Sin Moo Hapkido
신무 합기도A branch of hapkido founded in 1983 by Ji Han-jae. Against the mainstream it adds meditation, ki work and its own system of defensive kicks.
Quick Facts
South KoreaCharacter & Origin
Training
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
About Sin Moo Hapkido
Sin Moo Hapkido is a branch of hapkido founded in Seoul in 1983 by Ji Han-jae (b. 1936). The first official school opened a year later, and not in Korea but in Daly City, California — which says something about where the system was heading. Ji Han-jae is no marginal figure. He was an early student of Choi Yong-sool, founder of the hapkiyusool from which hapkido came, and holds the fourteenth dan certificate issued. He belongs, in other words, directly to the founding generation of the whole art; Sin Moo is not an offshoot from outside but a reading by someone who was there. The difference from the mainstream lies in what counts as the core. Hapkido is usually taught as a body of locks, throws and kicks; Sin Moo puts meditation and work with ki in the foreground alongside them. Ji read the name itself as the way of harmonising mind and body through the use of ki. A class usually begins with danjeon breathing and ends with meditation in which Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist exercises are mixed. Technically the most distinctive element is the kicking system: twenty-five defensive kicks meant for situations in the street, followed by seven spinning kicks and advanced techniques adapted for confined space. The master''s uniform from sixth dan is white with gold trim — the same one Bruce Lee wears in Game of Death.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.