Martial Arts on the Spiritual Path By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

       People on the spiritual path commonly ask me how could I be involved in something so seemingly violent as the martial arts. Martial artists continually ask me why do I place such an emphasis on spirituality. Though these two venues seem worlds apart, they are, in fact, closely inter-linked.

            For those of us who are old enough to remember the 1970’s television series, “Kung Fu,” where Kwai Chang Cane, a Shao Lin monk, was living in the Old West and continually flashing back to the lessons he learned while living at the Shao Lin Temple, we were presented with a standard whereby the average individual could sense a correlation and seeming necessity for even the most spiritual of persons using hand-to-hand combat. Though this television series was a theatrical presentation and historically inaccurate, it did define that there has long been martial artists in Asia who have been closely linked to their spirituality.

            First of all, however, it must be defined that every individual or martial arts practitioner who lives or comes from Asia is not necessarily an enlightened being. This is one of the common pitfalls many westerners fall into believing when they go to train in the martial arts.  They think simply because a person hails from Asia they somehow know more, are more, and should be universally revered as such.

            Throughout Asia, just as in the West, there are those individuals who are drawn to the spiritual path and embrace it.  And, just like in the West, there are far more people who only care about self, wealth, personal prestige, and couldn't care less about spirituality – though due to their geographical upbringing they oftentimes have picked up more facts about eastern religion than is commonly possessed by a Westerner.

            This being stated, due to the fact that the origin of the martial arts was based in Asia, eastern religion came to be the philosophy adhered to by the spiritually inclined practitioner of these systems of self-defense.  As such, it was eastern religion that came to be the defining factor of the spiritual basis for the martial arts. 

            An important factor to keep in mind when considering the link between martial arts and spirituality is that the two predominate religions which came to directly influence the martial arts are Taoism and Buddhism. Both of these philosophies are intrinsically defined with a deeply meditative and metaphysical process of thought.  Religions of the West, such as Christianity and Judaism, though no less viable conduits of faith, are not delineated by these characteristics.  An example of this is that they do not commonly send the practitioner down the road of attempting to loose the Personal Self in order to gain a glimpse of the Cosmic Whole.

            As the martial arts have continued to evolve throughout the centuries, so too have the various sects which make up Taoism and Buddhism. To this end, as time has progress some schools of the Chinese and Japanese martial arts have come to be keenly linked to their various philosophic traditions. Certainly, such arts as Tai Chi, through in actually a martial arts based on physical deflections, punching and kicking, is now seen as an essential form of movement meditation. This is no less the case with such Japanese systems of martial arts as Iaido, where a practitioner draws his sword in an exacting manner, delivers a precisely orchestrated technique, and then returns the sword to its sheath in a definitively meditative manner.  

            From these two illustrations we can see the martial arts do not have to solely be a method to kick butt. They can be a means for the body and mind to move into a state of exacting harmony, whereby the practitioner is removed from the constraints of physical existence and may gain a glimpse of meditative consciousness. 

            Though the martial arts are based in techniques of physical confrontation, that does not have to be their ending point. They can become something much-much more.

            One of the key problems embraced by the modern martial artist is the fact that they are taught in their martial art schools to live their life from a very competitive perspective. They are taught to believe that their style, their instructor, and, in fact, they are the best at what they do. What this causes, as can be noted by anyone who has been involved in the martial arts for any length of time, is the fact that there is an enormous amount of back stabbing, criticizing, and a general sense of hypocrisy going on among practitioners from differing styles or schools.  What this leads to is a life embraced by competition that is completely absent from peace.

            If you live your life at the level of constantly seeking confrontation, attempting to find a reason to battle with the hopes of overpowering or defeating anyone or everyone, for whatever reason, you are forced to live your life from a very animistic perspective.  And, like I have long said, just like the gun fighters of the Old West, there will always be somebody faster. Eventually you will be defeated. 

            To the person who lives their life at this level, they are constantly being engaged in confrontations and battles that are finding them out of the blue.  Why?  Because they are projecting a sense of confrontation to the universe – what you sew is what you reap.

            Though the modern martial arts commonly breeds this style of aggressive, competitive mindset, this does not have to be the case.  Just as the practitioners of Tai Chi or Iaido have proven, the martial arts can be a great source of movement meditation – where there is no need for conflict. 

            The essential thing to remember is that the essence of movement meditation is not defined by what style of martial arts you practice – though, obviously, certain styles are more open to having a students become meditative in their movements than others.  None-the-less, it is you who possess the ability to raise your martial arts to the level where something more than physical or mental conflict is embraced. 

            From the martial arts you learn to protect yourself if the need arises. But, fighting does not have to be the end point of your training. 

            If you are not seeking unnecessary conflict, you are not tracked down by it. If you are living your life embracing the glory of your existence, by whatever religious or philosophic criteria you choose, you will not be bound by the limitations of other martial artists you encounter that are hell bend on making themselves appear to be bigger, better, or more by whatever title, award, lie, or punch they possess. If you live your life from a focus of consciousness, you can transcend the limitations of any situation you encounter. This will naturally occur not by fighting your way out, but by experience all of life from a state of universal understanding.

            Are the martial arts violent?  Only if you let them be.

Copyright © 1996 – All Rights Reserved

Martial Arts on the Spiritual Path @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

 

Hapkido’s Theory of Circular Self Defense By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

This article originally appeared in the July 1993 issue of Black Belt Magazine.

            As a martial artist you are trained to continually develop and refine your self defense skills. This training often times involves drills that will teach you how to defend yourself against the onslaught of the various attacks an adversary may launch against you. The defensive tactics that are generally taught, by many martial art system, teach you how to defend yourself with forceful techniques once an opponent has already grabbed a hold of you or has unleashed an attack such as a kick or a punch. The problem with defending yourself at this late stage of an attack is that your opponent either already has a hold of you or he has already unleashed his punch.

            Once an opponent has a powerful hold on you it is much harder to free his grasp from you then if you encountered him before he has the opportunity to take a firm hold of you. Additionally, if your attacker has already begun to punch at you, that punch is in motion, it has power, velocity, and speed, which you can only hope to beat with a traditional block. The Korean martial art system of Hapkido teaches its practitioners that it is far better to defend yourself before your attacker has the opportunity to solidify his attack upon you. To achieve self defense, in the early stages of an attack, Hapkido uses its Theory of Circular Self Defense.

            The Hapkido Theory of Circular Self Defense does not mean that you move your body in elaborate exaggerated circular movements. Instead, Circular Self Defense training is twofold; first of all, it teaches that the most important element in any confrontation is to define the range your opponent is attacking from. How far is he from you? With this knowledge the most appropriate and effective self defense measure may be put into place before your opponent has launched a successful attack upon you. Once this range is defined the second level of Hapkido Theory of Circular Self Defense can be put into place, that of moving in fluid circular motion.

            The first step we will view is how to conclude the range of your opponent’s attack. To accomplish this, the Hapkido practitioner utilizes the Three Concentric Circle Principal.

            The Three Concentric Circle Principal has you visualize three circles of varying distances encompassing your body. The First or Primary Circle is approximately three feet around you, or the distance of your outstretched arms. If an opponent has substantiated an attack this close to you, immediate and aggressive self defense is necessary.

            The Second Circle ranges from three to six feet around your body. At this level, your opponent needs to travel to you, to launch an effective attack. To travel this distance a certain amount of momentum is required. This momentum can be effectively used against him by deflecting his forward motion attack and using his expended energy to your own advantage.

            If due to defensive circumstance you must travel to your opponent, crossing this Second Circle limit, you must do so in a balanced offensive posture. The Second Circle is in relatively close proximity to you. For this reason, many martial artist attempt to overly stretch close-in fighting techniques to this three to six foot distance. This is a mistake. You should not attempt to stretch your close-in punching or kicking techniques, as this will leave you off balance.

            If these initial techniques do not make successful contact with your attacker, he can use your lack of balance to his own advantage and strike you with a powerful attack. To this end, if you realize the necessity to move into his Second Circle location, you should do so by rapidly sliding your body in towards him, guided by your lead foot, and then, immediately encounter him with an appropriate powerful strike such as a Straight Punch followed by a joint lock and throw.

            The Third or Tertiary Circle extends from six to nine feet around your body. If your opponent travels this distance to attack you, his oncoming motion is very obvious and appropriate defensive action can easily be prepared for and instigated. If, on the other hand, you decide it is in your best interest to travel this distance and encounter your opponent where he is located, then you must do so in the most efficient manner possible.

            The only reason to travel this distance is if your opponent possesses a weapon such as a gun and his using it is inevitable. If this is the case, then such techniques as a Stepping or Jumping Side Kick are most effective. This is because of the fact that these offensive techniques close the distance between yourself and your opponent quickly and you arrive in an offensive posture.

            The Three Concentric Circle Principal does not mean that you must maintain a stagnate positioning. What it does detail, however, is that these three circles move as your body moves. They are a method to accurately gauge the distance between your opponent and yourself and tell you when defensive tactic is most appropriate.

            By first defining the distance from your attack opponent, you can enter into any confrontation prepared to successfully defend yourself in the most appropriate manner. This area of Hapkido ideology is known as Range Effective Fighting. Once the range of your defensive posture is understood you then can successfully employee the second area of Hapkido Theory of Circular Self-Defense, that of Circular Movement.

            Hapkido teaches that by training your body to move in natural patters of circular motion you can effectively defeat an opponent’s attack with minimal expended energy and without the potential of unnecessarily injuring yourself. It must be initially understood that Circular Defense never has you encounter an attack straight on. This is because of the fact that linear defensive techniques are forceful, awkward, and often times hold you locked into a single pattern of movement. This fact can be witnessed in the case of the forceful Forearm Block against a Straight Punch. This common traditional defensive technique, among Hard Style Martial Art Systems, witnesses you entering into a Front Stance with your blocking arm powerfully traveling upwards towards where the attacker’s punch is expected to travel. If the pathway of his punch has been even slightly miscalculated or the attacker redirects his offensive assault, you will have expended excessive energy and your arm will be locked into forcefully moving in the defensive pattern you have instigated until it reaches its apex. While the aforementioned linear block is in progress, your opponent possesses the ability to strike at you with a secondary attack. If, on the other hand, you train your body to move in fluid circular motions, if your opponent redirects his attack, you can instantly adapt your defense to his movement as you will not be locked into a formal forceful blocking pattern.

            Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Self Defense is a style and a pattern of movement. This understanding teaches that first you remove yourself from the path of an opponent’s attack, then you deflect it, intercept it, and finally you disable your attacker from possessing the ability to attempt to injure your further. This strategy of defense is accomplished by training your body to move in fluid circular motion, following the path of least resistance. This defensive ideology, thereby, allows you to immediately follow one defensive technique with another and another until your opponent is completely disabled.

            At the basis of Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Defense is your moving out of the path of an attack. Moving from the path of an attack does not witness you rapidly retreating backwards or sloppily moving to one side in a linear fashion. This type of random movement leaves you ill-equipped to immediately follow up with further effective defensive techniques that will disable your opponent. This is due to the fact that by launching your body rapidly in a linear retreat, your body's own momentum locks you into one pattern of movement. Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Self Defense, instead, sees you calculating the path of your opponent’s attack, and then making only the minimal movement to remove yourself from the path of that attack. With this style of movement, you do not have to substantially re-balance yourself, you use little energy, and you remain in a close proximity to your opponent where necessary counter attacks can easily and effectively be instigated.

            The most elementary example of moving out of the way of an opponent’s attack can be witnessed in the circular defense against the Straight Punch. In the case of the Straight Punch, which is targeted at your head, simply by pivoting on the ball of your lead foot and circularly moving your rear leg to a forty-five-degree positioning from where it previously was, your heads positioning has shifted to the degree that the Straight Punch of your opponent will continue on its linear path and miss its target. With this you have achieved initial self defense without ever instigating a formal block.

            As forceful linear attacks are often very powerful in their forward driving nature, Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Self Defense teaches that deflective blocking techniques should be used in accordance with your removing yourself from the path of your opponent’s attack. With this, you maintain control over the confrontation and your opponent does not possess the ability to unleash a secondary attack on you. This is due to the fact that by deflecting an attack, you can leave your arm in place, thus, holding his striking arm in check, as you instigate additional defensive techniques.

            The most elementary circular deflective technique is the Frontal Circular Knife Hand Deflection. This block is performed by first forming your hand into a Knife Hand, bending your elbow, and locating your forearm in front of your body, parallel to the ground. To deflect the on-coming Straight Punching attack of your opponent, first pivot out of the path of his attack, (as previously described), as you do so simultaneously circularly guide your hand upwards across your body to a vertical positioning. The Straight Punch will have missed you, you will have deflected your opponent’s arm, and you will be in control of the altercation.

            With these two simple pivoting and deflection techniques as a basis, you not only protect your entire upper body from attack, but you deflect the on-coming punch of your opponent with little or no expended energy. In addition, by deflecting the attack, as opposed to forcefully blocking it, you do not risk the possibility of injuring yourself by meeting bone to bone in a traditional powerful intercepting blocking technique.

            Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Self Defense teaches that you must maintain control over the altercation and not allow your opponent to possess the ability to strike at you with a secondary attack once you have achieved initial self defense. Deflecting is never enough to emerge victorious from a confrontation.

            The point to launch further self defense counter measures is the moment your opponent’s attack has been deflected. This is due to the fact that in this rapidly fleeting moment, he is most vulnerable as his balance is somewhat misalign and his mind is recalculating what move to make next. Therefore, this is your ideal opportunity to launch a counter attack.

            In the case of the previously described, Circular Deflection Defense against the Straight Punch, your next line of self defense could be as simple as immediately reaching in to your opponent’s chin with your lead deflecting hand, as your other hand rapidly moves in and takes control of the back of his head. By immediately taking a powerful front and rear hold on his head and locking his neck unnaturally away from you, he can be effortlessly directed to the ground, where additional counter attack measures can be unleashed as necessary.

            Many confrontations do not begin in this previously discussed First Circle distance. Often times an opponent will rush in towards you, crossing through the Third and Second Circle distances, in order to attack. In this style of forward driven attack, your opponent’s intentions will become quite evident and you can use his own forward momentum against himself. For example, if an opponent rushes in at you and is either preparing to extend his arms to shove you or to punch you, your first level of defense is to Side Step his forward motion. You then immediately deflect his out stretched arm, with a Forearm Circle Deflection. Your opponent, due to his own expended energy, will continue to travel forward with his own force of motion. At this point he will be vulnerable to counter attack.

            Hapkido’s Circular Theory of Self Defense is simple in its design and it application. It teaches that you simply encounter any attack by not encountering it at all. Instead, it is far better to step away from the path of force, deflect as necessary, and then counter attack with the most circularly easy technique so your opponent will not possess the ability to strike at you with a secondary attack.

Copyright © 1993 – All Rights Reserved

Hapkido’s Theory of Circular Self Defense @ Scott Shaw.com 

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International

The Forgotten Fists of Taekwondo By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

This article first appeared in the June 2009 issue of Black Belt Magazine

            Taekwondo has long been defined by its advanced kicking techniques. But, taekwondo is much more than simply a martial art that places its primary focus upon the legs. At the heart of taekwondo is an exacting system of self-defense that employs all parts of a practitioner’s body. This is done so that the practitioner can be confident and emerge victorious from whatever type of physical altercation they may encounter.

            Throughout the early evolution of taekwondo, from the mid 1940s forward, its self-defense techniques were continually reviewed and redesigned in order to make taekwondo an exacting science of self-defense. During the latter part of the twentieth century, however, taekwondo evolved into an Olympic sport. From this came many rules and regulations that began to alter the evolution of this self-defense orientated style of martial arts. Most noticeably was the fact that many of the original hand and arm strikes, that were elemental to the foundation of the original art of taekwondo, began to be toned down and in many cases eliminated altogether. This was due to the fact that in Olympic style taekwondo competitions, the punch is never allowed to be delivered to an opponent’s face or head.  Punching and other hand techniques are restricted solely to an opponent’s body. 

            With the inauguration of the sport of taekwondo, this has caused many modern taekwondo instructors to veer their curriculum away from the traditional self-defense aspects of taekwondo and focus their training primarily upon the sport facets of the art.  There has been much controversy associated with this redefinition – especially among the early practitioners of the art.  This is due to the fact that many believe that by training a taekwondo student to focus their hand striking techniques solely upon the body of an opponent, the natural reaction to strike to the more debilitating locations on the opponent’s neck and head will be hindered if they ever encounter true combat.

Hidden Inside the Forms of Taekwondo

            It must be understood that taekwondo was developed to utilize all elements of the practitioner’s body in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Simply by looking at the forms (poomse) of taekwondo, one immediately sees that there are low kicks to the legs, punches to the head, knife hands to the throat, and elbow strikes to the temples. 

            With the dawn of Olympic sport taekwondo, some teachers have moved away from training their students in the actual self-defense applications detailed in these forms.  Instead, they have left the hand and arm strikes only to be practiced during the forms segment of a taekwondo class.  This has caused speculation on the part of many novice taekwondo students as to how to actually use the hand and arm techniques detailed in the forms. This has given birth to a school of thought that there are secret elements, known only to the masters, hidden within the forms of taekwondo. This is not the case, however. The only reason this myth persists is based upon the fact that some modern taekwondo teachers no longer embrace the essential self-defense applications detailed in the forms of taekwondo.  Instead, they have shifted their focus to training their students solely on the limited applications of sport taekwondo.

            It must be understood that by not embracing the entire system of self-defense, detailed in the original definition of taekwondo, many students have been left with a less than adequate understanding of self-defense.  To overcome this problem, the entire system of taekwondo self-defense training must be embraced – especially that of the hand and arm strikes.  Thereby, making all taekwondo practitioners the most competent and well-rounded self-defense technicians possible.

            For this reason, this article will detail some of the understandings of how taekwondo uses the fist, hand, and arm in the most efficient self-defense manner possible. From this, the taekwondo practitioner can gain a refined understanding about the techniques in taekwondo’s arsenal of hand and arm strikes in order to better understand how they are best employed in actual self-defense applications.

Taekwondo and the Fist

            Taekwondo possesses a plethora of hand and arm striking techniques.  The fist, the knuckles, the knife hand, the circle hand, and the elbows are all part of this vast system of self-defense. To this end, the true practitioner of taekwondo never leaves behind all of the tools of his art.  Though they may train extensively in the rules that make up Olympic sport competition, they also train their body and mind to be prepared to unleash the most devastating hand and arm strikes if the self-defense situation ever presents itself.

Rapid Penetration

            At the heart of taekwondo’s self-defense arsenal is the understanding of rapid penetration of an opponent’s defenses.  What this means is that taekwondo uses a very linear and straightforward method in the unleashing of all of its offensive and defensive attacks. From this, each taekwondo strike becomes very rapid and is designed to quickly penetrate an opponent’s defenses.

            Simplicity is the second key to the taekwondo arsenal of self-defense. This means that no unnecessary or over exaggerated movement is ever employed, as this simply slows down the process of self-defense. Each offensive or defensive strike is designed to be rapid and precise in its application and is implemented to debilitate an opponent in the most rapid manner possible. From these two understandings comes an extremely exacting system of self-defense that uses no unnecessary movement and quickly debilitates any attacker.

            With these two tenets as a basis of self-defense understanding, taekwondo’s primary punching technique is the straight punch. By its very design, the straight punch allows the practitioner to make contact with the intended target in the most expedient and powerful fashion possible. 

The Straight Punch

            The straight punch is one of the essential tools of taekwondo’s punching arsenal. The straight punch uses the front fist. It is understood that this punch is generally the first line of defense one should turn to for self-defense applications, as it is a natural, easy, and very debilitating technique of self-defense.

            The taekwondo straight punch is driven forward, directly towards your target, in a linear fashion.  Your shoulder muscles and triceps are the bodily tools used to propel your fist forward.  Your fist can make contact with your opponent in either a vertical or horizontal positioning. 

            The taekwondo straight punch is ideally delivered when the elbow of your punching arm remains slightly bent upon making target impact.  This is initially accomplished by accurately judging the distance between you and your opponent. You then make striking impact with your opponent before your arm reaches the point where it must stretch out or extend unnaturally to reach its desired strike point.  By allowing your elbow to remain slightly bent, whenever you use a straight punching technique, you not only maintain maximum body balance but you keep your elbow from possible hypertension, as the momentum of the punch drives it forward.

            The key element that gives the taekwondo straight punch its power is the fact that you make contact with your target before you have extended your punching arm fully.  The reason for this is so that your straight punch reaches its target as close to its point of inception as possible. This allows you to continue forward with the force and power of the punch -- extending it deeply into your opponent.  If, on the other hand, you have to reach to make contact with your opponent, you will have utilized and wasted a large portion of the power of your punch before it ever impacts its intended strike point.

The Taekwondo Straight Punch Verses the Roundhouse Punch

            The reason the practitioner of taekwondo utilizes the straight punch, as the preferred punching technique, is the fact that it holds several advantages over the more common roundhouse punch. The roundhouse punch is delivered when the punching arm initially swings outwards and then in towards its target. Due to its design, the roundhouse punch is not only much slower than the straight punch, but it is much more obvious and easy to defend against, as well.

Other Linear Hand Strike Techniques

            Through the design and application of the straight punch, the practitioner of taekwondo delivers other linear hand striking techniques in much the same, very direct manner.  By this style of application, these techniques not only become very fast and powerful but they additionally become very hard to block -- due to the extremely linear nature of their delivery.

The Knuckle Fist (Jin Joo Mok)

            The knuckle fist is formed by making your hand into a fist. You then cause your forward knuckles to extend forward.  Offensive delivery is made with this weapon of the hand by projecting your bent elbow from mid body level. The forward motion of this punch is driven forward with your shoulder and arm muscles. As the knuckle fist is a refined and highly specific striking tool, its impact is ideally delivered to the solar plexus or central throat of an opponent. 

The Circle Hand (Won Yuk Soo Do)

            The circle hand is formed by separating your thumb from your forefinger, tightening the muscles and tendons of the hand, and striking, in a linear fashion, to the frontal region of an attacker’s neck. The circle hand, which strikes an opponent’s throat, is also immediately delivered in a very linear style of attack.  From this, the opponent is struck and debilitated before he has the opportunity to block this offensive technique.

The Palm Strike (Chang Kwon)

            The palm strike, like the straight punch, is delivered in a very linear fashion. The palm strike has you bend your fingers at your second knuckle, which exposes the base of your palm.  By bending your fingers in this fashion, the muscle that extends from your thumb across the base of your hand is tightened, thus providing a powerful striking weapon. Your palm is then brought back to your shoulder level.  It is unleashed by snapping the strike towards its target with your shoulder muscles.

            The palm strike is most effectively used to target locations on your opponent’s head such as: underneath the base of his nose, (which can prove deadly), across the bridge of his nose, his temples, or the side of his jaw. 

The Back Fist (Ye Kwon)

            The use of the back fist, in modern taekwondo, has virtually disappeared. This offensive technique was, however, an integral part of the original teachings of this art.

            The back fist is an extremely rapid offensive weapon.  To unleash the back fist, your elbow is bent and your fist is brought back to your chest at shoulder level in a vertical position.  The back fist is then unleashed at its target by first snapping your elbow out and then extending the distance of the back fist’s attack from your shoulder. The back fist is generally aimed at your opponent’s head.

            The back fist is extremely difficult to defend against.  This is due to the fact that it is a very rapid striking weapon and once impact is made, your fist is rapidly recoiled.  The back fist can, therefore, be used multiple times when additional striking measures are necessary.

The Bottom Fist (Yoo Kwon)

            The bottom fist is formed in a traditional fist fashion.  The striking element of this weapon is the base of your hand, between your wrist and the base of your little finger.  The bottom fist is delivered in a downward striking motion. It is ideally targeted at the top of the head, or the bridge of the nose of your opponent when you are both in a vertical position.  In other instances, this strike can be used to strike downward to any location on your opponent’s body you find open for immediate attack.

The Knife Hand (Soo Do)

            To form the knife hand, the fingers are extended and the muscles and tendons in the hand and wrist are tightened. The initial mistake many novice taekwondo practitioners make when attempting to use the knife hand as a weapon is to relax the tension in their hand, either just before or when the knife hand strikes.  This should never be done, for you can easily break bones in your hand.

            The basic strike weapon of the knife hand is along the base of the hand. This extends from where the wrist ends to where the little finger begins. This is along its arched side and is the location where the knife hand develops the most strength by the aforementioned tightening techniques.

            The extension of the arm and then the snapping of the elbow propel the knife hand strike.  The momentum developed by the snapping out of the elbow should never be allowed to entirely control your knife hand assault. The elbow should remain slightly bent when the knife hand technique is delivered, thus maintaining control over your movement.

            The knife hand is not a randomly effective weapon such as the fist -- which can be allowed to strike virtually anywhere on an opponent’s body. Instead, the knife hand is ideally suited to strike very specific locations on an opponent’s body: the front of his neck, across his nose, to his temples, and the side of his ribs.

The Inside Knife Hand (Yuk Soo Do)

            The inside knife hand is formed in much the same way as the traditional knife hand. Initially, the muscles of the fingers and hand are tensed.  The difference between this offensive technique and that of the traditional knife hand is that impact is made with the inside ridge of your hand.  To this end, the thumb of the striking hand is pulled tightly into the palm, thereby exposing the inner ridge of the hand.

            Due to the fact that it is very easy to damage the hand and thumb if the technique is unleashed improperly, this advanced taekwondo hand striking technique is only used by the most advanced practitioners who truly understand this hand technique’s proper usage.  The ideal opponent striking techniques to be impacted by the inside knife hand are the side of an opponent’s neck, the front of his neck, and across the bridge of his nose.  As this technique does not possess a lot of power, it is not an ideal technique to be used on other, firmer, bodily locations.

The Elbow Strike (Keum Chi)

            As can be seen in a number of taekwondo forms, the elbow strike is a commonly employed tool of offense and defense. To the taekwondo practitioner, the elbow becomes an exacting weapon in numerous self-defense applications.

            The forward elbow strike witnesses you bending your elbow, exposing the protruding elbow bone at the base of your forearm.  This bone is your striking tool. This forward elbow strike is ideally targeted at a vital strike point on your opponent’s head. 

            To perform the forward elbow strike, bring your elbow up to shoulder level and pivot your body at waist level. By stepping in with your lead foot, you make an extremely powerful impact to your target. 

            The forward elbow strike is an ideal weapon to be used in close contact in-fighting. It is an ideal weapon on your opponent when your opponent is moving in on you or has taken a powerful forward hold on your body.  The ideal strike points for this type of defense are your opponent’s temples or any place on his face.

            The rear elbow strike is an ideal weapon to use if an attacker has grabbed a hold of your body from behind.  If you have been grabbed from behind, the rear elbow strike witnesses you pivoting backwards, unleashing your bent elbow from shoulder level, making impact to virtually any part of your attacker’s body, but most ideally to his head and face. 

            If you have not yet been grabbed from behind but your attacker is close, you can add the additional momentum driven movement of your body into the strike by pivoting at your waist level, as your rear elbow strike is unleashed. 

Using the Entire Art

            As can be easily understand, taekwondo utilizes much more in its self-defense arsenal than simply its feet. It also takes the hands and arms of the practitioner and turns them into exacting tools of self-defense. Though this expansive system of self-defense has continued to be refined over the decades, instead of diminishing its techniques it is essential that the true taekwondo enthusiasts continue to embrace all aspects of the art, thereby make the practitioner a more complete and well-rounded martial artist.

Copyright © 2009 – All Rights Reserved

The Forgotten Fists of Taekwondo @ Scott Shaw.com

Scott Shaw Hapkido Taekwondo International 

Integrating Hapkido and Taekwondo By Scott Shaw

By Scott Shaw

This article first appeared in the July 2002 issue of Taekwondo Times.

            As anyone who has studied or researched the Korean martial arts readily understands, Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido are two very different systems of self-defense. If one were to compare these systems, the differences would be overwhelming. Yet, as they were both born in post World War II Korea, there are many instructors who teach both of these systems in their schools.

            How is this possible? To understand how these systems have come to interact over the decades, we can begin by defining their origins, their differences, and then move forward into a discussion on how each system can aid in the self-defense applications of the other.

The Foundation of Tae Kwon Do

            Tae Kwon Do began its formation at the end of World War II when the Korean Peninsula was liberated from the occupying forces of Japan. With newly acquired liberation, the Korean people vowed to never again be overthrown by a foreign power. Thus, they began to develop not only a powerful military but to focus upon the realms of personal self-defense as well.

            As the practice of the indigenous Korean martial arts had been banned during the Japanese occupation, the majority of the ancient manuscripts on these systems had also been destroyed. The Korean people had very little to link them to their historic systems of self-defense. In reality, during Japanese occupation, the only system legally practiced in Korea was Judo.

            During this era, many Koreans relocated to Japan during the occupation. While there, many studied various systems of Japanese martial arts, most commonly, Shotokan Karate. Upon Korean independence, several of these practitioners returned to their native land and began to teach the system of self-defense they had studied abroad.

            Won Kuk Lee, a Shotokan black belt, opened the first school of self-defense in the newly liberated Korea. It was known as Chung Do Kwan. Sang Sup Chun, founder of Yung Moo Kwan, quickly followed him. Chun originally studied Judo in his Korean homeland and while attending college in Japan, became a Shotokan black belt as well. Byung In Yoon, a black belt in the Okinawan based system of Shudokan Karate, taught at Chun's school for approximately one year until he left and founded his own school, the Chang Moo Kwan.

            While living in China and working on the Southern Manchuria Railroad, Hwang Kee founded the system that eventually became known as Tan Soo Do Moo Kuk Kwan. Kee is said to have studied systems of Japanese and Chinese self-defense that laid the foundations for his art.

            Song Moo Kwan, founded by Shotokan stylist Byung Jick Ro opened a school soon after Hwang Kee. Ro had earlier attempted to open a school of self-defense in occupied Korea. He did not succeed due to the repressive conditions laid down by the occupying Japanese military. He successfully reopened his school post World War II.

            With these initial kwans, all established by 1946, the birth of Tae Kwon Do was set in motion. When General Hong Hi Choi, also a Shotokan black belt, began to unify these varying systems under the banner of Tae Kwon Do, there were more similarities than differences. This is in no small part due to their common Japanese heritage.

Tae Kwon Do: The Japanese Connection

            At the root of Tae Kwon Do is Japanese Karate. Though many historians wish to negate this face, historical Tae Kwon Do began this way. Once the newly born Korean schools of self-defense began to take hold, however, several of the founders did reach back into Korean history and integrate any remaining knowledge of the ancient Korean martial arts into their twentieth century systems. As with many systems of self-defense, Tae Kwon Do practitioners have continued to expand upon the roots of the art and have taken Tae Kwon Do to a new, more expansive level than what can be seen in traditional Japanese Karate. It is for this reason that only rudimentary similarities remain between the Japanese and Korean martial arts.

The Foundation of Hapkido

            Yong Sul Choi formalized the art that eventually became known as Hapkido. While living in Japan for nearly forty years, Choi worked for the patriarch of Daito Ryu Aikijitsu, Sokaku Takeda. He learned and mastered the art of Daito Ryu from this source.

            After the death of Takeda, Choi returned to Korea and worked as a roadside rice cake salesman and hog farmer. As fate would have it, one day he went to a brewery owned by Dong Jin Suh. His son, Bok Sup Shuh witnessed Choi, then in his forties, rapidly defeat several young men who attacked him. When Suh inquired about this style of self-defense, Choi told him that it was Daito Ryu. Choi's abilities so impressed Suh, who was already a black belt in Judo, that he became his first student. This set the development of Hapkido in motion.

            The system that Choi initially taught was a very pure form of Daito Ryu. It later became integrated with the Judo knowledge that Suh possessed. Thus, one can trace many of the Hapkido sleeve and lapel grab defenses to Suh's mastery of Judo.

            Though many people wish to falsely date the origin of Hapkido to centuries ago in Korea, this is not the case. Choi never made that claim. Initially, he called his system Dae Dong Ryu Yu Sool. This is the Korean translation for Daito Ryu Jujitsu.

Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido: The Differences

            At the root of the differences between Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido is their defensive methodology. Tae Kwon Do, particularly the style practiced by the World Taekwondo Federation, is essentially an offensive art. its techniques are devised to encounter an opponent, penetrate his defenses, and offensively strike him in the most powerful manner possible. Hapkido is just the opposite.

            The basis of Hapkido is founded upon defense. Even at its most elementary level, Hapkido techniques are designed to teach the student to deflect punches or remove themselves from the various holds an attacker may have upon his body, and then send the opponent to the ground with a well-placed joint lock, throw or a powerful counter strike.

The Stance

            The stance is the next highly differing element that separated Tae Kwon Do from Hapkido. As detailed, the root of Hapkido is Daito Ryu Aikijitsu. Daito Ryu is very different from many other forms of the Japanese martial arts, particularly Shotokan, that influenced the birth of Tae Kwon Do. The fighting stances of these arts demonstrate the differences. Whereas many hard style schools of Japanese karate use a very stiff and firm stance, Daito Ryu is just the opposite, it employs a very free flowing from of movement – with less reliance upon the firm and locked stance.

            To understand the differences between the stances of the two arts, all one needs to do is observe the formalized stances practiced in Tae Kwon Do forms. In Tae Kwon Do, almost every offensive or defensive movement is delivered by first entering into a very firm front, side, or back stance – only then is the defensive or offensive movement deployed.

            Conversely, Hapkido allows its practitioner to move in a free flowing, natural stance pattern. This allows the Hapkido stylist to effortlessly flow from one technique into the next until an opponent is defeated. This is not to say that Hapkido uses no stance. This is the mistake many make when attempting to define Hapkido. Hapkido does use stances – they are simply far less rigid than those employed by Tae Kwon Do. For example, the Hapkido practitioner does not enter into a deep front stance before performing a straight punch.

Linear Verses Circular

            The final defining difference between Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido is their style of movement. Tae Kwon Do uses a linear pattern of movement while Hapkido employs a circular structure for its defense.

            Many Tae Kwon Do stylists will immediately comment, “We use circular techniques. We have the roundhouse kick, the spinning kick, and so on.” Though these techniques are circular in nature, the overall delineation of the art is to move in a linear, straight-to-the-target pattern. This is especially illustrated in the way WTF Taekwondo has redefined several of its elementary kicks. No longer is the sidekick or roundhouse kick swung out and then in towards its target. Today, it is initially brought up in essentially a front kick pattern and then it is unleashed from the central axis of the body, making it more rapid and directly targeted.

            Alternatively, Hapkido embraces a circular pattern of movement as the source-point for its techniques. What this means is that the Hapkido practitioner is taught to never encounter an opponent directly. Instead, by circularly pivoting out of the way of an attack or by side-stepping and then circularly deflecting an attack, the practitioner of Hapkido maintains control over an opponent by utilizing the attacker's own expended energy. The Hapkido stylist emerges victorious from a physical altercation without ever entering into a blow-by-blow fight.

Merging Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido

            Now that the differences of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido have been defined, the question can understandably be asked: How are these two very different systems of self-defense be taught as one art? The simple answer is by synchronizing the best of what both of these arts have to offer.

            Undoubtedly, one of the first practitioners to begin the integration of Tae Kwon Do with Hapkido was notably Grandmaster Han Jae Ji. After studying with Yong Sul Choi for a number of years at Hapkido's base near Taegu, South Korea, Ji relocated to Seoul in 1957 where he opened a school. Central to the location where the various schools of the modern Korean martial arts were congregating under the banner of Tae Kwon Do, Ji began to integrate the various understandings utilized by Tae Kwon Do into Hapkido. He was the first to add the advanced kicking arsenal, commonly associated with Tae Kwon Do, into the Hapkido curriculum. Keep in mind, Choi never taught this style of elaborate kicking offense within his schools of Hapkido.

Integrating The Stance

            Now that it is understood how the birth of Tae Kwon Do – Hapkido integration was set in motion, we can now take a closer look at how certain factors of each art may aid the other and help the practitioner become a more refined martial artist. To begin this process, we can view the stance.

            As described, Tae Kwon Do focuses primarily upon a formal “Hard stance” for the majority of its techniques. The Hapkido practitioner can benefit from this understanding when entering into certain joint locking, throwing or striking techniques. The more formalized stances of Tae Kwon Do can be very useful to the Hapkido stylist because as one enters a firmer stance, a technique, such as a joint lock or throw, can be delivered in a more substantial and deliberate manner.

            Traditionally, the Hapkido practitioner executes many of his joint locks or throws from a low, informal stance or one that has him place one knee upon the ground. Though this style of stance is very useful for certain types of throwing techniques, there is a limitation to its usage. First of all, as the Hapkido stylist placed himself low to the ground, he must raise himself up to his feet in order to rapidly reestablish himself, if for example, his opponent quickly moves or releases himself from the impending joint lock or throw. This takes time, which is not always available in a fight.

            If the Hapkido practitioner locks into a more rigid footing, such as a front stance, when delivering a strike or a throw, he is then more upwardly mobile as he has not gone on one knee or positioned himself low to the ground. if he must rapidly redirect his actions, he can do so in a much simpler pattern of movement as he has remained standing on his feet.

            Though a rigid stance may help some techniques, just the opposite is true of others. This is where the Tae Kwon Do stylist may use the Hapkido natural stance. For example, it is not always necessary for a person to enter into a formal front stance when delivering several of the more common strikes, such as the straight punch, front kick or sidekick. The Tae Kwon Do stylist therefore can use the Hapkido understanding of the loose natural stance for many of these offensive actions. They will then be able to move in a more rapid and less restricted pattern.

The Form

            Traditional Hapkido does not possess forms. many modern practitioners of Hapkido exposed to Tae Kwon Do integrate the practice of teaching a prescribed pattern of movement into their overall Hapkido curriculum.

            There has been a long-standing debate in the martial arts as to the effectiveness of form training. It is not the purpose of this article to discuss this controversy. None-the-less, form training has been proven to be effective in educating, particularly novice students, in some of the ways defensive actions may precede offensive techniques. This stated, the Hapkido student may learn the advanced precision of executing and perfecting fighting techniques that can be mastered by performing a prescribed set of formalized movements.

Hand-To-Hand Self-Defense

            In the early stages of Tae Kwon Do's development, hand-to-hand combat techniques were a staple. As time progressed, especially among WTF stylists, joint locks and throws have virtually disappeared from Tae Kwon Do training. This is where the traditional Tae Kwon Do student can gain enormous depth in his understanding of self-defense - integrating the vast knowledge of deflection, joint locks, ground fighting, and throws inherent to Hapkido into defensive methodology.

            Conversely, Hapkido possesses a plethora of advanced throwing techniques. Though many of these techniques are beautiful to watch in a demonstration environment, many of them are useless in the random kill-or-be-killed confrontations that happen on the street. For this reason, the Hapkido stylist can learn from the Tae Kwon Do stylist how to streamline techniques and use only the most rapid and penetrating of offensive and defensive methodologies by removing any application that is too slow, too elaborate or too difficult to perform.

The Evolving Korean Martial Arts

            As you now understand, though Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido are highly developed, individualized arts, they can each benefit from integrating their defensive ideologies. As we progress into the twenty-first century, these martial arts will continue to evolve. However; there will obviously be some controversy among the traditional hard liners about this fact. Nonetheless, as the integrating of Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido has already been set in motion, this pattern will continue with each art learning from the other.

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