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GRAND MASTER BONG
SOO HAN
Founder of International
Hapkido Federation
Grand Master Bong
Soo Han is the world's foremost practitioner of Hapkido and is
referred to as the Father of Hapkido in the Western World. Grand
Master Han has studied and refined this powerful Korean martial
art for more than 50 years. He currently holds the rank of 9th
Dan Black Belt. He is the Founder and President of the International
Hapkido Federation.
Grand Master Han first introduced Hapkido into the United States in 1967, although
mass exposure did not come until the motion picture, "Billy Jack," filled
the nation's theaters in 1971. In this film, Grand Master Han gained critical
acclaim for creating and staging some of the most breathtaking and realistic
fight sequences that have ever graced the Silver Screen.
In the ensuing years, Grand Master Han choreographed, doubled, starred in,
and produced numerous films including: "The Trial of Billy Jack", "Kentucky
Fried Movie", "Kill the Golden Goose", "Force Five",
and "The Presidio". Grand Master Han was a lso featured in The Arts
and Entertainment documentary, "The Martial Arts", and will be the
subject of an upcoming documentary by Academy Award and Emmy Award winning
filmmaker Peter Spirer.
Grand Master Han has been the subject of hundreds of magazine and newspaper
articles, numerous martial arts magazine cover stories, and is a member of
the Black Belt magazine Hall of Fame (1978). In addition to being cited in
dozens of martial arts books, Grand Master Han has written many articles on
the way of martial arts and also authored the book, HAPKIDO,
The Korean Art of Self-Defense (Ohara Publications, 1974), which
is now in its twenty-third printing. Recently, Grand Master Han completed a
series of 10 instructional Hapkido video tapes (Panther Production, 1996) for
worldwide distribution. He presently operates his own martial arts school in
Santa Monica, California, which serves as the headquarters for the I.H. F.
In an effort to expand the I.H.F. to include qualified and committed member
schools, Grand Master Han continues to tour the world lecturing on and demonstrating
Hapkido, the Art of Coordinated Power.
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