Taekwondo vs. Hapkido
Quick answer
Both taekwondo and hapkido arose in South Korea after 1945, taekwondo mainly from karate, hapkido from Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, taught by Choi Yong-sool. WT taekwondo scores mainly kicks in sparring against resistance and penalises grabbing, while hapkido builds on locks, throws, falls and defences against grabs, strikes and a knife, and shares kicks with taekwondo. Taekwondo has been Olympic since 2000, hapkido is not Olympic and the competitions found for it are demonstrations of techniques, forms and self-defence.
At a glance
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | South Korea | South Korea |
| Origin | 1955 | 20th century (present form) |
| Founder | Choi Hong-hi | Choi Yong-sool |
| Contact | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) | Light contact |
| Sparring | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) | Partner drills only · Light contact (depending on style) |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Forms |
| Olympic status | Current Olympic sport | Not Olympic |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | by federation | fragmented |
| Attire | Gi required | Gi required |
| Weapons | No weapons | Weapons optional |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms optional |
| Relative cost | medium | low |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 41 | – |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 84 | 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
Both arts arose in South Korea after the Second World War, but from different roots. Taekwondo comes mainly from karate, hapkido from Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, which Choi Yong-sool, by his own account, studied under Sokaku Takeda. Takeda’s records confirm only a shorter period of study.
- 1948: Choi Yong-sool begins teaching in Daegu, his first student is the judoka Seo Bok-seob.
- 1955: Choi Hong Hi introduces the name taekwondo.
- 1958: Choi Yong-sool opens a school under the name Hapkido. Sources place the introduction of the name in 1959, Ji Han-jae attributed it to 1957.
- 1961: Kim Moo-hong founds Shin Moo Kwan and completes the kicking syllabus of hapkido.
- 1973: the World Taekwondo Federation and the World Hapkido Federation are founded.
Technique
- Kicking distance, techniques mainly with the legs.
- WT: fist only to the torso, kick to the torso and head, turning kick to the head 6 points.
- WT penalises grabbing, holding, pushing and attack below the waist.
- Locks mainly on the wrist and elbow, largely from Daito-ryu.
- Throws from locks and from judo, ground work.
- Low sweeping and spinning kicks, strikes with the hand and elbow.
- Defence against a knife, the short staff danbong, rope, sword.
The kicks are similar, but hapkido stresses circular movement. Locks and takedowns, which taekwondo lists in the Kukkiwon textbook and which WT competition does not allow, form the basis of the hapkido syllabus.
Training
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Basics | forms, kicks, step sparring | technique in pairs, falls (nakbeop) |
| Free fighting | sparring kyorugi (WT) or matsogi (ITF) | sparring in the lesson, we have not found its form |
| Other parts | breaking (gyeokpa), hosinsul, meditation | meditation, gi exercises |
| Weapons | none | from 3rd dan staff, then sword and rope |
Taekwondo trains free fighting against resistance as a separate discipline. In hapkido ground work is traditionally practised in self-defence sets instead of sparring. We have not been able to document the ratio of technique, sparring and conditioning in a lesson.
Progression and ranks
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Student grades | gup with coloured belts | formerly five belts, today often 10 gup after taekwondo |
| Master grades | dan, usually up to 9th dan | dan, system depends on the organisation |
| First dan | Kukkiwon: from 16 years, 15 when moving up from poom | from 16 or 18 years depending on the organisation |
| Youth | poom grade up to 15 years | junior black belt (pum) |
The gup scale is therefore similar in many schools of both arts. We have not documented mutual recognition of grades.
Physical load and risks
- Olympic Games 2008–2016: 7.7 injuries per 1,000 minutes of fighting.
- WT junior World Championships (889 athletes): 38.55 injuries per 1,000 exposures.
- Spanish national team members: most often the knee (21.3%), instep and foot (17.0%).
- Yudistira et al. (SURYA 2021, 60 hapkido practitioners in Indonesia): ankle 50.9% of injuries.
- Joints and ligaments 44.4%, 50.9% of injuries during technical training.
- We have not found other studies.
Who it suits
| Taekwondo (WT) | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Youth | cadets 12–14, juniors 15–17 years | World Championships in Changnyeong: divisions from kindergarten to high school |
| Adults | seniors from 17 years | general division, we have not found age limits |
| Older age | poomsae up to the over-65 division | we have not found veterans’ categories |
| Women | at the Olympics since 2000, four weight categories like men | disciplines by sex, at the Iowa Games also a mixed pair |
Children
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competitive category | WT cadets from 12 years | World Championships in Changnyeong: divisions from kindergarten |
| What is contested | kyorugi with a kick to the head, poomsae | forms, self-defence, falls, breaking, speed kicks |
| Protection | cadets headguard with a face shield | we have not found the rules |
| Bout length | 3 × 2 minutes, can be shortened to 3 × 1 or 3 × 1.5 minutes | demonstrations, not a bout |
| Studies | review of 8 studies (402 children, 6–16 years): improved strength, flexibility and balance | we have not found a study |
Self-defence
- Sparring against resistance, in WT full contact in protective gear, in ITF light.
- WT rules exclude grabbing, holding and the fist to the head.
- Self-defence hosinsul alongside forms and sparring.
- Syllabus of 1st dan (Korea Hapkido Association, 1991): defence against grabs, strikes, kicks and a knife.
- Higher dans: chokes, defence on the ground, staff, multiple attackers.
- We have not documented partner resistance in practice.
Taekwondo has documented free fighting against resistance in a set of techniques limited by the rules. The hapkido syllabus includes grabs, the ground, a knife and multiple attackers, without documented partner resistance.
Practical use
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-defence | 30 sedentary women: after 6 weeks improvement in a self-defence test | we have not found a study |
| Women and older age | 16 postmenopausal women: after 12 weeks higher agility | we have not found a study or a programme |
| Professional use | we have not found a programme | Ji Han-jae taught the presidential guard, Chong-min Lee the police in Seoul |
The studies of taekwondo concern small groups and short programmes, and for hapkido we have not found a study with numbers. No general conclusion on suitability for a particular group can be drawn from them.
Competition
| Taekwondo (WT) | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic programme | since Sydney 2000 | we have not found an Olympic or World Games status |
| Format | kyorugi for points, 3 rounds of 2 minutes, poomsae | demonstrations of techniques in pairs, forms, self-defence |
| Judging | electronic scoring since 2017, KO | jury: practicality, effectiveness, timing, execution (Iowa Games) |
| Example event | World Championships in poomsae: individuals, pairs, trios, freestyle | World Championships in Changnyeong 2026: forms, self-defence, long fall, breaking |
At the Iowa Games coloured belts defend against predetermined attacks. In the hapkido competitions found, the demonstration of a defence is judged, in kyorugi the hit on an opponent who defends.
Gear and costs
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | dobok, in WT usually with a V-neck, in ITF a jacket fastened down the front | dobok |
| Protection | WT: torso, head, groin, forearms, shins, gloves, mouthguard, sensor socks | we have not found rules on protection |
| Weapons | not used | by grade the short staff danbong, staff, rope, long staff, sword, nunchaku |
| Relative cost | medium | low |
Availability and organisations
| Taekwondo | Hapkido | |
|---|---|---|
| World organisation | World Taekwondo with the Kukkiwon, alongside them three ITF organisations | a number of separate organisations, e.g. Korea Hapkido Federation, World Hapkido Federation, Hapkidowon |
| Who awards dans | Kukkiwon in the WT system, ITF organisations independently | we have not found the organisations’ rules |
| Recognition of grades | yes in the Kukkiwon system, between WT and ITF not documented | we have not found any, succession after Choi Yong-sool is disputed |
Switching and combining
- Kicks carry over, hapkido adds circular movement.
- The gup scale tends to be similar.
- Learn locks, throws and falls.
- Unlearn the ban on grabbing, the grip is part of the defence.
- Weapons are added: staff, rope, sword.
- Kicks and falls carry over.
- Get used to sparring against resistance and electronic scoring.
- Unlearn grabbing and locks, which WT penalises with gam-jeom.
- Learn forms as part of the exams.
The left column describes the move from taekwondo to hapkido, the right column the opposite direction.
Philosophy
- Five principles according to Choi Hong Hi: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit.
- A reference to the five commandments of the hwarang.
- Theory of power: speed takes precedence over mass.
- 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.
Taekwondo seeks power in the speed of its own strike, hapkido in redirecting the attack with circular movement. We have not found which organisation formulates the three principles of hapkido in this way.
Forms and terminology
In taekwondo forms are the basis of exams and also a separate competition. The Kukkiwon uses eight Taegeuk forms for coloured belts and nine forms for dans, ITF 24 Chang Hon forms.
Traditional hapkido has no forms. Only some schools teach forms (hyeong) and some systems adopted them under the influence of taekwondo, and we have not found a unified set of forms. Even so, the World Championships in Changnyeong have competition in forms with bare hands and with a weapon.
Training culture
- Dojang, dobok and Korean terminology.
- Titles in the Kukkiwon system: kyosa-nim (1st–3rd dan), sabum-nim (4th–6th dan).
- Since 2018 the national martial art of South Korea.
- Dojang, dobok and Korean terminology.
- Choi Yong-sool held the title of founder (changsija) and doju.
- The film Hapkido (1972) with Angela Mao and Ji Han-jae, in the USA the Billy Jack films with choreography by Han Bong-soo.
Common misconceptions
- Taekwondo is not a continuation of ancient taekkyeon. It arose after 1945 and the Korean taekkyeon association denies a connection.
- Choi Yong-sool’s thirty years of study under Sokaku Takeda is not documented. Takeda’s records confirm only a shorter period of study and Choi gave two different versions in 1962 and 1982.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Did hapkido arise from taekwondo?
No. Hapkido comes from Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, and its throws and ground work were influenced by judo. Taekwondo comes mainly from karate. Hapkido shares similar kicks with taekwondo, and many schools adopted the gup system from it.
Which of them is Olympic?
Only taekwondo, since Sydney 2000. For hapkido we have not found an Olympic or World Games status.
Where does hapkido get its spinning and jumping kicks?
The kicking syllabus was expanded by Ji Han-jae and Kim Moo-hong and completed in 1961. Choi Yong-sool’s original system did not contain these kicks.