Hwarang chivalry endured throughout the Silla (B.C.57) and Koryo (A.D.938) dynasties and was the driving force that unified the Korean peninsula and formed the basis for the modern state of Korea. In 1392, a Hwarang Jang Gun (General), named Sung-Kae Yi (or Lee) overthrew the Koryo Dynasty and established the Yi Dynasty which was called ChoSun. The third king of this dynasty, King TaeJong Bang-Won Lee (the 5th son of TaeJo Sung-Kae Lee), implemented many changes within the kingdom.
One of these changes was he initiated a policy which put all of the Hwarang Jang Gun's (Japanese-Sho Gun) personal soldiers (rangdo ) under his, the king's control. King TaeJong was afraid that other strong Jang Guns would attack his dynasty. So he initiated this policy that strengthened his own power, and at the same time greatly reduced the power of all other Jang Guns. Another impactful fact of this time was that the prevailing religion of the country was Confucianism. These are the two main factors that forced many Buddhist monks and some Hwarang Jang Gun`s to seek refuge in the mountains. And because of this, the Hwarangdos (Groups of Hwarang) system, which was also called the Kuksundos (Groups of Kuksun) and Pungwouldos (Groups of Pungwoul) system during the Koryo dynasty, disappeared from the public.
It was almost a 600 year period that the ancient Silla Hwarang combat skills and its culture lived apart from society. During this Yi dynasty, the concepts and techniques of this Hwarang title were passed secretly generation to generation from monk to monk in the mountains of Korea.
This was a unique period for the Hwarang combat skills because they were passed from only one master to one disciple. Also, along with passing on these combat skills, the Hwarang title was passed from master to student during this period.
If the student had truly mastered this entire culture, the master would give the Hwarang title to the student before he died. This way of transmission lasted until the tradition was passed to the monk Suahm Sunsa (aka Suahm Dosa ). He was the 57th generation Hwarang title-holder.
In the early 1940's Suahm Dosa began teaching his only two disciples at the So Gwang Sa Temple in North Korea. These lone disciples were Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother Joo-Sang Lee. The two brothers began their martial skills study under the direction of their father who taught them his martial art skills from the time they were old enough to walk. Later Lee's father, who was a personal friend of Suahm Dosa, asked the master to train his sons in his secret ancient Hwarang combat skills "Um Yang Kwon" (soft and hard skills). These brothers began their training with Suahm Dosa at the ages of 4 and 5. This was the beginning of a father and son relationship between the brothers and the monk, which lasted for almost 30 years, from 1942-1969 until Suahm Dosa passed away. Then in July of 1969 before Suahm Dosa passed away, he gave the 58th generation Hwarang warrior title to our Hwa Rang Do founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee. Nobody else learned these secret Um Yang Kwon combat skills other than our Founder. So the name of these techniques (Um Yang Kwon) are considered the same as the Hwa Rang Do name. This is because our founder is the only one who trained in these skills and then created the martial art identity Hwa Rang Do. That is also why the Um Yang Kwon name falls under the protection of the Hwa Rang Do trademark and cannot be stolen or used by anyone else.
Our founder's mountain training schedule was; wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning and with icy cold water clean their body and then warm up and practice for one hour. Then they cooked breakfast and served their master. Around 8 o'clock, after they did the dishes, they trained for three to four hours and then served lunch. At one o'clock they took a nap, and at 2 o'clock they trained for another four hours. After serving dinner they studied Shin Gong (mental power) and In Sool (healing skills). So everyday they trained 8-9 hours of Um Yang Kwon combat skills and 2-3 hours of In Sool and Shin Gong training.
After the 1945 Korean Independence from the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945), Korea was divided into 2 sections, North (communist) and South (democratic). So in 1948, Lee`s family and Suahm Dosa escaped the north to South Korea. Lee's family landed in Seoul, and Suahm Dosa moved to O Dae Mountain and the Yang Mi Ahm sanctuary. This sanctuary was only Suahm Dosa's living quarters in the mountain, and no other monks lived there. After Suahm Dosa passed away Dr. Joo-Bang Lee followed the religious tradition of his master and burned this living quarters, so it does not exist anymore. Later, during the 1950's, the Korean War broke out and the Lee family moved further south to DaeGu, Korea. It was then that the Lee brothers met the DaeDongRyu YuSool founder Yong-Sul Choi. The Lee brothers took private lessons from Master Choi and received master position of this art in 1956. After this they moved back to Seoul.
April 1960, Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother Joo-Sang Lee created and founded their martial art system and opened their first school. They combined the spirit and philosophy of the Ancient Silla Hwarang warriors with the secret combat skills knowledge that was passed to them from Suahm Dosa. The name of this new martial art identity they founded is HWA RANG DO . This is translated as "The Way of the Flowering Manhood," the suffix "Do" used in this term represents "the way" or "the martial art." This "Do" has a different meaning than the "Do" that is used in connection with the ancient Silla Hwarang Youth Groups. These ancient youth groups was made up of Hwarang leaders and Rangdo disciples, and together as a group they were called Hwarangdo (meaning a group of Hwarang and Rangdo). The meaning of the "Do" term used here is a group of people. Please keep in mind this difference, because the martial art Hwa Rang Do and the ancient Silla Hwarangdo youth groups are not the same identities.
During their mountain training with Suahm Dosa, Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother did not learn from a Belt by Belt syllabus. They were taught all the skills of the combat system without any ranking system. So our Founder created and divided all of the skills that he had learned, into his Hwarang Do syllabus for the public. So this martial art name Hwa Rang Do contains his ancient Hwarang combat skills and his human morality philosophies.
However, in 1960 their master Suahm Dosa did not give them permission to teach the Hwarang skills to the public. Their master Suahm Dosa said that these combat skills were too dangerous to be taught to the public because they would inflict great harm if people with evil minds learned them. So he told our founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee to be a doctor of eastern medicine for his profession, and only pass on these combat skills to his sons.
Since our Founder had already opened a school, had a strong mentality for teaching his students the honorable way, and was secondly a trained master of YuSool , he began to temporarily use the new name Hapkido while teaching his Hwa Rang Do skills. He and his other Yusool friends founded this new martial art name Hapkido in 1961. Originally in 1959 one of his friends, Master Moon Kang opened a school in Daegu with the name Hapkido for the first time. However, 6 months later master Choi ordered that the school be closed down because he did not want the YuSool name to be switched to the Hapkido name. Master Kang then moved to Seoul to work for the DEA and Dr. Lee got the idea of this new martial art name Hapkido from master Kang. Also in 1961, YuSool masters Han-Jae Ji and Mu Kim began using this new Hapkido name as well. Because of the circumstances surrounding the Japanese Occupation, the Korean public hated to use Japanese language during this time. So Master Choi's first masters did not want to use the Yawara (YuSool) name for their dojangs.
So at the same time Dr. Lee began using the new martial art name Hapkido for his dojang that contained his Hwa Rang Do skills, master Han-Jae Ji changed the name of his Yawara (YuSool) dojang which originally opened in 1959 to Seongmu Kwan Hapkido (1961 - 1968 Seoul) , and master Mu Kim came from Daegu to Seoul and opened a dojang with the name of ShinMu Kwan Hapkido (1961- 1970 Seoul) . At this time, these were the only schools in Seoul that were using this name, and these are the three masters who can be considered the founders of the Hapkido name.
While these three masters are the founders of this Hapkido name, they were still teaching different skills in their dojangs. Han-Jae Ji and Mu Kim were teaching the same techniques they had learned from YuSool founder Yong-Sul Choi and adopted some soft style kicking combat skills. So their system had no forms, striking techniques, or weapons. This is while our founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother were teaching both HwaRangDo and Hapkido. So there were two sets of martial skills being taught under the same martial art name, that had major differences between them.
In winter of 1962, the Lee brother's founded the first public Korean martial arts organization named the Korean Martial Skills Association (HanKuk MuSool HyupHwae - short name Kuk Sool Hwae ). This was done with five other charter members. But there were only two schools in Seoul that were originally a part of this organization. These were our founder's school and Woo Kim's school. (Woo Kim had a school from 1962-1970, and in 1965 he left the Kuk Sool Hwae organization and changed the name of his school to KookSool Kwan Hapkido ). In-Hyuk Suh became one of the members of the Kuk Sool Hwae while visiting Seoul in 1962. He moved back south immediately after in the winter of 1962 and opened his first school in the city of Pusan with two other charter members. Later in 1965, he left the Kuk Sool Hwae organization and used his own name of KukSool Won Hapkido for his Yusool and Chinese ShipPal Gi skills. From the original 7 charter members, our founder and Master In-Hyuk Suh are the only ones left that are still involved with martial arts. Our founder leads Hwa Rang Do and In-Hyuk Suh uses the name KukSool Won without the Hapkido name, which means Korean Martial Skills House.
So after 1965, the Kuk Sool Hwae organization was divided into parts. Our founder held the Kuk Sool Hwae (Korean Martial Skills Association) national headquarters in Seoul and In-Hyuk Suh held the Kuk Sool Won Hapkido (Korean Martial Skills House of Hapkido) dojang in Pusan. There has been some public misunderstanding about these organization leaders and what they were teaching during this time. However, these masters were masters of different styles and were teaching completely different skills even though they were unified under the same organization name of the Korean Martial Skills Association , (the Kuk Sool Hwae ).
During this time period our Founder had the best operation of the Kuk Sool Hwae name in the capital of Seoul as well as the rest of the nation. Every year from 1962-1966 he promoted his Kuk Sool Hwae in the Jang Chung sports arena with an exposition and tournament. These were some of the biggest events of the martial arts society during this time, and were broadcasted on Korean national television. So during this time all martial art practitioners mostly know that our founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother founded the renowned Kuk Sool Hwae organization and the Hapkido name.
In 1963 the Korean DaeDongRyu YuSool founder Yong-Sul Choi and his first Masters (Joo-Bang Lee, Joo-Sang Lee, Woo-tack Kim, Han-Jae Ji, Bok-Sup Suh, Jeong-Yoon Kim, Kwang-Hwa Won) held a meeting at the HanPool school in Seoul. At this meeting they decided to change the martial art names of YuSool and Hapkido to the new martial art name of "Kido". The reason for this change is because one of Dakete Shokaku's students of DaitoRyu Yawara, Morei Ueshiba, founded an art in 1943, which became popular during the 60's in Japan, with the name of Aikido . This is the same name as Hapkido , and the only difference is the pronunciation. After this meeting Bok-Sup Suh and Doo-Yong Kim made a second organization of Korean martial arts and registered with the Korean government the name of the Korean Kido Association . However, this organization was based in the rural area of DaeGu Korean so nobody joined this organization, and it was not operational. However, over 20 years later, in the late 1980`s, In Hyuk Suh took over this empty organization and gave it to his brother InSun Seo. So this Korean Kido association is also one of In-Hyuk Suh's other organizations.
So the martial arts that Korea already had after the independence from Japan are Gumdo(kendo), Yudo (Judo), Kongsoodo (Karatedo), Tangsoodo (Karatedo), Yusool (Daito Ryu Yawara or Aiki Jujitsu which came to Korea in 1945 but was publically founded in 1953). Then there are the three martial arts that became the base of the new Korean traditional combat skills, Hwa Rang Do (founded 1960), Hapkido (the new form of Yusool [Daedong Ryu Yusool (Daito Ryu Yawara)] -founded 1961), and Taekwondo (founded when KongSooDo, TangSooDo [also know as SooBakDo], and Taekwondo unified in 1965).
In 1967 the Korean president Jeong-Hee Park became interested in our founder, Dr. Joo-Bang Lee's Kuk Sool Hwae . So the chief of the secret agents, Jong-Kyu Park sent master Han-Jae Ji (Who was teaching the secret agents of the Korean Blue house) to meet with our founder Dr. Lee at his headquarters in Seoul. Then they discussed the President's request to unify the Korean martial arts under one name and one governing organization like what had happened in 1965 when Kong Soo Do (SongMu Kwan, ChungDo Kwan, ChangMu Kwan, JiDo Kwan, HanMu Kwan), Tang Soo Do (MuDuk Kwan), and Tae Kwon Do (military OhDo Kwan) unified as a Korean martial sport under the one name of Tae Kwon Do and the one governing organization of the Korean TaeKwonDo Association. So, Grandmaster Lee and Grandmaster Ji handed together to try and unify the Korean martial arts. Then our founder disbanded his Kuk Sool Hwae Organization, and began to focus on this new task.
So in 1967, at the request of the Korean President Park, our Hwa Rang Do Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and Joo-Sang Lee organized the Korean Martial Arts Association (Dae Han Mu Do Hwae ) with SeongMu Kwan Hapkido founder Han-Jae Ji, Kihapdo founder Dae-Hoon Choi who held a high position in the KCIA, Jong-Kyu Park the chief secret agent, and Ji-Chul Cha a congressman who later was the chief secret agent that was assassinated with President Park. Dae-Hoon Choi became president of the Association, Jong- Kyu Park was the chairman, and there were many government administrators and congressman that were board members. Our founder Dr. Lee, his brother, and other Hwa Rang Do masters directed the unification of all the Korean martial arts and promotions, while other martial art founders supported their efforts.
The National Unified Korean Martial Arts Exposition was held on May 27, 1968 at the Jang Chung Sports Arena in Seoul under promotion done by our founder Dr. Lee and his brother. All the martial arts that were included in this unification were Hwa Rang Do , BiSool , Kido , KiHapDo , Kukkido , KukSool Kwan Hapkido , SeongMu Kwan Hapkido , ShinMu Kwan Hapkido , YuSool , and YuKwanSool . Presently all of these other martial art names have been disbanded and are no longer used in the public except for Hwa Rang Do and Hapkido . Also, at the time of this Exposition and Unification, Grandmaster Yong-Sul Choi who was the founder of Yawara (Yu Sool) changed to the Hapkido name. So Now his title became the owner of Hapkido (Hapkido DoJoo Nim) and he no longer used the YuSool name. At this time, Grandmaster Choi also conferred to our Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and Han-Jae Ji the rank of 8th Dan Degree Black Belt Grandmaster, the highest position in Hapkido 1968.
Since it was difficult for all martial art leaders to agree on a name (Hwa Rang Do or Hapkido) and on methods of administration, the Hankuk Mu Do Hwae (Korean Martial Art Association) was divided into two major arts shortly after the martial arts unified exposition. One, Hwa Rang Do and the Korean Hwa Rang Do Association (June 1968) which was lead by Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and his brother and the other Hap Ki Do and the Korean Hap Ki Do Association which was lead by Dae-Hoon Choi and Han-Jae Ji (June 1968). However, these Hap Ki Do leaders made a mistake, and lost control of the ability to maintain their art. Presently there are a hundred different Kwan , Won , and other individual organizations that have broken off. Because these original leaders did not maintain the quality of their art, there is no longer a strong and singular governing organization of it.
This disintegration of a martial art identity has occurred in arts other than Hapkido as well. Nowadays, most other martial art names have become generic terms because many of their practitioners have been working only for their own personal individual success. There have been many people that make their own Kwans or Wons, use their own maiden name in front of their martial art name or simply do not have any connection to an identity of a martial art (like Kim's Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do, Joe's Karate, or Kim's martial art academy). These types of mistaken displays damage their traditional martial art identity. This is the reason that our Hwa Rang Do never gives permission to use the terms "Kwan" or "Won" or even a personal name in connection with the martial art name of Hwa Rang Do. A practitioner of any martial art should be working not only for their own individual success, but also for the success and honor of their particular martial art. A martial art is not just a business store front, it is a way of life that involves passing on an honorable identity to the future generations.
With this in mind, following the dissolution of the Unified Korean Martial Arts Association, Hwa Rang Do Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee went to his original ancient secret Hwarang combat skills master Suahm Dosa, and explained the circumstances that had transpired over the past 8 years. After explaining this situation, Dr. Lee finally received permission from Suahm Dosa to teach the Hwarang combat skills to the public with the Hwa Rang Do name. From this point on he registered his martial art name with the Korean government and concentrated his efforts solely on the development of Hwa Rang Do and the Korean Hwa Rang Do Association , to the exclusion of all other martial arts.
Also, our Founder closely follows the true martial art way. This means that he is dedicated to one marital art identity. As a practitioner of a martial (military) art, one must maintain loyalty to that one art. This is the same as a soldier's loyalty to their country. According to this philosophy one must never change or have two martial art identities. This is why our Founder gave up all of his other ranks including his founding position of the Hapkido name. He does not want to claim any Hapkido founder position, and we write this story here only to explain what occurred in Korea when the first Korean martial arts were formed in the 1950`s and 1960's, and also to clear any public misunderstandings. All Korean martial art practitioners from the 1960's know that Dr. Joo-Bang Lee is one of the founders of the Hap Ki Do name and strongly built this martial art during this time. However, from 1968 on, all of his efforts have been dedicated to the single identity of Hwa Rang Do.
In order to better maintain this Hwa Rang Do identity, it has been internationally trademarked. This copyright registration encompasses all techniques, the syllabus, uniforms, its name, and all other aspects of our art, and is protected by international and federal laws. The registration of Hwa Rang Do has been done in order to ensure and protect the quality of this martial art for the honor of future generation Hwa Rang Doists. The art name and all of its truly honorable practitioners deserve to be a part of a great and honorable identity. That is also why Hwa Rang Do practitioners must do things like receive their Dan degrees directly from the one and only source of this martial art, Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee. Through the efforts of the World Hwa Rang Do Association and the policies it has created, the martial art identity of Hwa Rang Do will be able to maintain its integrity and we can be proud of our true ranks.
In 1968, Head Grandmaster (KukSunNim) Joo-Sang Lee introduced the martial art of Hwa Rang Do for the first time to the United States of America. In 1972, Hwa Rang Do Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee immigrated to America and brought with him Hwa Rang Do's one and only governing organization in the world, "the World Hwa Rang Do Association," which is based in Downey, California. Because most martial art's world headquarters follow their founder's present living area, our Hwa Rang Do's motherland moved to America.
In 1990, Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee developed an undergraduate martial sport program to the martial art HWA RANG DO (Way of the Flowering Manhood) and named it TAE SOO DO (Way of Warrior Spirit). This has been done because the martial art Hwa Rang Do is very complicated and the training is so hard. Individuals must first develop a strong foundation in their martial skills and attitude, and then they will be ready to pursue Hwa Rang Do training more effectively. We also cannot change the traditional original syllabus of Hwa Rang Do that was established in 1960. So Tae Soo Do was created as a means of exposing Hwa Rang Do to the vast majority of people who were not experienced in martial arts training, as a form of recreation and self-defense. So after these practitioners receive their Tae Soo Do black belt, they can receive a Hwa Rang Do Yellow Sash (master beginner) and continue training in the main martial art of Hwa Rang Do.
When Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee created Hwa Rang Do as a public martial art identity, he also divided our Hwa Rang Do curriculum into the dichotomies of Mu Sool {martial skills } and In Sool {healing skills }. If one has the ability to cause injury or worse, then he/she must also have the ability to heal. Founder Dr. Lee is a licensed doctor of eastern medicine, and an acupuncture specialist and Ki healer. He learned secret techniques from his master Suahm Dosa's healing skills, graduated DongYang University of eastern medicine in Korea, and received his Ph D. from SamRa University of oriental medicine. He insists that all advanced practitioners of Hwa Rang Do learn the healing arts as well as the combative aspects.
Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee is the one who divided and created the categories of Hwa Rang Do for public instruction. From the Mu Sool (martial skill) aspects there are the four categories that are NAE GONG {internal power}, WAE GONG {external power}, MOO GI GONG {weapon power}, and SHIN GONG {mental power}. And from the In Sool (healing skill) aspects there are six categories named JI AP SOOL (acupressure), CHIM GU SOOL (acupuncture and maxabustion), YAK BANG BOP (herbal medicine), JUP GOL SOOL (bone setting), HWAL BOP (Special Aids), and KI RYUK SOOL (Ki power healing). Along with these divisions our founder is also teaching the ancient Silla Hwarang's code of ethics and his own philosophies concerning human morality.
~ Source: Hwa Rang Do World Headquarters.
