Iowa State University Hapkido Club - Learn About Hapkido

History of Hapkido

In 540 ad, King Chinhung came into power in the Korean kingdom of Silla. King Chinhung called a famous Buddhist priest, Won Kwang Bopsa, who developed a system of martial arts that was in harmony with the Buddhist laws of nature. This system was taught to selected youth from the nobility class. The martial art was called Hwa Rang Do, the way of flowering manhood. The practitioners were called Hwa Rang, or flowering youth. These Hwa Rang were instructed in the Buddhist faith and the fine arts, as well as the arts of war. Upon the foundation of the Buddhist concept of the "unity of opposites," Hwa Rang Do blended hard and soft, linear and circular attacks. The Hwa Rang were to Korea what the Samurai were to Japan. Korean literature is filled with the exploits of these great warriors.

When Korea was united into a single country, violence decreased and so did the need for Hwa Rang Do. Eventually the practice of Hwa Rang Do was banned completely. It was preserved by the Buddhist monks who practiced it in secret to get a better understanding of the "laws of nature" which embodied the arts. It was during this time period that many of the different styles we now know today were developed. An example of this is tae-kwon, a kicking art which has influenced both Hapkido and Taekwondo.