The Hunt for the Heir to the Hapkido Empire

There is no hapkido documentary in the works at the moment. Most of my docs took time, the shortest one for me took two full years of work and most take much, much longer. They seem easy but never are. Right now, with the limited time i have to be with him, I am helping him create a working grid and getting materials together for some possible articles written by an outside or third party. Nothing in the end is up to me as I stated and I try to help and nudge it along as much as I can because there is interesting information there to be shared and many questions as highlighted here to be answered. I just shared what I could as I do on the forum when i have time, the rest is up to him. A good part of 2013 I am on some of my professional non martial arts projects that will keep me very busy. The martial arts stuff writing and filming are labors of love I pay for myself, so again thats another reason they take time that even for me are often horribly frustrating. Thanks again to everyone for sharing your thoughts and I hope some positive things will come of it.

 

I for one wish, that those that are close to GM Chang would take the time to take pictures of him doing techniques and video. If we sit around waiting for professional quality material to be produced, it will never happen. Human nature is to take the lazy route. Besides, most people take professional looking pictures and videos with cell phones than they do with professional equipment now-a-days. And, no one can tell me that none of his students have a cell phone handy, especially in New York.

I don't think some people actually know just how important GM Chang is to Hapkido, Korea, and America. From my understanding he is supposed to be THE Grandmaster/Successor of Choi Yong Sul's Hapkido or at least in North America. He would have knowledge about the development of Hapkido, probably some stories of GM Choi's time in Japan, some stories about famous Hapkido practitioners, the documents in his possession, as well as his martial knowledge.
He is an important part of Korea's martial art history, America's martial art history, and of course, Hapkido.

And please forgive my next statement, but if everyone keeps pussyfootin' around with documenting what we can of GM Chang, then he is going to 'passaway' taking everything with him. Then what? We are gonna be left with 50 or 60 self-appointed 9th Dan's in Hapkido continuing to tell their skewed view of Hapkido history for personal gains. And GM Chang? Well, he will be forgotten by many. There isn't even one picture that I can find of him online, anywhere, and he has been teaching for decades!

If someone has the means and access to GM Chang, they better take advantage of it while they can.
Anyway, I hope GM Chang is doing well, and I hope for the best.

- Brian

 

I for one would love to see him host a large seminar in NYC. I know I for one would be there.

Not to sound too cheesy but, "he could bring balance to the force". Sorry, I'm a Star Wars fan. But he could set the record straight on the questions so many of us have.

 

Hi, thanks for replying, gm changs very history and training alone qualify his standing and the world of hapkido knows it, that's why there looking for him till this day. I'm just letting you know what he told me about starting a franchise , wether you believe it or not is up to you. - rd8256 red belt hapkido

 

I was referring to the school you mentioned more than anything else.

 

Gentlemen, I have been following your threads & understand your dilema regarding Hapkido. I am not a Hapkido BB, nor do I take Hapkido. I have been associated with it going back to the late 80's so take my view as you wish.
1st I think you need to establish who the founder of Hapkido really is, Grandmaster Choi, Yong Sul seems to be the choice. My connection with Hapkido comes from a long time friendship with Grand Master Michael Wollmershauser who studied in Korea directly under GM Choi & with GM Lim Hyun-Soo. My understanding is that GM Lim, 9th degree, ranked #1 in the world in HKD, GM Chang, 9th degree, ranked # 2 in the world in HKD, & GM Wollmershauser, 8th degree, ranked # 3 in the world in HKD. GM Mike passed away about 7 years ago. I was fortunate to meet GM Lim numerous times at Master Mikes DoJo & his home. My sons last BB test was in front of GM Lim, GM Parks, & GM Wollmershauser. GM Lim is currently working in Daegu City, Korea as an attorney & running his school in Daegu City. It seems to me that he should be the individual to unite & set the ground rules for HKD. He is also probably one of a few that can get through to GM Chang. I may be full of s___, but I have had the honor of seeing & holding Master Choi's Short Sword. Hope I haven't stepped on any toes!

Sincerely,

rick526

 

my experience meeting the true heir of hapkido, i was contacted by one of his students after finding a link on the internet, i recieved a call to meet grand master chang at a mcdonalds in manhattan. i arrived early since ive already been training in manhattan in the world martial arts academy under david herbert. when he arrived he brought with him a briefcase full of documentations and photos of him in korea. he showed me his certificate given to him by founder choi appointing him as the sucessor to hapkido and i saw his certificate to 10th degree with founder chois signature. i was astounded by his wisdom because he read me like a book without even knowing me. he told me i needed to stop smoking first of all, i was amazed that he would percieve that , then he told me hapkido would help me with my mental quirk of my eye contact shyness. he then proceeded to throw a couple of quick punches at meet that where lighnting fast , so much so that i couldnt even see them coming. he showed me proof from the korean newspapers of the era declaring that founder choi named him the sucessor of hapkido, i asked him why is he not in the open and he told me that there where to many masters fighting for the crumbs of titles and that he didnt want any part of it. he said his dream is to start a franchise before he comes back out and present himself to the world. -r.d., red belt, hapkido

 

Well, a website with photos, videos, bios...etc would be a great start.
Right now everything comes across as hearsay, which isn't too reliable when presenting any type of information. Thank you for sharing your stories though, I hope you continue to do so. But please work to get some concrete stuff on the net, like photos of the GM or his documents, video would be awesome.

The only other thing I got to add, is if GM Chang takes too long, he is going to pass away before he accomplishes anything. And that won't do anybody any good, especially Hapkido. If he is going to do something, he needs to do it now.

 

Hello everyone. I don't know if this tread is still working, but just to let you know I've read all the stuff written here about Mr Chang. I trained under him in the Bronx in the mid 90's for two years and got to know him fairly well in that time. While I no longer practise hapkido, I would hope I could help answer some questions about Mr Chang as I've personally witnessed a lot of his private photo albums and certificates and records set while he was in korea. looking forward to your response.
Paul

 

member: 25648"doesn't want or one wish, that those that are close to GM Chang would take the time to take pictures of him doing techniques and video. If we sit around waiting for professional quality material to be produced, it will never happen. Human nature is to take the lazy route. Besides, most people take professional looking pictures and videos with cell phones than they do with professional equipment now-a-days. And, no one can tell me that none of his students have a cell phone handy, especially in New York.

Dojunim chang does
I don't think some people actually know just how important GM Chang is to Hapkido, Korea, and America. From my understanding he is supposed to be THE Grandmaster/Successor of Choi Yong Sul's Hapkido or at least in North America. He would have knowledge about the development of Hapkido, probably some stories of GM Choi's time in Japan, some stories about famous Hapkido practitioners, the documents in his possession, as well as his martial knowledge.
He is an important part of Korea's martial art history, America's martial art history, and of course, Hapkido.

And please forgive my next statement, but if everyone keeps pussyfootin' around with documenting what we can of GM Chang, then he is going to 'passaway' taking everything with him. Then what? We are gonna be left with 50 or 60 self-appointed 9th Dan's in Hapkido continuing to tell their skewed view of Hapkido history for personal gains. And GM Chang? Well, he will be forgotten by many. There isn't even one picture that I can find of him online, anywhere, and he has been teaching for decades!

If someone has the means and access to GM Chang, they better take advantage of it while they can.
Anyway, I hope GM Chang is doing well, and I hope for the best.

- Brian[/QUOTE]
Hi, dojunim chang is a very reser

 

Being the only dojunim of hapkido, chang is not willing to fight for the scraps on the table, he is the only hapkido black belt awarded the 10th degree by gm choi himself, period

 

Ive met him p

He is the most incre

 

Hello again, sorry I haven't been on in a while, rd8256, I can understand your concerns about Mr Chang, but the Mr Chang I knew was always very private. But the more I got to know him the more he opened up. I spent many evenings after class was over sitting talking with him about hapkido and his life. He was always very interested in my life too. He showed me his private catalogue of photos of his time as a young man in Korea and of different records he broke. There was never any question from him as to who was the true heir of hapkido. HIM! After all he is the only 10th dan black belt in hapkido in the world. I have seen the photos of grand master Choi making him a 10th dan. I could go on for hours about him. If you want to know anything more specific let me know if i can help i will. I no longer live in america though. If you are looking for a picture of him google Chinil Chang. The first small picture on the images is him.
Paul123