Do Hop Sool

[sfs982000]

Has anyone here ever studied Do Hop Sool? I studied briefly while stationed in Korea from 92-93. I've never seen any other mention of schools opening up in the states after I left and it seemed to be pretty popular among the military folks there. The only website I've seen regarding it basically had the oath and the rest of the site was under construcion.

 

[Humble Student]

hear ya go

http://www.dohapsool.com/index.html

 

[Kuk Sa Nim]

Has anyone here ever studied Do Hop Sool? I studied briefly while stationed in Korea from 92-93. I've never seen any other mention of schools opening up in the states after I left and it seemed to be pretty popular among the military folks there. The only website I've seen regarding it basically had the oath and the rest of the site was under construcion.

I am Do Hap In. I studied Do Hap Sool in Korea from 80-82. Once I got back stateside, I continued to work out with a couple of my friends that were training with me in Korea. They joined my class that I taught on base at Edwards AB, but once we got separated, it became very difficult to find anyone else who knew the art, much less trained in it or taught it. Ultimately, I incorporated it into the style I teach now. It is called Modern Farang Mu Sul, and incorporates several versions of Hwa Rang Do, Hapkido and Kuk Sool, along with Do Hap Sool and Sun Mu Do.

I've seen that website you speak of. I believe it was set up by one of my old classmates for GM Whan, In Chun (aka: Sabunim) once he immigrated to the states. I am under the impression that he now lives and teaches somewhere in the East coast. Despite several attempts, I've not been able to make contact.

I "run into" a few of my old classmates from Korea on the web every now and then, but to my knowledge, none of them are teaching.

Here are a few pictures from Korea:

http://www.dsystem.com/images/DoHapSoolindex.html

With brotherhood,
Grand Master De Alba
Kuk Sa Nim

 

[sfs982000]

I am Do Hap In. I studied Do Hap Sool in Korea from 80-82. Once I got back stateside, I continued to work out with a couple of my friends that were training with me in Korea. They joined my class that I taught on base at Edwards AB, but once we got separated, it became very difficult to find anyone else who knew the art, much less trained in it or taught it. Ultimately, I incorporated it into the style I teach now. It is called Modern Farang Mu Sul, and incorporates several versions of Hwa Rang Do, Hapkido and Kuk Sool, along with Do Hap Sool and Sun Mu Do.

I've seen that website you speak of. I believe it was set up by one of my old classmates for GM Whan, In Chun (aka: Sabunim) once he immigrated to the states. I am under the impression that he now lives and teaches somewhere in the East coast. Despite several attempts, I've not been able to make contact.

I "run into" a few of my old classmates from Korea on the web every now and then, but to my knowledge, none of them are teaching.

Here are a few pictures from Korea:

http://www.dsystem.com/images/DoHapSoolindex.html

With brotherhood,
Grand Master De Alba
Kuk Sa Nim

Thanks for the response. I found my old dobok recently and the original material that GM Whan gave me when I first joined his class and it really brought back very fond memories of training with him. He was a great teacher and a kind man. I wish that my work schedule wouldn't have gotten in the way while I was there so I could've trained more with him. I was actually surprised that I couldn't find much information on any other folks teaching Do Hop Sool back in the states, I would've thought for sure that someone would've opened up some schools somewhere (besides yourself).

 

[Omar B]

I am Do Hap In. I studied Do Hap Sool in Korea from 80-82. Once I got back stateside, I continued to work out with a couple of my friends that were training with me in Korea. They joined my class that I taught on base at Edwards AB, but once we got separated, it became very difficult to find anyone else who knew the art, much less trained in it or taught it. Ultimately, I incorporated it into the style I teach now. It is called Modern Farang Mu Sul, and incorporates several versions of Hwa Rang Do, Hapkido and Kuk Sool, along with Do Hap Sool and Sun Mu Do.

I've seen that website you speak of. I believe it was set up by one of my old classmates for GM Whan, In Chun (aka: Sabunim) once he immigrated to the states. I am under the impression that he now lives and teaches somewhere in the East coast. Despite several attempts, I've not been able to make contact.

I "run into" a few of my old classmates from Korea on the web every now and then, but to my knowledge, none of them are teaching.

Here are a few pictures from Korea:

http://www.dsystem.com/images/DoHapSoolindex.html

With brotherhood,
Grand Master De Alba
Kuk Sa Nim

Is there any KMA you can't school us on KSN?

 

[Kuk Sa Nim]

Just glad I could help. I have a ridiculous passion for all martial arts, and as such, I've studied formally and/or informally as much as I could. Ultimately, I certainly found myself "majoring" in Korean martial arts.

Let me correct something I just noticed in my last post. In my haste to post the response, I miss-spelled my old teachers name. I would hate to think that I would be disrespectful or anything. Yes, GM In Whan Chun (aka : Chun, In Whan) was probably one of the most dedicated and giving master I have ever met. For all of his considerable power, he was such a gentle person. A real friend and true gentleman. He embodied "practicing what he preached". I really miss him and the wonderful times we shared, both on and off the mats.

Those that knew him would understand why I nicked named him "the REAL hands of stone". Boy do I have war stories. At any rate, I'm glad someone brought up this awesome and yet so rare Korean martial art.
With respect and brotherhood,
Kuk Sa Nim

 

[Omar B]

So, can you guys give some details on the style? I've not found much in terms of details, videos and such looking around.

 

[Kuk Sa Nim]

So, can you guys give some details on the style? I've not found much in terms of details, videos and such looking around.

Sure, no problem. You are right that there is virtually nothing out there to the general public displaying details of the style. Shame really, because it is such a beautiful and impressive art.

Well, one of the best ways to describe the art, is to understand what the name means. At first glance, how would you translate "Do Hap Sool"? Well the English and even basic Korean writing does not tell the tale. This is actually true for most other Asian arts (such as Kong Soo Do, Tang Soo Do and Karate Do for example). The key is understanding the original Chinese characters in which it is written. As explained to me by my teacher, the "Do" character is different that that of many other styles, such as Tae Kwon DO (the WAY of the hands and feet), or Hap Ki DO (the WAY of coordinated power).

This "DO" is not "the way", but rather the character for "sword or weapons in general". The other characters are the same as in other arts.

Do= "Sword or weapons"
Hap= "to unite or bring together"
Sool= "the art of, or the fighting skills / techniques"

So, in essence, per the Hanja characters (Chinese characters), Do Hap Sool translates to mean something like "The art of combining all weapons". Meaning "Everything is a weapon, and to have skill with all weapons". This is not only weapons, but rather, this implies that empty hand techniques are "weapons" too.

Now, don't get me wrong, we did use TONS of weapons. Just look at all the weapons in the dojang from my pictures from Korea. That was actually what really caught my attention initially. But as I was taught, we were taught that every move we learned with weapons, translated to empty hand techniques, and vice versa. Empty hand movements could be applied with weapons. This is very cool, and I REALLY identified with this philosophy.

On the surface, the art looked a lot like "Korean Kung Fu", because it was very circular in nature, and used many animal techniques. But this is not correct. It is sooooo much more.

The more I learned about the art, the more I came to realize just how deep and complex the art is. I was fortunate to learn it directly from it's founder. I made it a point to train as much as I could while stationed there. Plus my teacher LOVED to train outdoors and in the mountains. One of my favorites. Now you can start to see why I miss him so much.

OK, I think I'm rambling now.

With respect and brotherhood,
Kuk Sa Nim

 

[Omar B]

Thanks for the excellent explanation KSN. I'm not one who goes in for animal forms, forgive me for saying but I always thought them a bit silly. It sounds interesting in that it expands weapon forms to be used empty handed, kinda like Escrima.

Gotta love the martial arts man. You can spend your life learning one, or you can kinda overwhelm yourself and try to learn a whole bunch.

 

[msydnor]

I studied Do Hop Sool for a few months when I was stationed at Osan AB in 1984 or 85. I forget whixh.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Sure, no problem. You are right that there is virtually nothing out there to the general public displaying details of the style. Shame really, because it is such a beautiful and impressive art.

Well, one of the best ways to describe the art, is to understand what the name means. At first glance, how would you translate "Do Hap Sool"? Well the English and even basic Korean writing does not tell the tale. This is actually true for most other Asian arts (such as Kong Soo Do, Tang Soo Do and Karate Do for example). The key is understanding the original Chinese characters in which it is written. As explained to me by my teacher, the "Do" character is different that that of many other styles, such as Tae Kwon DO (the WAY of the hands and feet), or Hap Ki DO (the WAY of coordinated power).

This "DO" is not "the way", but rather the character for "sword or weapons in general". The other characters are the same as in other arts.

Do= "Sword or weapons"
Hap= "to unite or bring together"
Sool= "the art of, or the fighting skills / techniques"

So would it be: 刀合術?

Daniel

 

[riffraff169]

I studied Do Hap Sool from my Sabunim, a co-worker, in the USAF in 1993-1994. He was a 4th degree black belt, I think. I got to 6th geup, working on 4th geup before life changes cut short my study. It was a very interesting art, and I learned a lot from it. It definitely influences my thinking on other martial arts. I like how it was more like a Chinese kung fu style, and a typical Korean style. I've look for some information myself. I've got a photocopy of an article about the founder and how he started the style, and a list of the forms for each level, although I can't seem to find it right now. I remember some of the forms, but it has been so long that I can't remember as much as I'd like.

 

[Doomx2001]

If you find anymore info on this style please post it. It sounds really interesting.

 

[Wakeup]

Sure, no problem. You are right that there is virtually nothing out there to the general public displaying details of the style. Shame really, because it is such a beautiful and impressive art.

Well, one of the best ways to describe the art, is to understand what the name means. At first glance, how would you translate "Do Hap Sool"? Well the English and even basic Korean writing does not tell the tale. This is actually true for most other Asian arts (such as Kong Soo Do, Tang Soo Do and Karate Do for example). The key is understanding the original Chinese characters in which it is written. As explained to me by my teacher, the "Do" character is different that that of many other styles, such as Tae Kwon DO (the WAY of the hands and feet), or Hap Ki DO (the WAY of coordinated power).

This "DO" is not "the way", but rather the character for "sword or weapons in general". The other characters are the same as in other arts.

Do= "Sword or weapons"
Hap= "to unite or bring together"
Sool= "the art of, or the fighting skills / techniques"

So, in essence, per the Hanja characters (Chinese characters), Do Hap Sool translates to mean something like "The art of combining all weapons". Meaning "Everything is a weapon, and to have skill with all weapons". This is not only weapons, but rather, this implies that empty hand techniques are "weapons" too.

Now, don't get me wrong, we did use TONS of weapons. Just look at all the weapons in the dojang from my pictures from Korea. That was actually what really caught my attention initially. But as I was taught, we were taught that every move we learned with weapons, translated to empty hand techniques, and vice versa. Empty hand movements could be applied with weapons. This is very cool, and I REALLY identified with this philosophy.

On the surface, the art looked a lot like "Korean Kung Fu", because it was very circular in nature, and used many animal techniques. But this is not correct. It is sooooo much more.

The more I learned about the art, the more I came to realize just how deep and complex the art is. I was fortunate to learn it directly from it's founder. I made it a point to train as much as I could while stationed there. Plus my teacher LOVED to train outdoors and in the mountains. One of my favorites. Now you can start to see why I miss him so much.

OK, I think I'm rambling now.

With respect and brotherhood,
Kuk Sa Nim

Who is the founder? I too trained a little in Do Hap Sool in '72-'73 at Osan Air Base im Korea. There were a couple students very advanced. Quite surprised no one in U.S. has taught it. A beautiful martial arts. The sticks and swords.. And the style is quite unique

 

[pcarjc]

Has anyone here ever studied Do Hop Sool? I studied briefly while stationed in Korea from 92-93. I've never seen any other mention of schools opening up in the states after I left and it seemed to be pretty popular among the military folks there. The only website I've seen regarding it basically had the oath and the rest of the site was under construcion.

I too notice that site has not ever been up. I studied Do Hap Sool at in Korea back in the Seventies and still have an interest to train.