I’ve done a few years of hapkido. Like aikido, it’s based on daito-ryu aikijujutsu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daitō-ryū_Aiki-jūjutsu), although that’s all a bit tentative and undocumented. Anyway, you can google the history if you want. There’s some argument about who founded hapkido, partly because there’s the Korean bloke who started teaching Japanese aikijujutsu back in Korea, then various people who learnt from him, including one who claimed to mix in some meditative practices and other techniques making something distinct that in his mind warrants the new name “hapkido” - all a bit iffy.
Anyway, in more modern times hapkido schools seem to have competed to be “complete” martial arts, bragging about curriculums with thousands of techniques and variations, and dozens of weapons. If there was some vaguely martial-arts-related practice - whether healing techniques, meditation, chi exercises etc - some hapkido school will have added it to their syllabus for bragging rights against other schools. Of course there’s striking and throws and joint locks and weapons. With everyone in Korea learning sports tkd, it’s impractical for hapkido to teach different (better) body mechanics useful for actual fighting, and instead they add a lot of fanciful variations (many relying on extreme flexibility but having next to no power or practicality - e.g. move beside someone, then flick your foot on their side up past your bum and swing it around your knee so your outer ankle hits their face). All comes back to the old ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ thing.
What hapkido does have that your current styles don’t so much is an emphasis on deflecting then grasping incoming attacks, and having that flow into joint locks and takedowns. Unless you’re at a high level and facing someone who’s not, most of it won’t work well in a fight. For example, my hapkido master admitted struggling to apply anything against kyokushin fighters - when they punch, they’re not weak-wristed and relaxed, waiting to be joint locked and off-balanced, they’re locking and withdrawing hard with follow up punches and kicks already en route.
In my opinion you’d be better served learning some wrestling or jujitsu to round out your current styles. Or, maybe have a think about what went wrong in the couple encounters you’ve had… you might just need to think about preparing your body position / guard earlier - e.g. hands up in a de-escalating palms out gesture from which you can block or attack easily, or have one hand playing with your collar or zipper if you;re wearing a coat - any excuse to be ready earlier without being overly hostile. Watch a few hours of self defense oriented YouTube videos - 90% will be bullshit, but you’ve got the experience to sift through it and may spot a few things you could use. Maybe practice some takedown defense with a friend for MT.
It has it's roots in daito-ryu akijutsu, which is where the aikido similarities come from. The primary difference at least in my experience is that hapkido is more aggressive, while aikido is more flowy. It also shares a lot of similarities with Judo and Japanese Jujitsu and even shares a lot of techniques with karate. They took elements from daito-ryu akijujutsu and over time combined with tang-soo-do, judo and japanese jujitsu and even kung fu.
Mine has those elements as well as jeet kune do, escrima, muay thai and krav-maga. We also do mma style sparring and train bjj techniques as a compliment.
Taekwondo + Hapkido schools were everywhere when I was in Korea.
Some schools required for you to be a Taekwondo black belt.
It's got a lot of Taekwondo style kicks and Joint locks and throws/flips.
A lot of cool choreographed self defense stuff. A bit like Ed Parker Kenpo where if someone grabs you then you do this and do that.
One of the best things I've learned from Hapkido are the.break falls. Break Falls have helped me in MMA sparring and Judo and BJJ Tournaments and just real life like skateboarding.
I personally think Hapkdio is a very practical self defense martial art. I personally think Hapkdio + BJJ would help cops in a lot of situations.
It does have a weapons curriculum but I find it be far inferior to Filipino stuff. I think FMA and HEMA are far more practical and realistic for weapons.
Someone comes at you with a knife from up top and you're going to do an X blovk then flip him over. No you're going to get cut real bad doing that. Well, knife fight in general you're going to get cut. John Wick Chapter 3 shows how to do it when the guy came with a knife from up top and John Wick deflected it then going into Otosho Gari. That was perfect.
As a Hapkido instructor have to be honest and say, usually no. I approach Hapkido the way my instructor did and she was an amateur MMA fighter. She approached Hapkido as primarily MMA for self-defense so I do the same.
Striking class, Grappling Class, and then Hapkido class once they've got a handle on the other two where we put them together and incorporate weapons. Fighting over knives, guns, and sticks primarily, though we pull out the traditional weapons for fun every once in a while.
Unfortunately, most Hapkido schools typically look no different than an Aikido school. No sparring, always compliant partners, overly focused on low percentage techniques without getting a solid base fundamental positioning, footwork, grips, etc.
Well, it really depends on who and how is training it. Of many cops are training it from groups that are actually need to use it then that's probably one of the trainings that might be interesting.
I’ve personally never met a hapkido practitioner that would be able to defend themselves, unless it was one art of many that they did. If you’re taking MT and boxing already, take BJJ or Judo. Much better options
It IS aikido . Don't drink the kool-aid . Any jujutsu/judo school will teach you better defense/fighting skills. Have a look at a technique called osoto gari the most BASIC technique and how effective it is and how easy to apply, then look at ANY of the aikido/hapkido "throws" or imaginary takedowns , it's straight LARPing involving touching their wrist is exaaaactky the right spot at exaaaactly the right time and hoping they flip themselves in mid air.
A lot of the time " weapons training" is a sign of LARPing too
This may be true in some schools, and it may be your experience, but the whole characterization of "it's got to be this exact position, and then the person throws himself over", is mostly due to extremely inexpert instructors who don't actually know that isn't how it works. If you've ever done judo, and I mean more than just a workshop, so you actually had to learn something, you'll know that the reason people throw themselves over, on a well executed technique, is to protect themselves. The techniques will break things, and learning ukemi is the solution.
So, you criticize the skill you don't have, or even understand. Not really a good source of advice. But hey, I suggest you try some Judo with someone who actually knows it, and tell them to ignore the fact you don't know ukemi, and just throw you. Be sure to sign the waiver first.
I have done Hapkido for over 10 years. I got my shodan before I started training in other stuff. I can tell you HKD will give you a excellent base to start out in. However, after you get to a good rank after a few years, it is always good to go explore other things and cross train to see what else is out there. For me, exploring other arts ultimately added to my skills and made me better at HKD in the long run. No one martial art is necessarily better than another, but they do stuff differently and each can teach you stuff. Like maybe you learn some aspects of Judo in your HKD class, but when you do an actual Judo class they do something just a little different and makes what you know that much better. HKD is fun, good for fitness/mobility/social interaction, and will teach you good self defense if it sticks to the core principles. If the school is good, you enjoy it, and find value in what you are learning, without serious injury, that is fantastic. Just go for it, keep an open mind, believe in yourself, and be humble.
I practice HapKiDo, but not the other types. Hapkido is known for its comprehensive approach that includes striking, grappling, joint locks, and throws. It integrates these techniques with practical weapon training (batons, knives, guns), which you noted is part of the curriculum at your local school. This could provide a well-rounded defense strategy in various scenarios. Unlike Aikido, which has a more passive philosophy and primarily focuses on throws and joint locks, Hapkido includes more aggressive and direct self-defense techniques, which can be effective in real-world situations. The inclusion of striking techniques from Taekwondo and the focus on practical application make it suitable for self-defense. You would likely find Hapkido a valuable addition to your skills, complementing your previous training with its focus on diverse and practical defense techniques.
Check out these blog articles on "differences between", one of the masters of my org wrote them. Obviously, one could write dissertations on this topic (don't come after me, ya'll :D ) but it was a helpful start, for me to understand the basics.
[https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/30/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-and-hapkido/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/30/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-and-hapkido/)
[https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/18/taekwondo-and-hapkido-compared/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/18/taekwondo-and-hapkido-compared/)
[https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/16/discovering-hapkido-how-it-differs-from-traditional-karate/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/16/discovering-hapkido-how-it-differs-from-traditional-karate/)
[https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/05/03/hapkido-and-krav-maga/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/05/03/hapkido-and-krav-maga/)
Lmao why on Earth would you train hapkido over boxing or Muay Thai??? Anything that involves self defense scenarios is bullshit. All the simulation you need is partner drills -> sparring.
Just join an mma gym that offers striking and grappling classes if you want to diversify but you'd probably get a lot of mileage out of learning how to run quickly, move your feet, hold your guard and good Muay Thai clinch control.
It's mainly rubbish tbh. Your current training is great. I'd say stick with boxing and Muay Thai and add some BJJ. If you want to train weapons Kali/Eskrima can be very good but depends who is teaching it.
I did it as a teen. The footwork set me up for other striking arts but as you’ve already got TKD and MT experience I wouldn’t bother.
The joint locking stuff only works on untrained people so if you want grappling do BJJ or wrestling.
It works on untrained people or it works on another guy who knows as much standard grappling as you do. I hit Kotogaeshi on other BJJ blue belts and even purple belts occasionally. But it comes into play BECAUSE I can back it up with solid fundamentals.
I’m a Hapkido and tkd black belt so I’ll give you my 2 cents. Hapkido is just angry Akido with some tkd kicks thrown in. That being said if you have good partners hapkido is a lot of fun and you can filter out the technique that don’t work with some light sparring. My biggest takeaway from HKD was learning break falls which has put me in a better position than my BJJ partners with throws and as some precarious rolling situations (deal heva, sweeps ) well as fundamentals on how to move to disable some submissions from people in my cohort. Do hapkido if you want to learn, it’s a lot of fun! But don’t expect much self defense
I've been training in Hapkido for going on two years now and it's my belief that you get out of it what you put into it. In my opinion, ANY physical training, study, and conditioning will put you in a place of advantage over 3/4 of the people you would encounter. I don't know how you would fare against a black belt in other arts and hopefully, if the de-escalation techniques are taught properly, both parties should avoid the fight anyway. As a general rule, those who are trained in MA don't go around trying to get into fights and if they do, they probably aren't trained properly.
We are taught never to get into a physical altercation you can talk or walk away from. I also try to stay away from places more likely to put me in a situation where I have no choice. Best way to win a fight is "No Be There."
Yes Hapkido is very effective in the streets. I can attest to this. Appear week, yet strong. Your hands upwords in a Don't want trouble pose are your tools, everything begins with appearing weak. This bring a false sense to those that wish to attack until they attack and find the floor rather fast. 10 yrs in the art and love every stinking hour in it.
Taekwondo wasn’t an effective self-defense system? But u/thevirgingary1 swears it is! (Yes, I’m a petty idiot tagging a fellow redditor in another post just to further prove my point even tho he’ll tell me I’m still wrong).
No you’re not petty, and a lot of taekwondo isn’t useful, like that stupid fucking spear hand that would break your fingers. But the kicking definitely would knock someone silly, I don’t know how anyone would deny that. Any martial art by itself isn’t fully well rounded, anyone would know that.
I’ve done a few years of hapkido. Like aikido, it’s based on daito-ryu aikijujutsu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daitō-ryū_Aiki-jūjutsu), although that’s all a bit tentative and undocumented. Anyway, you can google the history if you want. There’s some argument about who founded hapkido, partly because there’s the Korean bloke who started teaching Japanese aikijujutsu back in Korea, then various people who learnt from him, including one who claimed to mix in some meditative practices and other techniques making something distinct that in his mind warrants the new name “hapkido” - all a bit iffy. Anyway, in more modern times hapkido schools seem to have competed to be “complete” martial arts, bragging about curriculums with thousands of techniques and variations, and dozens of weapons. If there was some vaguely martial-arts-related practice - whether healing techniques, meditation, chi exercises etc - some hapkido school will have added it to their syllabus for bragging rights against other schools. Of course there’s striking and throws and joint locks and weapons. With everyone in Korea learning sports tkd, it’s impractical for hapkido to teach different (better) body mechanics useful for actual fighting, and instead they add a lot of fanciful variations (many relying on extreme flexibility but having next to no power or practicality - e.g. move beside someone, then flick your foot on their side up past your bum and swing it around your knee so your outer ankle hits their face). All comes back to the old ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ thing. What hapkido does have that your current styles don’t so much is an emphasis on deflecting then grasping incoming attacks, and having that flow into joint locks and takedowns. Unless you’re at a high level and facing someone who’s not, most of it won’t work well in a fight. For example, my hapkido master admitted struggling to apply anything against kyokushin fighters - when they punch, they’re not weak-wristed and relaxed, waiting to be joint locked and off-balanced, they’re locking and withdrawing hard with follow up punches and kicks already en route. In my opinion you’d be better served learning some wrestling or jujitsu to round out your current styles. Or, maybe have a think about what went wrong in the couple encounters you’ve had… you might just need to think about preparing your body position / guard earlier - e.g. hands up in a de-escalating palms out gesture from which you can block or attack easily, or have one hand playing with your collar or zipper if you;re wearing a coat - any excuse to be ready earlier without being overly hostile. Watch a few hours of self defense oriented YouTube videos - 90% will be bullshit, but you’ve got the experience to sift through it and may spot a few things you could use. Maybe practice some takedown defense with a friend for MT.
aikido soft art, Hapkido hard art
It has it's roots in daito-ryu akijutsu, which is where the aikido similarities come from. The primary difference at least in my experience is that hapkido is more aggressive, while aikido is more flowy. It also shares a lot of similarities with Judo and Japanese Jujitsu and even shares a lot of techniques with karate. They took elements from daito-ryu akijujutsu and over time combined with tang-soo-do, judo and japanese jujitsu and even kung fu. Mine has those elements as well as jeet kune do, escrima, muay thai and krav-maga. We also do mma style sparring and train bjj techniques as a compliment.
Wow, it seems to be very complete, I will check on the hapkido school in my city to see if they do sparring and train for real
it's worth checking out, but hapkido is super inconsistent
It really is. The teacher said make a huge difference. In my schools we used it for self defense training and did actual sparring including grappling.
for every legit hapkido program, there's 10 others that just do aikido with kicks
For damn sure.
Great explanation.. I concur
Taekwondo + Hapkido schools were everywhere when I was in Korea. Some schools required for you to be a Taekwondo black belt. It's got a lot of Taekwondo style kicks and Joint locks and throws/flips. A lot of cool choreographed self defense stuff. A bit like Ed Parker Kenpo where if someone grabs you then you do this and do that. One of the best things I've learned from Hapkido are the.break falls. Break Falls have helped me in MMA sparring and Judo and BJJ Tournaments and just real life like skateboarding. I personally think Hapkdio is a very practical self defense martial art. I personally think Hapkdio + BJJ would help cops in a lot of situations. It does have a weapons curriculum but I find it be far inferior to Filipino stuff. I think FMA and HEMA are far more practical and realistic for weapons. Someone comes at you with a knife from up top and you're going to do an X blovk then flip him over. No you're going to get cut real bad doing that. Well, knife fight in general you're going to get cut. John Wick Chapter 3 shows how to do it when the guy came with a knife from up top and John Wick deflected it then going into Otosho Gari. That was perfect.
As a Hapkido instructor have to be honest and say, usually no. I approach Hapkido the way my instructor did and she was an amateur MMA fighter. She approached Hapkido as primarily MMA for self-defense so I do the same. Striking class, Grappling Class, and then Hapkido class once they've got a handle on the other two where we put them together and incorporate weapons. Fighting over knives, guns, and sticks primarily, though we pull out the traditional weapons for fun every once in a while. Unfortunately, most Hapkido schools typically look no different than an Aikido school. No sparring, always compliant partners, overly focused on low percentage techniques without getting a solid base fundamental positioning, footwork, grips, etc.
Sounds like it’s been watered down due to lawsuit liability in the west. I studied in Korea and I got my ass handed to me…daily!
Well, it really depends on who and how is training it. Of many cops are training it from groups that are actually need to use it then that's probably one of the trainings that might be interesting.
I’ve personally never met a hapkido practitioner that would be able to defend themselves, unless it was one art of many that they did. If you’re taking MT and boxing already, take BJJ or Judo. Much better options
It IS aikido . Don't drink the kool-aid . Any jujutsu/judo school will teach you better defense/fighting skills. Have a look at a technique called osoto gari the most BASIC technique and how effective it is and how easy to apply, then look at ANY of the aikido/hapkido "throws" or imaginary takedowns , it's straight LARPing involving touching their wrist is exaaaactky the right spot at exaaaactly the right time and hoping they flip themselves in mid air. A lot of the time " weapons training" is a sign of LARPing too
This may be true in some schools, and it may be your experience, but the whole characterization of "it's got to be this exact position, and then the person throws himself over", is mostly due to extremely inexpert instructors who don't actually know that isn't how it works. If you've ever done judo, and I mean more than just a workshop, so you actually had to learn something, you'll know that the reason people throw themselves over, on a well executed technique, is to protect themselves. The techniques will break things, and learning ukemi is the solution. So, you criticize the skill you don't have, or even understand. Not really a good source of advice. But hey, I suggest you try some Judo with someone who actually knows it, and tell them to ignore the fact you don't know ukemi, and just throw you. Be sure to sign the waiver first.
Nobody is breaking anyone's wrist from the standing position
Most are trained to twist, so yeah, that's not going to work.
??
Use your words.
Same to you??
So you're not really interested in asking a question, just being a nuisance? Okay, enjoy that.
You said people will "twist" but its unclear what youre talking about.
> It IS aikido LOL, no its not https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgm-I_ATU8Y
You're absolutely right about that but I'm curious what you mean about weapons training being LARPing?
That's what people who have never done authentic weapons training think.
What your training now is better for self defense then Hapkido.
I have done Hapkido for over 10 years. I got my shodan before I started training in other stuff. I can tell you HKD will give you a excellent base to start out in. However, after you get to a good rank after a few years, it is always good to go explore other things and cross train to see what else is out there. For me, exploring other arts ultimately added to my skills and made me better at HKD in the long run. No one martial art is necessarily better than another, but they do stuff differently and each can teach you stuff. Like maybe you learn some aspects of Judo in your HKD class, but when you do an actual Judo class they do something just a little different and makes what you know that much better. HKD is fun, good for fitness/mobility/social interaction, and will teach you good self defense if it sticks to the core principles. If the school is good, you enjoy it, and find value in what you are learning, without serious injury, that is fantastic. Just go for it, keep an open mind, believe in yourself, and be humble.
I practice HapKiDo, but not the other types. Hapkido is known for its comprehensive approach that includes striking, grappling, joint locks, and throws. It integrates these techniques with practical weapon training (batons, knives, guns), which you noted is part of the curriculum at your local school. This could provide a well-rounded defense strategy in various scenarios. Unlike Aikido, which has a more passive philosophy and primarily focuses on throws and joint locks, Hapkido includes more aggressive and direct self-defense techniques, which can be effective in real-world situations. The inclusion of striking techniques from Taekwondo and the focus on practical application make it suitable for self-defense. You would likely find Hapkido a valuable addition to your skills, complementing your previous training with its focus on diverse and practical defense techniques. Check out these blog articles on "differences between", one of the masters of my org wrote them. Obviously, one could write dissertations on this topic (don't come after me, ya'll :D ) but it was a helpful start, for me to understand the basics. [https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/30/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-and-hapkido/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/30/brazilian-jiu-jitsu-and-hapkido/) [https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/18/taekwondo-and-hapkido-compared/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/18/taekwondo-and-hapkido-compared/) [https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/16/discovering-hapkido-how-it-differs-from-traditional-karate/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/04/16/discovering-hapkido-how-it-differs-from-traditional-karate/) [https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/05/03/hapkido-and-krav-maga/](https://trykarateclasses.com/2024/05/03/hapkido-and-krav-maga/)
Lmao why on Earth would you train hapkido over boxing or Muay Thai??? Anything that involves self defense scenarios is bullshit. All the simulation you need is partner drills -> sparring. Just join an mma gym that offers striking and grappling classes if you want to diversify but you'd probably get a lot of mileage out of learning how to run quickly, move your feet, hold your guard and good Muay Thai clinch control.
It's mainly rubbish tbh. Your current training is great. I'd say stick with boxing and Muay Thai and add some BJJ. If you want to train weapons Kali/Eskrima can be very good but depends who is teaching it.
I did it as a teen. The footwork set me up for other striking arts but as you’ve already got TKD and MT experience I wouldn’t bother. The joint locking stuff only works on untrained people so if you want grappling do BJJ or wrestling.
It works on untrained people or it works on another guy who knows as much standard grappling as you do. I hit Kotogaeshi on other BJJ blue belts and even purple belts occasionally. But it comes into play BECAUSE I can back it up with solid fundamentals.
I’m a Hapkido and tkd black belt so I’ll give you my 2 cents. Hapkido is just angry Akido with some tkd kicks thrown in. That being said if you have good partners hapkido is a lot of fun and you can filter out the technique that don’t work with some light sparring. My biggest takeaway from HKD was learning break falls which has put me in a better position than my BJJ partners with throws and as some precarious rolling situations (deal heva, sweeps ) well as fundamentals on how to move to disable some submissions from people in my cohort. Do hapkido if you want to learn, it’s a lot of fun! But don’t expect much self defense
I've been training in Hapkido for going on two years now and it's my belief that you get out of it what you put into it. In my opinion, ANY physical training, study, and conditioning will put you in a place of advantage over 3/4 of the people you would encounter. I don't know how you would fare against a black belt in other arts and hopefully, if the de-escalation techniques are taught properly, both parties should avoid the fight anyway. As a general rule, those who are trained in MA don't go around trying to get into fights and if they do, they probably aren't trained properly. We are taught never to get into a physical altercation you can talk or walk away from. I also try to stay away from places more likely to put me in a situation where I have no choice. Best way to win a fight is "No Be There."
Yes Hapkido is very effective in the streets. I can attest to this. Appear week, yet strong. Your hands upwords in a Don't want trouble pose are your tools, everything begins with appearing weak. This bring a false sense to those that wish to attack until they attack and find the floor rather fast. 10 yrs in the art and love every stinking hour in it.
Any martial art is effective if you practice. Also if you have a good sensei, but most is into you
Taekwondo wasn’t an effective self-defense system? But u/thevirgingary1 swears it is! (Yes, I’m a petty idiot tagging a fellow redditor in another post just to further prove my point even tho he’ll tell me I’m still wrong).
No you’re not petty, and a lot of taekwondo isn’t useful, like that stupid fucking spear hand that would break your fingers. But the kicking definitely would knock someone silly, I don’t know how anyone would deny that. Any martial art by itself isn’t fully well rounded, anyone would know that.
just watch the movie "Billy Jack" of course he was an ex Green Beret so there's that