Gum Ying Hapkido Studio is a member of Canada Hapkido Federation. The history and origin of Hapkido is somewhat controversial so the following just touches on the basics. Part of Hapkido history is traced back to 7th Century Korea during the Silla Dynasty with the formation of the Hwa Rang which pursued the first organized study of martial arts in Korea. Eventually membership dissipated and the secrets of the arts became secluded with the Buddhist monks, who exchanged information with their Chinese brethren. Tae Kyun, the hybrid art, resulted from the original� when it was combined with traditional forms of the Hwa Rang together with Chinese influences of low spin kicks as well as circular motion blocks.
Choi Yong Sool, the founder of Hapkido, plays a major role in the origins of Hapkido. Choi was orphaned as a young child and was taken to Japan from Korea when he was eight or nine years old where he was quickly abandoned to the streets. He was soon taken in by Takeda Sokaku, a Daito-Ryu Aki-Jutsu master who trained him for more than thirty years. This is where many of the soft techniques in Hapkido originated. Upon returning to Korea in the mid 1940's, Choi began to teach his art which he named Yoo Sool rather than Ju Jutsu because at the time Koreans would react negatively to any connection to Japan in any way. It was believed that Choi continued to teach a pure Daito-Ryo Aiki-Jujutsu all his life. During those days, Ji Han Jae was one of Choi Young-Sool's top students.
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