As anyone who has ever had the misfortune to do battle with a practitioner of Hapkido can attest, the Hapkidoist is the most formidable of foes. For just as the living, breathing life forms that Darwin described adapted to their environments and thus survived, Hapkido is a viable and flexible art form, ever changing to adapt to the unique nature of each situation, every encounter.

Literally translated, the word Hapkido means, "The art of Coordinated Power." Hapkido is coordination or harmony. Ki denotes the essence of power, the vital force. Do means the art or the way.

The Zen of martial arts places less importance on the power of intellect but rather instead extols that of intuitive action. Its ultimate aim is to free the individual from anger, illusion and false passion. In this vein, the philosophy of Hapkido, the element which sets it apart from other martial arts, stems from three basic ideas.

The first idea is non-resistance, the avoidance of a clash with an opponent's power yielding to an opponent by meeting his force with the minimum force needed to deflect a blow. Second is circular motion, the use of circular and flowing as opposed to linear movements. The third is the water principle, best illustrated by the quiet direct strength of free flowing water. You can teach it, but you can't grab it. Then just as the flowing stream penetrates and surrounds its obstruction, and as dripping water eventually penetrates the stone, so does the Hapkidoist's strength flow in and through his opponent. "Upon heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water," said Lao Tsu. "Yet, for attacking the solid the strong, nothing is better; it has no equal."

Hapkido is an eclectic martial art. Its use of joint locks, throws, choke holds and pressure point attacks bear a striking resemblance to aikido and jujitsu. At the same time, vicious counter moves, including Tae Kwon Do-like kicking techniques and hand techniques lean further to hard style rather than soft-style classification. The tactics to be employed at any given time are totally dependent upon variables inherent in each unique situation.

Thus, it can be seen that at the core of Hapkido is the um and the yang, a pair of mutually complementary and interdependent universal forces. The Hapkidoist is pliable as a spring, and is the compliment of, rather than the opposition to an opponent's strength. We never resist an opponent. Instead, we flow with him and redirect his force. If you attack me, you are yang, aggressive. But your attack will reach a point of richness. Then your yang becomes um, and I am in a position to become yang, aggressive, with my counter. This is the counter essence of the water principle.

The art of Hapkido descends directly from the Tae-Kyon form - the martial art of kicking as perfected by isolated monks in Korea - and is the result of a 1300 year pursuit of the ultimate martial art.

Hapkido has been central to my own life for more than four decades. In 1967, I emigrated to the United States where I introduced Hapkido to the Western world for the first time. My work in the "Billy Jack" films help to popularize my art, and in the ensuing years, I have taught thousands of students.

While many of my students possessed a high degree of both dedication and talent, I have come to accept the reality of studying a martial art in today's world. Life was much simpler in the past. Then one could train with single mindedness of purpose. Today, our lives, our society, are much more complicated, complex. Even if one is in the profession of martial arts, there are so many other things we must do to survive, that the art is only a part and not the whole of our lives.

Accepting this reality, I formed a committee of the International Hapkido Federation that included Master Chong J. Kim, Master Tae M. Kwon and myself. The result of our study is the first major revision of Hapkido In Its history. It must be emphasized that none of Hapkido's philosophy or integrity have been compromised In any way through the process.

Plans call for a series of seminars to be conducted throughout the nation, where Hapkido instructors and black belts will be taught the new system. Additionally, a videotape of the new system and a series book about Hapkido have been produced and are currently available.

Our committee has spent the past several years using Hapkido's own philosophy of adaptability to tailor our ancient art to modern society. We selected our best and most practical techniques, simplified them and forged them into a new system which will help Western man to more easily master the complex Korean art of Hapkido.