Devastating force can originate from beautiful art. Take the ancient Korean martial arts fighting style of han pul (which translates to “great power”). While the basic physical movements of han pul may appear similar to those of tai chi or yoga, their effects are much different—and can be much more destructive.
“I want to emphasize this is an art like music or painting—only han pul is an art for fighting,” said seventh-degree black belt Master Abraham Jae, who has taught this form of martial arts at the Faith Korean Church of Santa Maria for the better part of the past two decades. “It’s meant to devastate and get away safely.”
Family first
It’s a windy Friday afternoon in North County when an American family warms up in preparation for learning the ancient Korean fighting style of han pul at the church. Led by Jae, members of the Martell family slowly go through a series of fluid movements that can quickly turn into powerful strikes.
Jae, 66, who formerly taught han pul to members of the Korean Special Forces and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, is giving these family members a lifetime of knowledge of a once-secret fighting style.
“I wanted something to help develop discipline and self defense for their futures,” said Santa Maria resident David Martell, explaining why he started training in martial arts with his daughter Kristina and son Joshua. “For me, I needed some conditioning. And I’ve slept better every night since.”
During the training session, it’s clear that all goals will be accomplished.
Defining han pul
Han pul is a self-defense martial art that combines stand-up and grappling elements, in addition to training with weapons such as knives, swords, short sticks, long staffs, canes, and more. Unlike many other martial arts, han pul isn’t a sport and there are no competitions or tournaments involved with it. Instead, students spend a majority of their time studying focus and technique as opposed to power and contact.
That’s not to say there isn’t any contact. According to Jae, han pul stresses long, powerful strikes and kicks that use the power of the entire body, making it one of the most devastating fighting styles. Also differing from other mainstream martial arts techniques is that han pul uses the palm of the hand—as opposed to the fists—when striking.
“The palm is four times stronger than the fist,” Jae explained.
Han pul also differs from most martial arts in its emphasis on striking with relaxed intensity and a pinpoint delivery to pressure points.
Han pul’s history
The origin of han pul is extremely complex and very difficult to follow. According to Jae, who has taught this form of fighting to both the American and Korean military, it’s a martial art developed in Korea that was nearly destroyed, but later saved by the Japanese.
Jae, a former chief instructor at the Moo Lim Won Academy of Martial Arts in Seoul, South Korea, said han pul was used in ancient times to protect Korean royalty, but the fighting style was kept secret and never documented.
That all changed when a group of han pul disciples arrived in Japan around year 500 and began teaching the fighting style to Japanese royalty, who began extensively documenting the techniques, which were passed down for hundreds of years until Japan invaded Korea in 1592. During that time, the story goes, Japan attempted to extinguish and take claim to all native Korean martial arts—including han pul.
The art, however, returned to its roots following the end of World War II, when Choi Yong-sui, a once orphaned Korean boy who had been taken to Japan and trained by master martial arts instructors, returned to his homeland and began teaching han pul.
Since then, Koreans have reclaimed the fighting system, and it’s been passed down to students of multiple generations—including Jae, who later introduced han pul to the United States and Santa Maria.
“I like to have been a starting point for our community and for them to spread this fighting technique throughout the United States,” Jae said. “Whatever a student’s goals are, we can help them get there.”
Kai Beech, an intern for the Sun’s sister paper, New Times, camped out to catch the midnight showing of Kung Fu Panda 2. Contact him via jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 9-16, 2011.
