Choi Yong-sool

South Korean martial artist (1904–1986)

崔龍述 · 최용술

Born

9 November 1904, Yeongdong County

Died

15 June 1986, Daegu

Citizenship

Korean Empire, South Korea

Sport

martial arts

Occupation

martial artist

Choi Yong-sool (Korean: 최용술; Hanja: 崔龍述; November 9, 1904 – June 15, 1986), alternative spelling Choi Yong-sul, was the founder of the martial art Hapkido (합기도; 合氣道). He was born in today's North Chungcheong Province, South Korea and was taken to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea when he was eight years old. Choi later stated that he became a student of Takeda Sōkaku, and studied a form of jujutsu known as Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu (大東流合気柔術) while in Japan.

Choi returned to Korea after the end of World War II and in 1948 began teaching his art at a brewery owned by the father of his first student Seo Bok-seob (서복섭; Suh Bok-sub). He first called his art "Yu Sul (유술)" or "Yawara (야와라; 柔術)" later changing it to "Yu Kwon Sool (유권술; 柔拳術)" and "Hap Ki Yu Kwon Sool (합기 유권술; 合氣柔拳術)" and eventually Hapkido.

Teachers

• Takeda Sōkaku

Students

• Han Bong-soo

External links

• Wikipedia
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q562516 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.