Excerpted from: Mitchell, David. 1989. The Complete Book of Martial Arts. Hamlyn Publishing. The name hapkido consists of three Korean characters which mean way of harmony. Hapkido regards itself nowadays as a practical form of self-defence, a vehicle for maintaining the practice of old Korean martial arts traditions, and a combat sport.
History of HapkidoIt might appear at first that Hapkido is no more than a Korean school of aikido - especially since there is no record of hapkido in Korea...