Han Mu Do (Korea), founded by He-Young Kimm, is a martial art consisting of hand techniques, weapon control and martial arts philosophy. Kimm integrated the techniques and philosophies of various Korean martial arts, most founded in the 1950s, with new techniques into a single system. Han Mu Do was not the original name of the martial art. That was Yuj Kwon Sul which means the art of throwing and punching. Then it was called Han Mu Yuh Kwon Sul for a while. However, some schools did not consider it appropriate for Mu to be used because it specifically meant martial art. They simply called it Han Do. In 1991, Kimm decided to call it Han Mu Do.
Techniques
Han Mu Do is considered a cousin of Hapkido. Hapkido is more aggressive and harder and the movements are less flexible. Another difference can be found in hand techniques. Those of Hanmudo are based on the soft Korean martial arts techniques such as Kuk Sul, Sundo and Han Tae Keuk and hard martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do. When it comes to training with weapons, there is also a difference between Hanmudo and Hapkido. With Hanmudo a student starts using weapons at an early age, while with Hapkido this only happens much later. The shapes and styles are also different. The weapon style within Hanmudo is derived from Muye Dobo Tong Ji, the oldest martial art text in Korea.
Being mentally and physically aligned is a unique element within Hanmudo. A practitioner should say kihap in his head to align his mind and body. Hyung Sa, patterns, is another unique element within hanmudo. The movements follow the rhythm of the techniques as one learns them. For example, we start with the hard movements, then the hard/soft movements and conclude with the soft movements. Han Mu Do has her own uniform, the dobok. This is very similar to other Korean martial arts and is based on traditional Korean costumes.
