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The birth
of the Korea Hapkido Federation can be traced to
Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae. In 1973 he brought
together two other advanced masters of Hapkido:
Kim, Moo Wong and Myung, Jae Nam -- both of these
men were originally his students. They untied their
individual Hapkido organizations and named the
newly formed association, Daehan Hapkido Hyub Hae,
The Republic of Korea Hapkido
Federation.
Grandmaster
Ji was the first founding master to leave this
federation. Grandmaster Myung eventually left, as
well. Upon his exit Grandmaster Ji reclaimed the
organizational name he had used prior to this and
called his new organization The Korea Hapkido
Association. This was, however, the name also
adopted by the remaining members of The Republic of
Korea Hapkido Federation. The elected President of
this Korea Hapkido Association was Park, Sung Chul.
Through a long and oftentimes historically debated
process of evolution, in 1988 a new organization
emerged from the foundations of these previous
groups. It was known, in English, as The Korea
Hapkido Federation. Hapkido Grandmaster, Oh, Se Lim
was elected its president. He has remained the
president of this organization since its inception.
Today, The
Korea Hapkido Federation is the largest, wholly
Hapkido, governing body for Hapkido in the world --
made up of predominately South Korean born students
and instructors or those individuals who have
directly trained in South Korea.
Historic
Note: When The Korean Hapkido Association changed
its name to The Korea Hapkido Federation, Park,
Sung Chul, remained it president for a short period
of time. For this reason, there are a few Hapkido
practitioners, who received Black Belt Dan ranking
during this interim, who have their Korea Hapkido
Federation Dan certificates signed by President
Park.
Another
important point to note is that, as detailed, the
President of the The Korea Hapkido Federation is,
Oh, Se Lim. There is a separate organization based
in Seoul, South Korea, The Korea Hapkido
Association. Its President is Hwang, Duk Kyu. The
Korea Hapkido Association uses a different logo --
the eagle. This organization can also trace its
foundation to Grandmaster Ji, Han Jae.
You can
also view the The
History of the Korean Martial
Arts
section of this website for further information
about the evolution of Hapkido.
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