Savoy Hapkido
Hapkido
Hapkido Arts
“Though various forms of grappling have been known in Korea for generations, Hapkido is essentially a 20th century development, based on Japanese Daitōryū Aikijūjutsu but incorporating Korean striking techniques, according to the Wikipedia page for Hapkido. Much like the eclectic nature of this style of martial art, the background information was compiled from various sources.
Choi Yong Sul established the foundation for Hapkido. Returning from Japan in 1946, Choi began teaching material reportedly taught to Choi by Sokaku Takeda. Choi called his style Yawara [柔], but modified the name to Hapki Yusul [合氣 柔術] and later to Hapki Yukwonsul [合氣 柔拳術] to distinguish it from Japanese aikijujutsu, which was written in the same characters, and from which much of the early Hapkido techniques were derived. Choi's practices were later renamed to Hapkido [合氣道] and students of Choi Yong Sul, such as Ji Han Jae, the late Myung Kwangsik, the late Han Bongsoo and others helped to spread this art both inside and outside of Korea.
Since the hanja are identical to those of Aikido, it is very common that Japanese Aikido and Korean Hapkido are often confused, and stylistic differences cause these separate arts to approximate each other in many ways. In like manner, some variants of Hapkido such as Kuk Sool Won, Hwa Rang Do, Han Mu Do and Hankido have adopted a range of Chinese practices and execution.
Along with Taekwondo, Hapkido has helped to revitalize traditional Korean martial arts by providing systemization and incorporating into other styles. This process complemented the other modern Korean martial art, Taekwondo.
History of the Iowa State University Hapkido Club
Pak Yong Chin.
He was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1948. He suffered from poor health as a child due to the food shortages of the Korean War and was left orphaned by age eleven. Pak began practicing Judo in middle school to improve his health and to become stronger, and he excelled at the art. He began his Hapkido studies at age fifteen and also practiced Taekwondo. His high school martial arts teacher was Nam Jong Sun. In 1967 Pak began attending Korean Judo College (since renamed Yong In University) on a Judo scholarship, and continued his practice in Hapkido and Taekwondo. His Hapkido teacher at the college was Park Jae Ho. During the four years he attended college, part of Pak’s education was serving in the Korean Secret Service as a plainclothes bodyguard to the President and other important persons. When he graduated from college he held the ranks of 4th degree black belt in Judo, Hapkido and Taekwondo (he has subsequently been promoted to 6th, 8th and 8th, respectively).
Master Pak came to the US in November 1971. After a short stay with his sister in Hawaii, he took a position for a year teaching Judo at St. Mary’s College in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1973, Master Pak accepted a position as martial arts instructor at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, the same position he still holds today. It is estimated that he has taught over 30,000 Hapkido, Judo and Taekwondo students during his four decades at ISU.
History of the Iowa Hapkido Club
Several students who trained in Hapkido at Iowa State University under Master Pak have opened their own clubs throughout Iowa. One of these is Michael Drahos, a 4th degree black belt who began practicing Hapkido in 1985 at ISU. After graduating from ISU, he moved to the Iowa City area and established the Hapkido Lesson Program at the University of Iowa in 1990. Master Drahos moved to Minnesota in 1998.
Brian Hayes, 5th degree black belt, (currently retired) Head Instructor for the Iowa Hapkido Club, began practicing Hapkido in 1990 at ISU. He earned his black belt in 1993 while attending ISU veterinary school. After graduation, he moved to Eastern Iowa and continued practicing Hapkido with Master Drahos. Master Hayes assumed leadership of the Hapkido Lesson Program (a.k.a. the Iowa Hapkido Club) at the University of Iowa in 1998.
Scott Williams Head instructor at Savoy Hapkido
Hello, my name is Scott Williams. I am a 4th degree black belt under Grandmaster Yong Chin Pak. I was a member of the University of Iowa Hapkido club from 1994-2010.
In 2010, I relocated to New York City after getting married. While in NYC, I worked security at an Israeli bank in midtown Manhattan. I continued teaching Hapkido by starting my own class, NYC Hapkido, teaching not only other members of the security group, but also other employees of the bank.
Since NYC is such a big city with plenty of opportunities, I wanted to expand my horizons and learn another style of defense. . I visited a lot of schools in the NYC area – Kendo, Siljun Dobup (Korean sword style), Staten Island Jiu Jitsu, and the local Hapkido schools.
After doing a lot of research, I decided to give Karate a try. Since I had already trained and competed in Taekwondo briefly, I wanted to try a different striking style. There were many different styles of Karate to chose from in NYC — Shotokan, Gojo Ryu, and many Kyokushin hybrid clubs.
The Taekwondo style that was taught in Iowa City was Olympic style that was pushed towards competitions. I was actually not interested in doing any more competitions, but the way Kyokushin presented itself really appealed to me.
Many karate styles like Shotokan focus on a “one punch, one kill” style of training. In Olympic Taekwondo, you can only kick or punch designated areas on the opponent’s bogu targets (protective padding covering the opponent's head and chest).
In Kyokushin, there was no pads and everything was open except kicking the groin, and punching the head. Techniques were kept pretty simple and effective. Techniques were not practiced in the way that it ended with the assumption that your opponent was defeated. In knockdown Karate which is the way Kyokushin trains you train and condition, when you fight, you do not stop until you knock your opponent down or are knocked unconscious. Kyokushin translates from Japanese as “The ultimate truth.” It was founded by Korean-born Choi Young-Eu who later changed his name to Mas Oyama. I studied and trained in Shinkyokushin Karate under instructor Tetsuya Sato and was given the opportunity to compete in tournaments in NYC and Montreal, Canada.
In 2012, my family and I relocated to Normal, Illinois. Then in 2013, I began teaching Hapkido at HMD Martial arts academy in Savoy, Illinois, owned by Master Namsoo Hyong.
Since moving to Normal, I have also started training in Kendo and Iaido with the Bloomington/Normal Kendo club under Sensei Nobu Tanaka.
I have greatly enjoyed my time learning Iaido and Kendo. I hope to be able to practice and learn for a long time. I truly believe workout spaces, dojos or dojangs, are sacred places for me. The Bloomington Kendo/Iaido club space is no different and where I can go to find peace.
