Many Japanese will not accept a Korean born master of Daito-Ryu, especially one claiming to be the only man to have mastered the entire art. To acknowledge Mr. Choi would undermine the purely Japanese character of Daito-Ryu. Instead, the Japanese minimize Mr. Choi's role, stating only that Mr. Choi attended a seminar with Sokaku.
On the other hand, many Koreans ignore or diminish Mr. Choi’s tie to Japan because they want Hapkido to be considered Korean in origin. Some Korean authors trace Hapkido history to an ancient warrior class and then refer to Mr. Choi as an afterthought. Others omit Mr. Choi entirely from the history of Hapkido.
The two distortions are self-corroborating. The Koreans make "Hapkido" their own by teaching indiginous hard styles with elementary soft motion mixed in. The Japanese then support their contention that Mr. Choi only attended seminars by noting that no high motion appears in the major Hapkido schools.
This rivalry has obscured Mr. Choi's position as Takeda Sokaku's chief instructor, and neglects the enormous contibution of Mr. Choi to soft martial arts. Mr. Choi's teaching preserved the Daito-Ryu system of Takeda Sokaku, although some of Mr. Choi's students have not. Serious students of soft martial arts will be pleased to discover the wealth of soft techniques still being taught in traditional Hapkido schools.
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Grandmaster Choi, Yong Sul visited the United States in June of 1982 with the purpose of unifying Hapkido. Mr. Choi knew his life was near its end. His greatest wish was that all Hapkido would be united. He came to New York to name his successor and thereby insure the continuity of the art he had brought to Korea so many years before.
Much had changed in Mr. Choi’s lifetime. The culture in which Mr. Choi learned his art was that of a wealthy nobleman in pre-war Japan. This was in stark contrast to the practice of martial arts in 1980’s America. Martial arts were being mass marketed in America. Time consuming traditional methods of instruction were sacrificed in order to accomodate the American appetite for immediate results. Sadly, this state of affairs extended to many schools professing to teach Hapkido.
Mr. Choi was dissatisfied with the state of Hapkido. Some Hapkido black belts had broken off to form their own schools and organizations, promoting themselves and others to artificially high ranks. As of 1982, Mr. Choi had not personally issued any seventh or eigth degree black belt certificates to anyone except Mr. Chang.
Hapkido's problems were not just organizational. Different schools taught different patterns of technique. Many instructors were spreading unfounded teachings, describing their techniques as Hapkido when they were not. These instructors found that student interest was easier to maintain when the techniques were easily mastered and promotions occurred quickly.
In an attempt to reverse the digression that Hapkido was experiencing, Mr. Choi gave his endorsement to ninth degree black belt, Chinil Chang. Mr. Choi hoped Mr. Chang would dominate the imposters and create a single Hapkido organization. Mr. Chang did not share Mr Choi's vision, and did not act to unify Hapkido.
At present there are many Hapkido organizations. Most teach a hard style martial art and incorporate a few "soft" techniques, sometimes called self-defense techniques. Rim's Hapkido, teaching the soft style of Mr. Choi, is a rare exception.
