Editing Hapkido (section)

=== Han Bong-soo ===
{{Main|Han Bong-soo}}
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Han Bong-soo (한봉수; alternately rendered as Bong-soo Han) began his training in hapkido after seeing a demonstration put on by the founder, Yong-sul Choi. From then on, he committed himself to hapkido training under Choi and other teachers, but never received any direct high ranking from Choi himself. Han was one of the world's foremost practitioners of hapkido, and is referred to as the Father of his own offshoot of modern hapkido in the Western World. He led a dedicated effort in the development of his own version of hapkido. He taught thousands of loyal students throughout his life with many becoming masters themselves. Other masters across all styles have sought out his wisdom and teachings.

In 1967, Han emigrated to the United States of America, first staying with and teaching at his friend S. O. Choi's hapkido school in California. Han later opened his own school in Los Angeles in 1968. His early years were difficult and he worked in a factory during the day while he taught at a struggling hapkido school in the evening located in an economically depressed area. Later, he relocated his school to the Pacific Palisades area in an effort to be closer to Hollywood and the movie industry.

On July 4, 1969, Han Bong-soo was giving a demonstration of hapkido at a park in [[Pacific Palisades, California]]. In the audience was [[Tom Laughlin]]. After a spectacular demonstration, Laughlin approached Han about being involved in a movie project called ''[[Billy Jack]]''. Han gained critical acclaim for staging and performing some of the most realistic martial arts fight sequences in a film. Before ''Billy Jack'', movies contained at most brief references to martial arts, with fights portrayed by actors who had little training. With ''Billy Jack'', Han introduced authentic hapkido techniques to Western audiences. In its sequel, ''[[The Trial of Billy Jack]]'', he received a co-starring part where he spoke about and demonstrated the art, mentioning the art by name for the first time.

Han studied and refined this Korean martial art for more than 60 years. He was not a direct high level student of Grandmaster Yong-sul Choi but created and crafted his own limited version from various other teachers that he expanded and taught throughout the world.