Sunday, December 28, 2014

Hapkido and When Taekwondo Strikes

Hello Everyone

I have not seen many Martial Art movies in my time. However here are 2 of the movies that I have seen and recommend taking a look at.

When Taekwondo Strikes is a movie from 1973 that tells the story of a group of Korean rebels who use their art of Taekwondo to cause the Japanese oppressors a lot of trouble in the early 1940s. They are basically Taekwondo freedom fighters.
This is a fictional movie; however, the film can give you a good feel of what it would have been like in Korea under Japanese colonial rule.

When Taekwondo Strikes (1973):


Hapkido came out a year before When Taekwondo Strikes and has many of the same cast members, playing similar roles. The majority of this story is set in China and the main protagonists are Chinese. The movie starts off with our young protagonists training as Hapkido students in 1934, under the guidance of their wise Korean master. Their teacher believes that his students are now ready to open their own school. As Korea was under Japanese rule, he asked his students to go back to China in hopes of spreading the art of Hapkido in an environment that would accept it.

The protagonists establish a Hapkido school in a town back in China. They quickly realised that life in China was no longer very different to life in Korea as the Japanese now ruled much of the ancient society. More immediately however, a certain "Black Bare" Japanese Martial Arts school threatens the existence of the newly established Hapkido school, the local Kung Fu schools, and the safety of the local population...

Hapkido (1972):


I like both movies. However if I were to select a superior film, I would choose Hapkido. Hapkido has a slightly more compelling and memorable storyline with exigent fight choreography, even though it might be unrealistic at times. I think that When Taekwondo Strikes relied a little bit too heavily on the fight scenes, where as Hapkido had a nice balance of an interesting story, well defined characters, Martial Arts action and philosophical teachings. This is why Hapkido was the film that I came back to re-watch. All of this is just my opinion. Both films are great and both will provide you with a good understanding of the struggles people in China and Korea went through during the first half of the 20th century, whilst hopefully providing you with an adequate fix of Martial Arts action.

Thank you for reading. If you decide to check out ether of these films, happy viewing!


11 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing, hopefully I'll watch these movies today if I finish homework fast.

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  2. Hapkido was my first martial art concept/system that I studied. I used to research it and watched a lot of videos on it. (I used to be a wannable hapkido practitioner. Meaning I acted as if I practice it when I don't. But that was myself when I was young Lol. Hapkido was and it is still my favorite system. I wish I can attend a hapkido school, gain some experience and then develop my own way/ or walk my own path. I am already walking my own path but I want some experience from hapkido as that may aid me on my path more.

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    1. I understand where you're coming from Lxeon. Hapkido looks like a really cool system to learn from. Unfortunately the closest Hapkido school to me is 80 kilometres away, in Melbourne! It would however, be a great supplement to our own ways/paths if taught well in a prosperous environment.
      A book that might interest you is Hapkido: Korean Art of Self Defence, written by Scott Shaw. It covers the history of Korean Martial Arts, the evolution of Hapkido, Ki and self defence from wrist escapes to defence against kicking with photographs of cause. It's not a large book, but it does give the reader a comprehensive and informative guide to the basics of Hapkido.

      The ISBN is 978-0-8048-2074-5 and I bought my copy at http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Hapkido-Scott-Shaw/9780804820745 if it's of any assistance. And thank you for sharing your history with Hapkido. As I said I understand where you're coming from. My story runs along similar lines.

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    2. Thanks for the info ben. I should purchase that book. By the way I used to live in Melbourne(but that was when I was young).

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    3. I hope there is an ebook for it, or maybe I can purchase it on the ibook app on iphone.

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    4. No way, when I was young I lived in Melbourne as well! What's your opinion of Melbourne as a place to live?

      Unfortunately I haven't been able to find an iBook version of the book for IOS devises. Some other places you can purchase a physical copy of the book if it's of any further assistance are:
      Dymocks: https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hapkido-by-scott-shaw-9780804820745/#.VKXHCIFXerU

      Tans Martial Arts: http://www.tansmas.com/hapkido-korean-art-of-self-defense.html

      Ebay: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Hapkido-By-Scott-Shaw-Paperback-Free-Shipping-/351140647123?pt=AU_Non_Fiction_Books_2&hash=item51c19d10d3

      Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hapkido-Korean-Self-Defense-Scott-Shaw-ebook/dp/B006QNNI5O/ref=sr_1_2/175-1254809-3189348?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420150230&sr=1-2&keywords=hapkido+korean+art+of+self-defense

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    5. Well I just copied and paste all those link you provided into my document text so that I can purchased it if I want to. So thank you very much appreciate it. But I prefer to get the ebook or get it in the ibook app.

      And about Melbourne can't really say anything about that, because I don't remember anything. But all I do know is that I lved there, and that's where I started my preschool/kindergarden (whatever you called it). I would like to go back there one day and live there for a few years or maybe more, to see what it's like. I have an Australian citizenship, so I can just live there whenever I guess?

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    6. Melbourne is considered to be one of the nicest cities in the world to live. However, with a population of 4,442,918 people (2014), it is to congested for my liking. I prefer the space and fresh air that the country side provides. The downside is that the Martial Arts in the country side lack variety and availability.

      If you have an Australian citizenship then I think you should be able to live anywhere on this continent. I've never been over seas. I've always wanted to go somewhere else and New Zealand seems like a beautiful place. I'd like to go there one day.

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    7. Thanks for your opinion on Melbourne. I look forward going there and/or living there one day. But I thought there might be a lot of martial arts there (more variety).

      I live in New Zealand, and I guess you could say it is a beautiful place, but depending on where you go. Overall I guess it is a beautiful place. And I like this continent (Australasia) that I'm living on, it is the best!

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    8. I live in the countryside where I live, there is little variety and availability in Martial Arts schools. Melbourne has a huge variety of Martial Arts including Kung Fu (Choy Lay Fut, Hung Gar etc.) Aikido, Hapkido, Ninjutsu, Karate, Judo, Taekwondo and more. To get to any of this I would have to travel an hour each way.

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    9. Where I live there is not that many martial arts schools here.

      I trained on my own. I am thinking about studying in/joining a martial art school when I start going to the university that I enrolled in.

      It's good to hear what you have to say about Melbourne, I really want to go there now.

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