if you cannot fall safely, practising advanced throws becomes a risk rather than a skill you are building.

For weapons, the video at the end of this article is an example: Michelle competing with a nunchaku form combined with the Shaolin long staff at the 2020 Thailand Hapkido Championship. The I.H.F. rules allow both the long staff and nunchaku in the weapon forms category.

Hapkido divides ranks into two groups: geup (급), the colour belts for foundation-level practitioners, and dan (단), the black belts for advanced levels. Beginners wear a white belt and always start with body discipline, etiquette and breakfalls. But the number of ranks and the belt colours are not a single standard; each association sets its own. One clearly published example is the belt system of Moo Moo Kwan Hapkido (Thailand), shown in this table.

The point I want to stress is that a Hapkido black belt is not something a training hall can simply hand out on its own; you must pass through the association you belong to. The Moo Moo Kwan line states that its black belts are certified by the Moo Moo Kwan headquarters and the I.H.F., and that only black belt holders may sit the instructor licence exam, while the Thailand Hapkido Association runs a black belt preparation camp before its tests. That rigour is something parents can use to check a training hall.

I was once confused about this myself, because Hapkido is written 合氣道, the same characters as Aikido (modern Japanese writes 氣 in its simplified form 気, so you see 合気道). Read in Japanese it is Aikido; read in Korean it is Hapkido. The two share a root in Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, since Morihei Ueshiba, Aikido's founder, also sought instruction from Takeda Sokaku. But when I studied Aikido for a while, I found the balance of techniques very different. Aikido centres on throws and joint locks that flow with the opponent's force, while Hapkido clearly adds far more kicks, strikes and weapons.

The table below summarises the differences I have seen in practice and in each side's own documents.

I went on to study Aikido for a while because I wanted to see the source for myself, and found that the two arts complement each other very well. If anyone asks me how Hapkido and Aikido differ, my short answer is: the same skeleton, but completely different muscles around it. For the wider picture of Japanese budo, read What are the Japanese martial arts.

Having actually sent my children to learn Hapkido, I see it as an art well suited to children for building discipline and defensive rather than offensive self-defence skills. The principle of using an opponent's force helps a small child deal with someone bigger without relying on strength alone, and a correctly learned breakfall is a skill they can carry with them when they slip and fall in everyday life.

That said, I want to warn parents looking for a place for their child to learn Hapkido: choose a training hall whose instructors clearly belong to an association and whose belt system can be verified, not just one with polished advertising. Children who start young gain discipline in waiting their turn, respect for their instructor and training partners, and breakfall skills that stay with them for life. What I noticed in my own children is that Hapkido did not make them more aggressive at all. On the contrary, they became more patient and better at reading a situation before reacting, which I see as the result of a philosophy that always teaches you to think before using force.

For parents still unsure which martial art their child should start with, I will say plainly that there is no single right answer for everyone. Some children suit direct striking arts like karate; others are better at controlling an opponent the way Hapkido does. What matters is getting the right fundamentals first, whatever the art, because a solid foundation makes it easier to go on to other arts later. If you are comparing arts for your child, read Karate or Taekwondo: which should a child learn.

Looking back on my own path, from the first day I took my son to try nunchaku near Pak Kret to the day I understood the full picture of Hapkido, I see this art's charm in the fact that it does not force everyone to become the strongest fighter in the room. It teaches you to turn the force of a situation to your advantage, whether you are a small child facing a bigger classmate or a working adult who wants self-defence skills to carry through life. Hapkido in Thailand today has associations behind it, a clear belt system, and Thailand has already hosted a world championship. If you are looking for a martial art that values control over collision, I think Hapkido is well worth studying seriously.