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.
1.
There were two Yudo schools,
- Yudo college and Yudo Jungang dojang.
2.
Seven HwaRangDo® and HapKiDo dojangs,
- Two Kuk Sool Hwae dojangs in seoul and one in pusan.
one, Founder Dr. Joo-Bang Lee and Joo-Sang Lee's dojang 1960~present,
plus Woo Kim's dojang 1962~1970,
- Two Seongmu Kwan dojangs, one, Founder Han-Jae Ji 1961~1968, plus
Yong-Jin Kim's dojang 1962~1968,
- One Shinmu Kwan dojang, Founder Mu-Hong Kim 1961~1970,
- One Kwangmu Kwan dojang, Founder Dong-Gu Lee and Yong-Jin Cha
1963~1968,
- One Musool Kwan dojang, Founder Kwang-Hwa Won 1963~1972.
3.
The remaining 6 main hard style dojangs were:
- Songmu Kwan KongSooDo dojang, Founder Byung-Jik Ro 1953~1965,
- Changmu Kwan KongSooDo dojang, Founder Nam-Suk Lee 1955~1965,
- Chongdo Kwan KongSooDo dojang, Founder Won-Kuk Lee 1953~1965,
- Jido Kwan KongSooDo dojang, Founder Jeong-Woo Lee 1956~1965,
- Muduk Kwan TangSooDo dojang, Founder Ki Hwang 1953~1965,
- Ohdo Kwan Taekwondo from the military, Founder Hong-Hee Choi
1958~1965.
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.
HWARANG
O KAE
(The 5 rules of the Ancient Hwarang's code of ethics)
1.
SA GUN E CHOONG - LOYALTY TO ONE`S COUNTRY.
2.
SA CHIN E HYO - LOYALTY TO ONE`S PARENTS AND TEACHERS.
3.
KYO WOO E SHIN - TRUST AND BROTHERHOOD AMONG FRIENDS.
4.
IMJEON MUTWAE - COURAGE TO NEVER TO RETREAT IN THE
FACE OF THE ENEMY.
5.
SALSEANG YOOTAEK - JUSTICE TO NEVER TAKE A LIFE
WITHOUT A CAUSE.
HWA
RANG DO®
KYOHOON
(Founder's nine teaching moralities)
|
1.
IN
|
|
HUMANITY
|
|
2.
UEI
|
|
JUSTICE
|
|
3.
YAE
|
|
COURTESY
|
|
4.
JI
|
|
WISDOM
|
|
5.
SHIN
|
|
TRUST
|
|
6.
SUN
|
|
GOODNESS
|
|
7.
DUK
|
|
VIRTUE
|
|
8.
CHOONG
|
|
LOYALTY
|
|
9.
YONG
|
|
COURAGE
|
Today,
our art's "DOJOO NIM" (owner of the martial art Hwa Rang Do®)
Dr. Joo Bang Lee presides over the World Hwa Rang Do®
Association, and the Hwa Rang Do®
World Headquarters in Downey, California U.S.A. and all branches
throughout the world.
