Krav Maga vs. Hapkido
Quick answer
Krav Maga and hapkido have no documented common root: Krav Maga comes from European boxing, wrestling and street fighting, hapkido from Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu and judo. Krav Maga builds on strikes, kicks and stress scenarios, hapkido on wrist and elbow locks, throws, falls and kicks, including spinning ones. Krav Maga has no sport competition, hapkido has demonstration competitions of techniques and forms, and neither is Olympic.
At a glance
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | Israel | South Korea |
| Origin | 20th century (present form) | 20th century (present form) |
| Founder | Imi Lichtenfeld | Choi Yong-sool |
| Contact | Light contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Light contact |
| Sparring | Light contact · Full contact (depending on style) | Partner drills only · Light contact (depending on style) |
| Competition format | No competitions | Forms |
| Olympic status | Not Olympic | Not Olympic |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | fragmented | fragmented |
| Attire | No specific attire | Gi required |
| Weapons | Weapons optional | Weapons optional |
| Forms | No forms | Forms optional |
| Relative cost | medium | low |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | – | 1 |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
We have not found a source on the relationship between Krav Maga and hapkido. Krav Maga comes from European boxing, wrestling and street fighting. Hapkido comes from Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, which Choi Yong-sool, by his own account, studied under Sokaku Takeda, and its throws and ground work were influenced by judo.
- 1948: Choi Yong-sool began teaching in Daegu, Imi Lichtenfeld became chief instructor of Krav Maga in the IDF.
- 1951: Choi and the judoka Seo Bok-seob opened the first formal school in Daegu.
- 1958: Choi’s school for the first time under the name Hapkido, sources date the shortening of the name to 1959, Ji Han-jae claimed 1957.
- 1965: judo was added to Krav Maga training, and the Korea Hapkido Association was founded in Korea.
The length of Choi’s study under Takeda is disputed, and Takeda’s records confirm only a shorter period of study.
Technique
- Fists, hammerfist, elbows, knees and kicks.
- Targets such as the eyes, throat, groin and knee.
- Locks, throws, chokes and ground fighting.
- Defence against a knife, stick and firearm.
- Locks mainly on the wrist and elbow from Daito-ryu.
- Throws from locks and from judo, ground work Wa Uul and Jwa Sul.
- Low sweeping kicks, spinning heel kicks, blade kicks.
- Strikes with the hand and elbow, pressure points hyeol.
- Weapons: danbong, staff, rope, sword and nunchaku.
Krav Maga attacks with simple repeatable strikes until the opponent is unable to fight. Hapkido builds on the principles of hwa (harmony), won (circle) and yu (flow). Neither has a set of rules banning techniques.
Training
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Pillars of teaching | techniques, stress drills, scenario training, sparring | techniques, falls (nakbeop), sparring, meditation, gi exercises |
| Partner resistance | in some organisations up to G2 slow and light sparring | ground work traditionally in self-defence sets, we have not found the form of sparring |
| Weapons | defence against a knife, stick and firearm | defence against a knife from 1st dan, staff, sword and rope later |
| Forms | none | hyeong only in some schools |
We have not found the ratio of technique, sparring and conditioning in a lesson for either of the two arts.
Progression and ranks
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Grades | IKMF patches P, G, E and Master, elsewhere belts after judo | formerly 5 belts, today often 10 gup after taekwondo, then dan |
| Who awards them | the club’s organisation, at IKMF part of the exams centrally | we have not found the organisations’ rules |
| Minimum times | IKMF Netherlands: at least 45 lessons to P1 | we have not found the organisation’s rule |
| Younger practitioners | IKMF Netherlands: K-levels and J-levels | junior black belt (pum), 1st dan from 16 or 18 years |
The syllabus of the Korea Hapkido Association from 1991: 1st dan defence against grabs, strikes, kicks and a knife, 2nd dan chokes and defence on the ground, 3rd dan counter-locks and staff, 4th dan sword and multiple attackers, 5th dan rope and resuscitation techniques.
Physical load and risks
- 946 training injuries of IDF soldiers (Farkash et al., Military Medicine 2017): mostly mild, most often fingers, hands and wrists (31%) and the shoulder (16%).
- Questionnaire of 109 practitioners (Yaacobi et al., Cureus 2024): most often the lower limbs, sprains and ligament tears 32.1%, the data partly contradict each other.
- Yudistira, Khasanah and Sefriana (SURYA 2021, 60 hapkido practitioners in Lampung, Indonesia): most often the ankle, 50.9% of injuries.
- Joints and ligaments 44.4% of injuries, 50.9% occurred during technical training.
- We have not found another injury study.
Who it suits
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Women | IKMF Netherlands: Stay Away course | we have not found a programme |
| Older age | we have not found a programme for seniors | we have not found a programme for seniors |
| Professional groups | Israeli army and police, the civilian form separately | presidential guard (Ji Han-jae), police in Seoul (Chong-min Lee) |
| Competitive ambitions | there is no sport competition | demonstration disciplines of techniques, forms and breaking |
Children
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Age of programmes | IKMF Netherlands: Kiddies 5–7, Kids 8–11, juniors 12–15 years | we have not found a minimum starting age |
| Children’s training | the youngest play games without exams, Kids partial exams after 2 months | junior black belt (1st to 3rd pum) for those younger than the age for 1st dan |
| Children’s competition | does not exist | the World Championships in Changnyeong (2026) have divisions from kindergarten, demonstration disciplines |
| Forbidden techniques and protection | we have not found any | we have not found any |
| Studies and physicians’ positions | we have not found any | we have not found any |
Self-defence
- Strikes, kicks, locks, ground work, weapons and verbal de-escalation.
- 360-degree defence and scenarios with multiple attackers.
- Partner resistance in some organisations limited up to G2 to slow and light sparring.
- Defence against grabs, strikes, kicks and a knife from 1st dan.
- Multiple attackers in the 4th dan syllabus.
- Ground work traditionally in self-defence sets, we have not documented resistance in training.
Both syllabi contain defence against a knife and multiple attackers. Krav Maga practises it in stress scenarios, hapkido as a technique against a partner’s attack. We have not found a study of effectiveness against a real attack for either of them.
Practical use
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Studies | 16 female university students (Di Bacco et al., PeerJ 2020): 15 minutes of instruction improved the straight punch and the defensive kick | we have not found a study of benefit |
| Fitness | a lesson from a DVD in 16 people (ACE): 78% of maximum heart rate, 8.8 MET | we have not found a fitness study |
| Professional use | Israeli army and police, since 2008 IKMF instructors at the German airborne school | weapons in the syllabi of some military and police training, presidential guard |
| Programmes for women | IKMF Netherlands: Stay Away, effect not documented | we have not found any |
The studies of Krav Maga are small, and for hapkido a study of benefit is missing. No general conclusion about suitability can be drawn from them.
Competition
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Sport competition | does not exist | demonstration disciplines, we have not found unified sparring rules |
| Format | IDF annual competition since 2013, rules not documented | Iowa Games (2016): pairs demonstrate techniques against attacks, a jury judges practicality, effectiveness and timing |
| World Championships | not applicable | Changnyeong 2026: forms, self-defence, long fall, breaking, speed kicks |
| Olympic Games | no | no |
Gear and costs
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | IKMF: grey T-shirt and black trousers with a grade patch | dobok and belt |
| Equipment | mouthguard, groin protector, shin guards, boxing or MMA gloves | we have not found sparring protection |
| Weapons | the source does not describe training weapons | danbong, staff, rope, sword and nunchaku according to the syllabus |
| Relative cost | medium | low |
Availability and organisations
| Krav Maga | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Organisations | IKMF, KMG, Krav Maga Worldwide, IKMA | Korea Hapkido Federation, World Hapkido Federation, Hapkidowon and others |
| Origin of the split | disputes over succession after Lichtenfeld’s death (1998) | separate organisations since the sixties, succession after Choi disputed |
| Recognition of grades | between organisations we have not found any | between organisations we have not found any |
Hapkido also branches into related styles, for example hankido of Myung Jae-nam or Sin Moo Hapkido of Ji Han-jae.
Switching and combining
- Defence against a knife and multiple attackers has a counterpart in the hapkido syllabus.
- Learn falls (nakbeop) and locks on the wrist and elbow.
- Add kicks, including jumping and spinning heel kicks.
- Get used to the staff, sword and rope as part of the syllabus.
- Locks, throws and escapes from grabs remain in play.
- Add strikes, elbows and knees in protective gear.
- Get used to stress drills and scenario training.
- Defence against a firearm, which the hapkido syllabus from 1991 does not list.
On the left the move from Krav Maga to hapkido, on the right from hapkido to Krav Maga. We have not found practitioners who combine the two arts.
Philosophy
- IKMF motto: So that one may walk in peace.
- Avoid violence, attack only as a last resort.
- Hwa: harmony, redirecting the opponent’s force instead of resisting it.
- Won: the circle, redirecting direct attacks with a circular movement.
- Yu: flow, avoiding brute force.
The source does not say who formulates the principles of hapkido in this way. A hapkido lesson also includes meditation and gi exercises.
Forms and terminology
Krav Maga has no stylised forms, and techniques and scenarios are examined by grade. In hapkido only some schools teach forms (hyeong), traditional hapkido is, by one school’s description, without forms, and some systems adopted them under the influence of taekwondo. The World Championships in Changnyeong have forms with bare hands and with a weapon.
Training culture
- At IKMF a patch on the trousers, elsewhere belts after judo.
- A military and police branch alongside the civilian one.
- We have not found the salute and form of address for the instructor.
- Dobok and belt, after the founder the title doju.
- The film Hapkido (1972) with Angela Mao, Sammo Hung and Ji Han-jae.
- Billy Jack with choreography by Han Bong-soo, who brought hapkido closer to Western audiences.
Common misconceptions
- Choi Yong-sool studied under Takeda for 30 years: the claim comes from his own account, Takeda’s records confirm a shorter period of study, and Choi gave two different versions in 1962 and 1982.
- We have not found a link between Krav Maga and the Mossad, variants of the system are used by the Israeli police and intelligence organisations.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Do Krav Maga and hapkido have a common origin?
We have not found a source on their relationship. The only thing they share is what both syllabi contain, for example defence against a knife and multiple attackers.
Is there competition in hapkido?
Yes, as demonstration: pairs demonstrate techniques, individuals forms, the long fall or breaking, and a jury judges them. Krav Maga has no sport competition.
Is either of them Olympic?
No. We have not found the status of hapkido in the World Games.