Hwarangdo

Hwa Rang Do is a Korean martial art that teaches fighting techniques, weapons, spiritual training, intellectual enhancement, and artistic pursuits. The art itself employs over 4,000 techniques, as well as 108 weapons.

Hwa Rang Do, which is Korean for “The way of the Flowering Manhood,” was named after the Hwarang, an elite youth order of the Silla kingdom during the Three-Kingdoms Period, in what is now Korea. The Hwarang were mostly from aristocratic families who were educated in artistic, academic, and martial fields of study. While the founders and practitioners of Hwa Rang Do claim that their techniques are inherited from the fighting methods used by the Hwarang, there is a great deal of controversy among modern historians regarding whether or not the Hwarang were primarily a warrior order.

According to Joo Bang Lee (the creator of Hwa Rang Do as an art form), in 1942 am monk named Suahm Dosa took in he and his brother, Joo Sang Lee, to be trained. They lived with him at the Suk Wang Sa Temple in the Ham Nam province of North Korea, later escaping with him to Ohdae Mountain in South Korea during the communist take over. He had no formal syllabus to teach the brothers, but taught whatever caught his fancy that morning.

After their training by Suahm Dosa, the brothers spent some time learning other martial arts before setting out to create their own form. They generated the syllabus from scratch, based on the techniques from Suahm Dosa they could remember, and then started to teach it to the public. At this time, Joo Sang Lee moved to the United States to teach the martial art there.

In January 1969, Suahm Dosa died. Before his passing, he gave the Hwarang title of Do Joo Nim (Owner of The Way) to Joo Bang Lee. He gave this title to the younger brother because he was the one still in Korea and, in Suahm Dosa’s eyes, the one who cared more about the art. This did not please Joo Sang Lee, and led to a falling out in later years.

In 1972, Joo Bang Lee moved (taking the World Headquarters of Hwa Rang Do with him) to California. He currently claims the title of “Supreme Grand Master” of Hwa Rang Do.

During the course of study, a Hwa Rang Do practitioner will learn a long form, eight basic techniques, around 30 “one step sparring” techniques and about the same number of self-defense techniques, and some short forms at every progression level. In addition, three main weapons are taught: The Ssang Jyel Bong (nunchaku), Jang Bong (long staff), and the Gum Mu (sword). Defense against other weapons, such as the knife, are also taught, but training with those weapons does not occur until obtaining black sash level.

Hwa Rang Do students will also have extensive study in grappling, joint manipulation, and submission fighting.