Hoshin-hapkido

국제호신합기도협회

Background: A brief history of hapkido (link to History of Hapkido)

Master Le Dong Koo (a student of Hapkido founder Choi Yong Sool) trained in the late 1970s alongside Grand Master Suh Bok Seob (brother of Seo Bok Seob). Suh Bok Seob had trained from a young age at the dojang of Kim Sung Kiong's father, a master of Chinese boxing. Along with Kim Sung Kiong, he joined Le Dong Koo's dojang, where Kim Soon El (Claudino Covela's teacher) and Bae Jeoung Young (my Hapkido teacher) were also students.

Years later, Le Dong Koo decided to go to Spain to promote Hapkido under the Korean Yuk Sool Woon Association, led by Grand Master Seo Bok Seob (brother of Suh Bok Seob). Kim Sung Kiong traveled with him via Japan.

A brief stay in Japan led to his meeting Myung-Deuk Suh (a student of Master Seo Weok Limg; Seo Weok Limg, Morihei Uesiba, and Choi Yong Sool were all students of Grandmaster Samurai Sogaku Takeda). Myung-Deuk Suh, of Korean origin, befriended Suh, Bok Seob, Kim Sung Kiong, and Le Dong Koo, and together they traveled to Spain.

They settled in Villagarcía de Arosa, in Pontevedra, where they opened a dojang. Shortly after, they opened another in Cangas del Morrazo (opposite Vigo).

A little later (in 1981), one of their most advanced students, who was then training with Ji Han Llae (Grandmaster Kim Soon-el), joined them. Masters Kom Sung Kiong and Kim Soon-el began teaching Hapkido at a Taekwondo gym in Villagarcía. [Pontevedra (Spain)].

At that time, Suh Bok Seob opened a gym in Cangas del Morrazo with Myung-Deuk, Suh, and Le Dong Koo himself. Master Kim Soon El opened a gym in the town of O Carballiño [Ourense (Spain)] in 1983.

It is worth noting that in 1983, Grand Master Kim Soon El began teaching Hapkido in O Carballiño (mentioned above) under the auspices of the International Hapkido Federation. At that time, several young people enrolled in his school, including Fidel Gómez, Claudino Covela, and Francisco Javier.

Masters Kim Soon Kiong and Le Dong Koo traveled to Ontario, Canada, in early 1984. They settled there, and Le Dong Koo developed the program for his school, which he named Yam Hu Kwan.

Myung-Deuk Suh continued teaching Hapkido and Kempo Key-do at the dojang in Pontevedra, Spain. Master Suh, Bok Seob, began to gain considerable influence within the Spanish Taekwondo community, who enthusiastically requested that he conduct Hapkido seminars. Among those requesting seminars were renowned instructors such as Master So, who opened a Taekwondo gym in Pontevedra where Hapkido classes were offered as a form of self-defense.

In 1987, Grandmaster Kim left O Carballiño (mentioned earlier) to start a new life in Gijón (Asturias). At the request of his students in O Carballiño, Grandmaster Kim, Soong Il, contacted Grandmaster Bae, Yeoung Joung, from Gijón. Bae arrived in O Carballiño and began teaching Hapkido in the summer of 1987. Grandmaster Bae taught Hapkido with the support of the International Hapkido Federation, just as Grandmaster Kim had done in O Carballiño.

Shortly afterward, Ji Han Llae laid the foundations of modern Hapkido by creating the International Hapkido Sin Moo Association, currently headquartered in Switzerland. At that time, the Korean Hapkido Federation was led by students of Ji Han Llae (today it is presided over by Grandmaster Oh Se-Lim), while the World Hapkido Federation was presided over by Myung Kwang-Sik, a student and friend of Ji Han Llae.

Following the death in 1988 of Suh Myunghng Duk (president of the International Yuk Sool Won Association), grandfather of Myung-Deuk, Suh, and Suh In-hyuk, Grandmaster Suh In-hyuk traveled to Ontario with his brother, Kim Sung Kiong, who was in Galicia.

Grandmaster Le Dong Koo, who was also in Ontario, contacted all of his students, including Kim Soon El, who was in Gijón (Asturias). With the help of Kim Sung Kiong, and together with Suh In-hyuk, they founded the International HoShin Hapkido Association. The association established its headquarters in Toronto, Canada, under the auspices of the IHF (International Hapkido Federation) and some of Ji Han Llae's students who had emigrated to Canada.

In the mid-1980s, Kim Soon El (in contact with Le Dong Koo) and several Korean master collaborators and some students decided to create the Spanish HoShin-Hapkido Association. Grand Master Claudino Covela (a direct student of Kim Soon El) and other masters who were students of Grand Master Covela joined the initiative, and both held leadership positions within the association.

After the death of Grand Master Le Dong Koo in 1996, the Spanish HoShin-Hapkido Association dissolved, and most of its instructors joined the Spanish Kido Association (part of the International Korean Kido Association). For several years, until the early 2015s, the Jin Jung Kwan, Sin Moo Kwan, and Yan Hum Kwan schools grew in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

In recent years, after the death of Myung Llae Nam, many Hapkido masters who had emigrated from Korea began conversations with each other, taking advantage of the rise of the Yang Hum Kwan style and the Hankimuye movement, which takes its name from the school of (Myung Llae, Nam) Kuk Sam Nim of the Hankido style and hankumdo which unites Aikido, Hapkido and Korean kempo or Wing chung belonging to the WuShu art.

As a result of the relationships of many masters (Kim Soon Il, Ko Sehwan Baek, Saloomon Chung Park, Bae Yeong Joung, among other students of the late creator of Hapkido, Choi Young Sool) and following the death of Grandmaster Le Dong Koo in 1996, the International Hoshin-Hapkido Federation (IHF) was dissolved. After the death of Myung Llae Nam, the IHF's standing was called into question. Most of its masters rallied around the Korean Hapkido Federation and the IHF. They all agreed to turn their backs on Myung Llae's son, Nam, and his IHF.

For several years, beginning in the early 2010s, the Jin Jung Kwan, Sin Moo Kwan, and Yan Hum Kwan schools grew in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. In recent years, following the death of Myung Llae Nam; Many Hapkido masters who had emigrated from Korea began to communicate with each other, taking advantage of the rise of the Korean Kido Association and the Yang Hu Kwan, as well as the Hankimuye movement, thus bypassing the IHF.

Currently, the Hankimuye movement has been formalized in the World Hankimuye Federation, headquartered in Seoul. Due to a split between the Korean Hapkido Federation and the IHF, led by Nam, the son of the late Myung Llae, has assumed the role that the IHF previously held regarding non-Korean Hapkido students. They are also the ones who defend the school of Myung Llae, Nam, which bears the name:

As a result of these relationships, many masters (Kim, Soon Il; Ko Sehwan, Baek; Saloomon, Chung Park, Bae Yeong Joung, among others) conceived the idea of ​​re-establishing the International Hoshin Hapkido Federation, with the current President of the International Hoshin-Hapkido Association:

Salomoon Chung Park, a disciple of Grand Master Myung Llae, Nam, and later of Grand Master Le Dong, Koo, after the former emigrated to Canada, a step prior to the origination of the International Hoshin-Hapkido Association.

It should be noted that after the death of Le Dong, Koo; Park continued his school in Montreal, Canada, and with the permission of the IHF presidency (where Grand Master Myung Sung Kwang was president), he assumed the presidency of the International Hoshin-Hapkido Association. However, as mentioned previously, the association was dissolved in Spain.

HoShin Hapkido Style

• A modern style with a strong emphasis on the use of weapons.
• Specializations: defense against one or more attackers using unarmed techniques, short staff, katana, long staff, nunchucks, kattas, walking sticks, and knives.
• It is taught in both civilian and military contexts, with rapid neutralization techniques that are highly effective for street defense and immobilization before police intervention, thanks to its knowledge of strikes to acupuncture meridian points that cause disorientation and confusion. 
• The styles of the International Korean Kido Association (of Suh, Seo Lim) and Yuk Woon Sool (of Grand Master Seo Bok-seob), whose representative in Spain is Kim Tae Ho, who has shared techniques in various master classes, decided, following the guidance of Grand Master Park (currently the president in the USA), to unify and incorporate common Hapkido techniques into the programs of both schools. This collaboration has resulted in a redesign of the HoShin-Hapkido style, developed by masters in the USA, Canada, and Korea, with the collaboration of Master Ko Sehwan Baek, a student and friend of the late Myong Llae Nam. 
• Masters Ko Sehwan, Baek; Saloomon, Chung Park, son of Choi: Choe Bok-yeol, and Suh, Bok Seob are the leading figures of the International HoShin-Hapkido Association.

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