Choi
Yong Shul Choi, the founder of Hapkido, was born in the town of Yong Dong, Choong Chung Province, relatively near Taegue, South Korea in 1904. In 1909 Korea came under Japanese occupation. It is believed that Japanese troops took Young Shul Choi from his homeland at the age of seven to be assigned work in Japan. Sadly, it was a very common practice, at that period of history, for the Japanese occupying forces to relocate young male Korean children to Japan for various types of labor.
As fate would have it, Choi eventually came to work for, Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943), the 32nd patriarch of Daito Ryu Aikijitsu. Takeda was forty-four years old at the time Choi, a seven-year-old boy, came to his service. Choi was given the Japanese name Yoshida, Asao. The first or given name, Tatjuttsu, which is propagated as being the name Choi used in Japan, is not a valid Japanese name. Therefore, it is historically inaccurate to believe he went by this name.
Takeda and Choi
Choi, now living under the employee of Takeda, in Hokkaido, was not treated as an adopted son by Takeda, as legend has led many modern Hapkido practitioners to believe. In fact, Choi was simply an employee of Takeda.
We must place this association into historical perspective to understand the true relationship between Takeda and Choi. At this juncture of history, the Japanese viewed themselves as the "Divine race." Koreans were simply thought of as a conquered people. Takeda perhaps came to be fond of Choi, but due to his cultural programming, he would never have accepted him as a son. Certainly, there were affluent individuals, of Korean descent, who lived in Japan during this period and were more readily assimilated in Japanese martial culture. Unfortunately, Choi did not possess this status and was forced to live a life supported by labor.
It is important to note that the true relationship between Choi and Takeda was clearly known to all of Choi's early students -- including Hwa Rang Do Grandmaster and Founder Joo Bong Lee and Choi's first student, Suh, Bok Sup. It is the later generations of western students who were lead to believe that Choi was the adopted son of Takeda. Though it is impossible to say where this myth was born, all of those who propagate this falsehood base their knowledge on one interview conducted with Choi in 1982. It may simply be that Choi's statements were misinterpreted or mistranslated in this interview, as the statement of him being the adopted son of Takeda was never mentioned in an media report in Korea. Therefore, it is factually inaccurate to perpetuate the belief that Choi was the adopted son of Takeda.
It must be noted that there is no historic record of Choi ever being certified as a student or teacher of Daito Ryu. The myth that Choi lost his certificates while returning to Korea is a falsehood as there are in-depth records of every Daito Ryu Aikijitsu student kept in Japan. Choi, by his Korean or Japanese name, was never listed.
Hapkido was formally introduced into the United States in 1964 by then twenty-eight year old, Sea Oh Choi. At that time he held the rank of 5th Dan Black Belt. Though not the first Hapkido Black Belt to immigrate to America, he was the first instructor to open a Hapkido school in the United States. The name of the school was the Hapki-Jujitsu School of Self Defense.