Universal Standards

Welcome to the Universal Standards area of the Midwest Hapkido Website.

The categories and materials posted here are a reflection of practices common to major traditions in the Hapkido community. The purpose for this guidance is to assist folks who have come to find themselves practicing Hapkido without benefit of a recognized structure. Though I honestly wish this was not necessary two approaches make this necessary. One approach is that groups within the Hapkido community often identify themselves as the ultimate authority on Hapkido structure and information. What I hope to demonstrate is that sound Hapkido concerns a definite body of practices and information common to all sound Hapkido programs. The second approach is that in the absence of accurate information, individuals are known to pull together disparate information from a variety of sources and even differing Martial Arts. The result is often represented as Hapkido even when it is lacking important components of the art. 

What I ask you to do is to use this material to reflect on the structure and content of a programs as a way of assessing its claim to sound Hapkido practice. 

What I would ask you not to do is to take information from here and use this as some validation to your own place in the community. Such standing can only be gathered from a teacher whose practices reflect a particular approach to Korean traditions. The Purpose and Intention of Midwest Hapkido is to provide as much information to folks as possible and to provide a common area to compare information back and forth. 

Hopefully this will strengthen our Hapkido community and bring us more closely together.