Han Bong-soo - Early Life

Early Life

Han was born on August 25, 1933, in Incheon, South Korea. He began his study of hapkido as a teenager with Yong Sul Choi in Seoul, Korea. Han studied and refined this Korean martial art for more than 50 years. He held the rank of 9th dan black belt in hapkido. He was the founder of the International Hapkido Federation, and was its president until his death.

During the occupation of Korea by Japan between 1910 and 1945, all school-age children were required to read, write, and speak Japanese. In addition they were taught judo and kendo for discipline and physical education. Han studied these arts from 1943 to 1945.

From 1948 to 1950, Han studied kwon bup, which was a mixture of Chinese chuan fa methods and Shudokan karate, and earned a black belt in the art under Byung In Yoon. Yoon's teachings later led to the development of one of the Korean schools of kong soo do and greatly influenced two of the early schools who helped to form modern taekwondo, the chang moo kwan and the jido kwan. At the outbreak of the Korean War, all martial arts schools in Korea were closed.

Han began his training in Hapkido after going to see a demonstration put on by the founder, Yong Sul Choi. From then on, he committed himself to hapkido training under Choi.

In the late 1950s, Han would meet with other instructors to train and exchange ideas. From time to time, between 1956 to 1959, he traveled to Hwa Chun, Kang Won Province, where he spent time training in the art of tae kyon, under Bok Yong Lee.