United States Karate Center
3005 Dower House Dr., Oak Hill, Va. 20171
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was under the control of Japan and only the occupiers arts of Judo and Kendo were permitted. After centuries of obscurity it was only under the new port World War II government that the native Korean martial arts could resurface without persecution. In some ways it was a renaissance, with the general public studying the new/old made up of the strongest elements that had survived Confucianism and Japanese occupation.
Very soon there were too many different schools all with different names and ideas. To provide unity to all these schools the government gave them all one name Tae Kwon Do, and formed a national governing body. However there was one exception to this unification process, Hapkido. Because Hapkido principles were so unique, Hapkido was allowed to operate independently.
The modern founder of Hapkido is Yong Sul Choi who combined extensive self-defence techniques with the kicking art of Tae Kyun , traditional weaponry and the philosophies of the Korean people to form Hapkido. Shortly after Japanese occupation of Korea, Master Choi emigrated to Japan. having already mastered Tae Kyun in his youth, he studied Daitoryu Aikijutsu from which a small part of Hapkido techniques were derived. The majority of the techniques in Hapkido owe their origin to indigenous Korean arts such as Kuk Sul Won, Kung Jun Musul, Sirum and Tae Kyun. Master Choi returned to Korea shortly after WW II in 1945, and founded the first modern Hapkido school in Taegu. He acquired some devoted students and spent a long time polishing his system into a highly effective system of self-defense.
Eventually Master Choi's top student, Ji Han Jae, took Hapkido to Seoul to teach it to the general public for the first time. Master Choi died in Taegu in 1987. During Master Choi's retirement, his life's work was handed over to 9th degree master Ji Han Jae in Seoul who was also the president of the Korea Hapkido Association.