Hapkido in New Zealand
Hapkido was founded in South Korea in about 1950 by Grand Master Choi Yong Sul. Grand Master Choi's (pronounced 'Chae') Hapkido originally consisted of about 35 techniques derived from Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu (Traditional Hapkido) which were then expanded on with the inclusion of kicking and other techniques including various weapons systems introduced by some of Grand Master Choi's first generation students (Modern Hapkido).
Our particular style of Modern Hapkido,
New Zealand Hapkido, was originally introduced to New Zealand by Grand Master Jung Nam Lee in 1975. Grand Master Lee developed a very practical and powerful style of Hapkido that has stood the test of time. Our Hapkido training aims to preserve and develop Grand Master Lee's original teachings and philosophy which has Hapkido as a self defence focused martial art as opposed to a sport. In recent years we have added (where appropriate) additional Hapkido material taught to us by Grand Master In Sun Seo who heads the
World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Association - one of the largest Korean martial arts associations in the world with over 600 member clubs in South Korea alone and over 350 member clubs worldwide. The Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy is a member school of this organisation.
The Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy is also the Headquarters for
Hapkido New Zealand which is an informal collective of 8 Hapkido Schools around New Zealand as at July 2022.
Grand Master Jung Nam Lee (Deceased, 9th Dan Hapkido)
Grand Master Lee was the original founder of both Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do in New Zealand. Grand Master Lee was originally trained in Hapkido by Grand Master Choi Yong Sul who graded him to 4th Dan. He took up the position of Director of the Bong Hwa Hapkido and Taekwondo Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea after leaving the South Korean army in 1971 with the rank of Captain (Special Forces).
GM Lee changed the name of his style of Hapkido several times. Originally he called it Lee's Hapkido before changing it to Kukjae Hapkido around 1990. However in 2010 we changed the name to New Zealand Hapkido to more accurately reflect our geographical influence and style of Hapkido. The New Zealand Hapkido Federation is an informal support group for this style of Hapkido in New Zealand.
Grand Master In Sun Seo (10th Dan Hapkido)
Grand Master In Sun Seo is also a student of Hapkido's founder, Grand Master Choi Yung Sol. Master Seo (pronounced 'Suh') received his 1st Dan black belt from GM Choi in 1957 and later to 3rd Dan. After serving with the South Korean army in Vietnam, he returned to Korea and co-founded a Hapkido sub-style - "Kuk Sol Won" before developing Haminjok Hapkido. Since then he has devoted his life solely to training and developing Hapkido.
Further information about Grand Master Seo can be found
here. He is one of the most respected martial artist in South Korea.
World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Association
Our membership of the
World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Association allows us to maintain our independence while allowing our members to travel overseas for additional Hapkido training and take part in international events which exposes us to many different variations of Hapkido. This allows us to benchmark our style of Hapkido against other styles of Hapkido to ensure that our training remains up-to-date, relevant and of a high quality. It also allows our black belts to be formally registered in Korea with the the Korean Ministry of Culture and Sports if they demonstrate an appropriate level of skill and commitment to Hapkido.
Members of the Upper Hutt Martial Arts Academy and our other New Zealand Hapkido achools have attended all of
World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Association's main international events since 2013 - including participtaion in the bienniel Hapkido World Championships in South Korea and to bienniel Member Summits in San Francisco. We also host the binenniel Hapkido Oceania Cup - an official
World Kido Federation/Hanminjok Hapkido Association event here in New Zealand where we regulratly host Grand Master Seo's oldest son, Grand Master Scott Seo.
Martial Arts Professionals
Our membership of
Martial Arts Professionals ensures that our facility, training methods and business practices are continuously evolving and are up-to-date with the leading martial arts industry practices.
Master Fari is a regular guest instructor at our Academy and he is also our instrucor for our Ground Combatives class. From 2019 we have also hosted Master Fab Cella - another KMA school owner - and he is also our instructor for our Kyusho-Jitsu class.
New Zealand Ju-Jitsu Federation
The
NZJJF is recognised as the governing body for all styles of Ju-jitsu in New Zealand by Sport New Zealand, WCJJO and the ISJA.
Hapkido and Ju-Jitsu share a common ancestry so the NZJFF welcomed our Academy into its membership in early 2020.
Membership of the NZJFF allows our instructors to become formally qualified Coaches through a progessive coaching programme recognised by
Sport New Zealand.
Membership of the NZJFF also provides a pathway for our students who wish to engage in various competitions such as Ju-Jitsu, BJJ and MMA.
Pathfinder Martial Arts
Pathfinder Martial Arts was developed by Callum Forbes to reflect his professional approach to running our Academy and our training. While we retain our original Hapkido core, we are always evolving and adapting how we teach in order to remain relevant in an ever changing world. This not only includes how we run our classes but also how we run our Academy. Traditionally martial arts schools in New Zealand are run as amatuer clubs and societies. In an increasingly regulated and complex word, a more professional model is required and Pathfinder was set up to support martial arts schools transition to this model while still retaining their original culture.
Callum has been running his own school since 1994 and Pathfinder brings together his almost 30 years worth of school management and teaching experience as will as access to some of the world's leading innovators in the martial arts.
Pathfinder Martial Arts was set up to not only support our original Hapkido schools but also to support other martial artists who want to be part our wider family of schools as well. We can provide support by training people with no Hapkido experience in our style of Hapkido. Or we can provide support and direction to people who do not necessarily teach Hapkido but who want to also be part of our network.