On July 17, 2025, a video conference was held between Viktor Vladimirovich Lisin, President of the Sports Center of the International Alliance of BRICS Strategic Projects, and Richard Alexander Suarez Velez, President of the International Hapkido Federation. At the meeting, key aspects of the sport’s development were discussed and goals and objectives for its popularization in the BRICS countries were identified.
The Korean system of hand-to-hand combat, hapkido, was founded in the mid-20th century. This young martial art combined thousands of years of oriental martial arts experience and became one of the most practical, focusing on real combat interaction with an opponent. Hapkido has been adopted by law enforcement agencies in many countries.
The Secret of the Creator
The history of this new martial art, like many significant events in history, is shrouded in mystery. The identity of hapkido’s founder is known: the Korean martial artist Choi Yong-sol (1904-1986).
He came to Japan as a child. How? This is the first unsolved story. According to one version, wealthy parents sent him to study; according to another, a wealthy Japanese businessman kidnapped the boy and then abandoned him to his fate. One way or another, Choi Yong Sol became a student at the family school of Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu (Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu) of the renowned master Takeda Sokaku. He excelled in his studies, becoming the best student.
At school, the future founder of Hapkido received the Japanese name Tatujutsu Yoshida (Asao Yoshida) and spent about 30 years in Japan. Takeda Sokaku taught the royal family and other noble houses of Japan. He was assisted in everything by his devoted student. The teacher valued him so much that he saved him from participating in the battles of World War II, where he would have faced certain death. According to Choi’s memoirs, Master Takeda Sokaku called him the only student to whom he imparted all the secrets and techniques of his art. The system contained 3,808 technical actions!
https://intl-hc.org/
