Links to CMA

[Daniel Sullivan]

Perhaps there is nothing to it, but the question arises from a line in a movie. I just watched Lady Kung Fu AkA Hapkido, staring Angelo Mao, and at the beginning when they are preparing to leave Korea to return to China, they are lectured by their instructor about hapkido and the claim is made that hapkido descends from Chinese martial arts, with specific references made to T'ai Chi.

Now, my exposure to T'ai Chi is minuscule, and that is being generous, but I do recall that the movement in T'ai Chi is more similar to that of Hapkido that the style of movement in taekwondo (an art onto which hapkido techniques are often grafted).

So my question is this: are there any verifiable links between any CMA, T'ai Chi or otherwise, and Hapkido?

My thanks,

Daniel

 

[dortiz]

Geez Daniel,
you know thats a huge question : )
The short answer is no but the long answer is of course.
So short answer is that Hapkido started through Choi who brought back from JAPAN. The style itself was formulated by Takeda so no major roots trace to Chinese Martial Arts.
The long answer is that Chines Martial Arts influenced a lot of cultures in this case the Chin Na grappling parts and one can only assume or with some very hard studying probably find some connections. More so I think that after the war as Koreans wanted to de Japanese you see the arts like Kuk Sool abd others put more Chines style back in to it and therefore some schools now do have that influence.
From what I hear most of the original guys when asked back in the day where Hapkido came from they would just say "Japan"

Dave O.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Not really knowing the answer but is it possible, I suppose.

But I would more likely think there was a link to Shuaijiao

 

[Seth T.]

Is it the dubbed version of the movie? The one where every kung fu style is called out by it's actual name while they just call hapkido "kung fu?" (That's the copy I have.)

If so, I would be a little suspect about the truth behind what was said because they may have done that to match the downplaying of Korea and hapkido in general that occured in that dub.

The instructor was played by Ji Han Jae, by the way, and the few times I have met him and heard him talk about hapkido he has not mentioned T'ai Chi. FWIW

 

[dancingalone]

So my question is this: are there any verifiable links between any CMA, T'ai Chi or otherwise, and Hapkido?

Verifiable, probably not. And the Preying Mantis people get in a tizzy about it, but the Kuk Sool Won people claim there's some Mantis within their system.