Customer Reviews

Hapkido : Korean Art of Self-Defense

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I agree with James Lee that the people who criticize this book don't understand its significance. It was one of the first books out in English on Hapkido, and so of course it presents the style's basic techniques in a non-technical and easy to understand way. At the time few people knew what Hapkido was, and O'Hara's book was designed as a basic intro to the art, not a definitive text. The book is brief and could have been longer, to be sure, but that's what further volumes are for.

I also was fortunate enough once to visit Master Han's studio in Los Angeles back in the early 70s and had a chance to observe his class, and see one of his black belts teach, and they were practicing the same basics presented in this book.

Of course, with the easy availability of inexpensive videos these days, older books like this are less important than they were at the time, since you can learn so much more by watching the techniques in action. But for its time, this was a pioneering effort and introduced the art of Hapkido to many people for the first time.

I read most of the reviews here and thought I should share my own perspective.

This book is an excellent introduction to Hapkido written by the best authority on the subject. You are not going to get your black belt by reading this book. If you are already a black belt, you may find this book or any other book on another martial arts philosophy somewhat simplistic.

This book on the other hand introduces you to the philosophy of Hapkido and some of the key components of it. It would help you understand Hapkido better and will in fact show you the eclectic nature of it. I found it very helpful and recommend it to those who are not in love with any one style and have an open mind and yearn for learning.

"The purpose of this book is to introduce the student to Hapkido in the clearest terms, with special emphasis on the basic techniques and principles of the art." This quote by the author really put the scope of this book into perspective and its on that particular note that I base my review for this book.

As a basic overall guide to the art of Hapkido, I would have to say that the author actually does a pretty good job especially when you consider the fact that this book initially came out in 1974. It really doesn't explain to you how to adequately perform any of the techniques shown as that is not what the author had intended. Instead this book gives you a really good overview of numerous different individual components that make up the art of Hapkido. Some of those components which are included in this book are as follows:

HISTORY
PHILOSOPHY
BREATHING
STRIKING AREAS
WARM-UP EXERCISES
PUNCHING & STRIKING
BLOCKS
KICKS
HAPKIDO DEFENSES
SELF-DEFENSE
TARGET AREAS

Each section gives you a brief overview of a variety of techniques that fall under each particular heading. For example; under the "Kicks" section, the author demonstrates how to execute several different kicks including:

Front Kick
Side Kick
Roundhouse Kick
Wheel Kick

If you were looking to learn how to execute a particular technique, then this book would be somewhat of a disappointment. However, if you are looking for a good overview on the art of Hapkido, then this book would definitely be a good choice.

Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

As I write this review, it has been just over a year since Grandmaster Bong Soo Han passed away. It was quite a loss for the Hapkido community. Many of us first learned of Hapkido in the 1970s from the Billy Jack movies, with GM doing the fight scenes in Billy Jack, and then having a speaking roll as a Hapkido master in Trial of Billy Jack.

This book, published back when those movies first came out was one of the first English books on the art of Hapkido. Unfortunately, like other reviewers have already posted, the book offers nowhere near what Hapkido offers or the wealth of Hapkido knowledge GM Han possessed.

The book has a tiny bit of history and philosophy (3 pages) and then four pages about tan-jon breathing, an important part of Hapkido training. Then the book illustrates pictures of the striking parts of one's body. After that, there are 20 some pages of basic warm up and stretching drills. After that, you have a basic picture text of fighting positions, strikes, blocks, and kicks. All of these are shown with photographs with brief written descriptions.

The next section of Hapkido Defenses focuses mainly on punching and kicking back after blocking incoming strikes and kicks. The joint locks and throws that hapkido is known for are missing in these defenses.

Finally, in the very last chapter titled Self-Defense Techniques, with a female performing the techniques and not GM Han, we see our first joint lock. It is an outer wrist lock applied against a cross arm grab. There is one other arm bar type technique, and that's about it for the devastating joint locks that the hapkido curriculum contains. (Joint locks, by the way, are probably my favorite techniques of hapkido, thus the reason I spend a lot of time teaching them in seminars and videos) The book also lacked any mention of the weapons hapkido contains.

Overall, there are better resources for hapkido. And while there are not nearly as many books on hapkido as some other arts, this book is one of the most lacking in regards to joint locks, throws, and weapons that hapkido is known for.

So why the five stars? Good question. I gave the book five stars out of respect for Grand Master Han. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet him at his school a number of years ago, and then to return to his school to take part in a black belt class he was teaching. He was one of the pioneers of hapkido and he lived and shared the art with so many. I knew the book was not the best book on hapkido when I purchased it. But because it was by GM Han, I wanted it in my hapkido library. For that reason, out of respect for one of the great hapkido Grand Masters, I recommend the book for any hapkidoin's library.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of the DVD set Hapkido Cane.

Some years ago I studied with Master Han at his Santa Monica studio. The discrepancy between my experience there and this book is unfortunately great. I cannot offer any explanation; perhaps there were extraneous variables at work in the publishing of this volume. In any case, Master Bong Soo Han is a great teacher and martial artist.

This book fails to capture the essence of Hapkido. In fact, it would take volumes of works to do that. I disagree, however, with other reviews that say that what is shown is TKD. The mechanics may be similar, but the philosophy behind the teaching is different and distinctly Hapkido. Still, I am unsatisfied with the book because it fails to convey the feeling of motion and adaptability that is inherent in the art.

I hate to be a partypooper but I disagree... The book hardly had any Hapkido techniques in it such as wristlocks or throws. Most of the book was focused on very simple basic punches and kicks.I felt it did not convey the uniqueness of Hapkido and instead of emphasising the specialty's of joint and wrist locks turned out to be a very dissapointing guide to TaeKwondo techniques instead.

This book is good showing the extreme basics. I am only 3 weeks into Hapkido training and this book is already of no use to me other than there are some self defense moves in there I have not learned yet. I suggest to buy this book only if you want to know what is coming before you start Hapkido training or as a self defense reference. I was disappointed that I had almost no use for the book so early in my training.

The person who originally instructed Han in Hapkido basics was Max Baer the famous pugilist.
This book contains all the basic Hapkido boxing movements anyone needs to know. If you master all the techniques in this book, the student need not fear anyone.
Muhammed Ali was another Hapkido student. If you review his early fights, he uses exclusively the first three boxing techniques seen in this book.
Buy this book and hoard it as a classic. Once it is out of print, it will be gone.

As a Hapkido practitioner for over twenty years, this was the first book I purchased on the subject. It is written by one of the most respected masters of the art in the world and it presents the essential elements of this style in a direct and easy to understand format.

People who have criticized this book do not understand the essential importance of the basics in Hapkido. This is what this book presents, the essential basics, which all of the advanced techniques of Hapkido are based upon.

This book is a must for any library on Hapkido.