Ji Han-jae (; Chi Hon-tsoi) is a South Korean

hapkido Hapkido ( , , ), also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do'' is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. ...

grandmaster known as the founder of

Sin Moo Hapkido Sin Moo Hapkido (pronounced as Shin Moo Hawpkido) is a martial art that combines " hard" and " soft" techniques. From a purely technical perspective, it is very closely related to its parent art, Traditional Hapkido, though it places more empha ...

. He appeared in the 1972 film ''

Game of Death ''Game of Death'' () is an incomplete Hong Kong martial arts film, of which portions were filmed between September and October 1972, and was planned and scheduled to be released by 1973, directed, written, produced by and starring Bruce Lee. Th ...

'' starring

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

Training

Born in

Andong Andong () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea, and the capital of North Gyeongsang Province. It is the largest city in the northern part of the province with a population of 167,821 as of October 2010. The Nakdong Ri ...

Gyeongsangbuk-do North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

on October 27, 1936, he began his

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

training in 1949 under Choi Yong-sool () and reached the rank of eighth dan. Ji trained with Choi until 1956, when he moved to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

to open a school of self-defense. Ji trained in the ancient methods of Korean martial arts known as Sam Rang Do Tek Gi by a man named Taoist Lee. Though this man's identity cannot be confirmed, he is believed to have he trained Ji in

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

, the Korean long staff ''jangbong'' (장봉; 長棒)", short staff ''danbong'' (단봉; 短棒)" and the unique kicks of Sam Rang Do Tek Gi.

Hapkido master

In 1959, Ji combined all of his martial arts knowledge and began to teach

. Many people consider Ji the founder of hapkido, while others credit his teacher Choi, who referred to his art as yawara (; 柔) or ''yukwonsul'' (; 柔拳術)". It is commonly claimed by his students that Ji was the first to use the name hapkido for the techniques he was teaching at that time. Choi's first student Seo Bok-seop, however, said in a 1980 interview that Jung Moo Kwan was the first to use the term to refer to the art as well as the symbol of the eagle to represent hapkido. Regardless, part of the kicking techniques used in many styles of hapkido is marked by changes implemented by Ji and Kim Moo-hong (; aka Kim Moo-woong or Kim Moo-hyun), also a student of Choi. After studying with Choi, Kim went to a Buddhist temple and learned a kicking art there. Traveling to Seoul in 1961, he lived and trained with Ji for eight months and, by implementing the

kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

ing methods they had both learned, they finalized the kicking curriculum for hapkido,Kim, He-young. ''Hapkido'' (alternately ''The Hapkido Bible''). Andrew Jackson Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1991. significantly expanding it to include kicks to higher targets and spinning and jumping kicks, none of which were originally part of Choi's system. In addition, Ji's original Sung Moo Kwan () shared space with people who trained in other arts including Western

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

. Ji and his senior students developed tactics for dealing with boxing,

tang soo do Tang Soo Do (; ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean martial art based on karate which can include fighting principles from taekkyeon, subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by ...

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

and

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and incorporated them into Ji's curriculum.

Promoter of hapkido

Leaving

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

for his hometown of

, Ji opened his first school, Anmoogwan (), in 1956, still calling his art ''yukwonsul'' at this time. His earliest students from this period were Kwon Tae-man (; who teaches in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

today), Yoo Young-woo () and Oh Se-lim (, former president of the

Korea Hapkido Federation The Korea Hapkido Federation is the largest, wholly hapkido, governing body for the Korean martial art of hapkido in the world. It is made up of predominantly Korean born students and instructors or those individuals who have directly trained ...

). After less than a year, Ji relocated to Seoul in 1957 and founded Sung Moo Kwan (), which would become an influential ''

kwan Kwan may refer to: People * Gavin Kwan, Indonesian football player * Kwan (surname) (關), a Chinese surname * Kwan Cheatham (born 1995), American basketball player for Ironi Nes Ziona of the Israel Basketball Premier League * nickname of Kwandw ...

'', or school of hapkido, producing many important teachers of the art. His first student was Hwang Deok-kyoo (; founder of the Korean Hapkido Association) followed shortly after by

Myung Kwang-sik Myung Kwang-sik (; 2 April 1940 – 19 July 2009) was an early Korean hapkido practitioner and a pioneer of the art, first in Korea and then in the United States. He was the second student of Ji Han Jae's school in Ma Jang Dong, Seoul. He formed ...

(; founder of the World Hapkido Federation), Lee Tae-jun and Kang Jeong-soo. In 1958, students Kim Yong-jin (), Jeong Won-seon (; Retired 2007-taught in Rockford,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Han Bong-soo Han Bong-soo (; August 25, 1933 – January 8, 2007), also known as Bong-soo Han, was a Korean martial artist, author, and the founder of the International Hapkido Federation. He was one of the foremost and recognized practitioners of hapkido ...

(of

Billy Jack ''Billy Jack'' is a 1971 American action drama independent film, the second of four films centering on a character of the same name which began with the movie '' The Born Losers'' (1967), played by Tom Laughlin, who directed and co-wrote the ...

movie fame and founder of the International Hapkido Federation), Choi Sea-oh (First man to teach hapkido in the U.S.) and Myung Jae-nam (; Founder of the Korea-based International Hapkido Federation and

Hankido Hankido () is a new martial art style developed by Myung Jae-nam using circular flowing movements owing to Myung Jae-nam's background in traditional Korean dance. Etymology The name hankido is a mix of the name ''Hanguk'' (the Korean name for ...

). Around this time, Ji began to use the name ''hapkido'' to promote the art, shortened from the original ''hapki yukwonsul'' (; 合氣柔拳術) name employed at the first school run by Choi Yong-sool and Seo Bok-seob in Daegu in 1951. In 1961, Kim Moo-hong came to visit Ji and they developed many of the kicking techniques the art is known for.

Organizations

In 1963, Ji was a founding member of the first attempt to create a large organization to include hapkido. Called the Korean Kido Association (Daehan Kidohoe; ) Choi Yong-sool was elected the first titular chairman with the organization's charter constitution authored by Ji, Choi and Kwon Jang. The association's purpose was to promote martial arts in the public school system and to police officers and government officials. Ji was highly instrumental in organizing this group but Choi appointed another of his top students, Kim Jeong-yoon (), to a position above Ji, greatly diminishing his influence. By 1965, Ji was hapkido instructor for the presidential guard at the Blue House and grew acquainted with Park Jong-kyoo (), chief of the country's security forces. Unhappy with his lack of input in the Daehan Kidohoe, with political connections and an ever-growing support from his Sung Moo Kwan students, he formed his own organization, the Korea Hapkido Association (), with Kim Woo-joong (), president of

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "''dae''" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and aut ...

Corp., as the association's first head. Later in 1973, Ji sought to consolidate three of the larger hapkido organizations that had grown over the years by merging his body with the Korean Hapkido Association, led by his contemporary Kim Moo-hong, and the Korea Hapki Association, headed by one of his former senior students, Myung Jae-nam, to form the large and influential Republic of Korea Hapkido Association (Daehan Min Kuk Hapkido Hyub Hwe; ).

Politics

Ji Han-jae's political career began to rise quickly after he started teaching hapkido to the bodyguards at the presidential Blue House. In 1979, however, President

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

was assassinated and most of those close to Park resigned, including his presidential bodyguards and their martial arts instructors like Ji. In the ensuing power struggle, many of those in prominent positions under Park found themselves out of work, power or influence. In many cases, they were singled out as targets for legal action, justified or not. In one case, wealthy businessmen made financial contributions to martial arts organizations per the norm at the time, but several of the contributions were not properly accounted for. Ji and his organization were charged with tax fraud. Though generally viewed as not guilty, he was given a prison term of one year. The judge in the case later explained that it was beyond his control, saying that if Ji didn't go to prison on this minor charge, he would've been charged with other offenses until he was sent to prison for more serious offenses. Ji's philosophical view on the matter was that he found it worthwhile to experience a year in prison and learn about a side of life few experience. He added that he further developed the spiritual side of his ''sinmoo'' (higher mind) hapkido concept while meditating in prison.Ji, Han-jae. Interview. Pacific Grove, California, June 1993. Oh Se-lim, one of the earliest students of the art under Ji, was elected president of the Republic of Korea Hapkido Association. He renamed the organization Daehan Hapkido Hyub Hwe (), a name used in one of hapkido's former organizations that Ji had headed and Oh had been a founding member of. The

(KHF) became the preferred rendering in English and remains one of the most influential of the many hapkido organizations in Korea. To this day, the KHF is still run mostly by students of Ji's original Sung Moo Kwan.

Sin Moo Hapkido founder

In 1984, Ji Han-jae moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and founded

(). Before he left Korea, his close friend Myung Jae-nam, the head of the International H.K.D Federation, awarded Ji the rank of 10th ''dan''. Ji now goes by the title DoJu Ji. ''Doju'' (; 道主) implies founder as Ji is the founder of Sin Moo hapkido, if not hapkido itself.

United States

After Ji moved to the U.S., he attracted a large number of students, especially those keen on his Sin Moo style. He holds several seminars a year in North America, Latin America and Europe and lives in Tucson, Arizona. In 2017, he went to Queens, New York for a reunion with his ''Hapkido'' co-star

Angela Mao use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

at her restaurant.

Films

On his first trip to America, Ji appeared in the film ''

'' with

. Ji opted not to appear in the additional footage shot for the 1978 version of the film. He also appeared in ''

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , ), also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do'' is a Korean martial art. It is a hybrid form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, chokeholds, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. ...

'' (aka ''Lady Kung Fu'') with

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ji, Han-jae 1936 births Living people Martial arts school founders People from Andong People from North Gyeongsang Province South Korean hapkido practitioners