Bong Soo Han
| Han Bong-Soo | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 August 1933 Incheon, Korea |
| Died | 8 January 2007 (aged 73) Santa Monica, California, USA |
| Style | Hapkido |
| Teacher(s) | Choi Yong Sul |
| Rank | 9th dan hapkido |
| Website | official website |
| Han Bong-soo | |
| Hangul | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Han Bong-su |
| McCune–Reischauer | Han Pong-su |
Han Bong-Soo (August 25, 1933 – January 8, 2007), also known as Bong Soo Han, was a martial arts instructor, author, the founder of the International Hapkido Federation, and one of the foremost practitioners of hapkido through his participation in books, magazine articles, and popular films featuring this Korean martial art. He is often referred to as the "Father of Hapkido" in America.
Han was born on August 25, 1933, in Incheon, South Korea. He began his study of hapkido as a teenager with Yong Sul Choi in Seoul, Korea but the bulk of his training came from numerous other hapkido instructors where he received most of his black belt rankings. Han studied and refined this Korean martial art for more than 50 years. He held the self promoted rank of 9th dan black belt in hapkido. He was the founder of the International Hapkido Federation, and was its president until his death.
During the occupation of Korea by Japan between 1910 and 1945, all school-age children were required to read, write, and speak Japanese. In addition they were taught judo and kendo for discipline and physical education. Han studied these arts from 1943 to 1945.
From 1948 to 1950, Han studied kwon bup, which was a mixture of Chinese chuan fa methods and Shudokan karate, and earned a black belt in the art under Byung In Yoon. Yoon's teachings later led to the development of one of the Korean schools of kong soo do and greatly influenced two of the early schools who helped to form modern taekwondo, the chang moo kwan and the jido kwan. At the outbreak of the Korean War, all martial arts schools in Korea were closed.
Han began his training in Hapkido after going to see a demonstration put on by the founder, Yong Sul Choi. From then on, he committed himself to hapkido training under Choi but received no high ranking from him and went on to study with other hapkido instructors.
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