Hapkido: The Integrated Fighting Art [Paperback]

Robert K. Spear (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Unique Publications (December 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865680795
• ISBN-13: 978-0865680791
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay but could be better, February 4, 2005

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hapkido: The Integrated Fighting Art (Paperback)

I've heard good things about Mr. Spear's knowledge and skill but this book really doesn't show that in the best light in my opinion, although it might be adequate as a basic introduction to the art. I agree with the other comments here that the photos are a little dark and could be better, although they're not bad. However, the comments by another person here that the material seems a little skimpy is addressed by the author, when he says the material in each of the colored belt sections is only a sample of the actual syllabus.

For someone without access to other material on Hapkido, this would probably be okay as an introduction. However, what with the advent of very high-quality videos on many martial arts, I find it amazing that anyone is still writing and publishing books on the martial arts. Many of these videos are available used on e Bay for less than one would pay for a new book, and one can actually see the martial arts in action and get some idea of what they are like in practice.

However, there is some useful information here. The author says that Hapkido is a combination of the ancient tae kyun art and modern Japanese jiujutsu, which I always suspected. There was another early Korean art called soobak that could also have contributed, but there's no mention of that. But tae kyun was adopted for training the sons of the nobility in earlier centuries because of its reputation as an effective fighting art.

After a brief history of the art, most of the book is divided into technique sections which give some of the required techniques for each belt rank, which are green blue, red, and black. There are also sections on cooling down exercises, pressure points of the human body, breakfalls, and some knife and club and weapons defenses.

After looking at the pictures of knife defense, I would have to say this is not the system's strong suit. Knife defense and tactics are handled much better by the Indonesian systems of Silat and the Filipino kali/escrima systems, which are far more well known today than when this book was published back in 1987.

One of the more interesting sections is on escape from chokes and throws, but only three are shown. This could have been a longer and much more interesting section. There is a brief presentation of upper level black belt techniques such as cane, short stick, and umbrella defense, which are some of the better material in the book.

After 40 years of studying and teaching martial arts, Hapkido is one of the few arts I don't have at least some exposure to or formal background in. I would have been less impressed with the art had I not already had a Hapkido video that was quite good and showed how it looks in action, and it appeared to be an art with a good integration between hand and foot technique and locking and throwing. Even today there aren't many videos on the art available, but I've heard the one from Palladin Press is quite good although I haven't seen it personally.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Intro to Hapkido, April 17, 2000

By 

Joseph D. Nohavicka - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hapkido: The Integrated Fighting Art (Paperback)

Robert K. Spear's introduction candidly cautions as follows: "The important aspect of this book is that it is just a beginning." The 184 page manual neither purports to be an exhaustive study of this complex, pragmatic martial art nor does it suggest that Hapkido can be mastered from a book alone. It is what the author says it is: a beginning. The author provides just enough information on the history, philosophy and instruction of Hapkido for the reader to decide whether it is a combat system suitable for them warranting further examination. The clear instructions and not-so-clear photographs provided are adequate to arm even the neophyte student of hand-to-hand combat with useful techniques in addition to a sampling of how the system operates. Only enticing glimpses of advanced levels of study with and without weapons are provided. The book gets five stars because you get more than you bargain for considering the price: you get a great beginning to a fascinating martial art. My only disappointmet with the book was that it was not 500 pages longer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hapkido the Integrated Fighting Art, March 15, 2000

By 

Alvin Albano (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hapkido: The Integrated Fighting Art (Paperback)

I thought this book was too basic and not very well put together. Being a student and teacher of Hapkido, I was very disappointed at the lack of knowledge the author exhibited. I would not recommend this book.