Harvard Hapkido

ecause Hapkido is a very broad art, it allows students the flexibility to develop a style suited to their individual interests, needs and physical capabilities. There is a wide variety of styles of Hapkido. At our club, we practice Yongmudo (formerly known as Hankido), a style developed at Yong-In University in Korea. In comparison with other arts, Hapkido shares many common elements with Japanese jujitsu: both feature a diverse blend of techniques, both encompass a wide variety of schools and styles, and both share the key philosophical tenet of adapting to an attack and using the attacker’s own energy against them. Still, most styles of jujitsu place little emphasis on kicks and strikes, which occupy an important role in Hapkido. This difference is typical of Hapkido’s relation to other arts: because of the wide diversity of its techniques, Hapkido is often viewed differently by different artists. Someone who practices a “hard”, striking art such as karate or Taekwondo may find Hapkido most remarkable for its “softer” techniques — joint locks, throws, grappling, pressure points — while a practitioner of a “soft” art such as aikido, judo, or jujitsu may be struck by Hapkido’s focus on “harder” techniques such as kicks, punches, strikes, and blocks. This diversity makes Hapkido an ideal starting point for a beginning student interesting in getting a taste of many different styles, as well as for the more experienced martial artist wishing to improve their versatility.

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HAPKIDO AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Our club was founded in the fall of 1999 by enthusiastic Harvard students. Although it is organized as a Harvard undergraduate club sport, anyone with access to the training facility is welcome to our practices. Practices at our club are structured to take place in a friendly and non-competitive atmosphere. A typical class consists of warm up, repetitive drills to practice technique, and cooperative practice of techniques with a partner or small group. Although we do participate in sparring and other dynamic activities, this is not required for any level below brown belt (3rd kub), and we do not keep score or compete against one another for rank. The focus is on self-defense, fitness, and personal development, rather than competitions or tournament fighting.