Whats the difference between Hapkido and Hwarangdo?
A. Not much. The founder of Hwarangdo, Dr. Joo-Bang Lee studied Hapkido in private lessons with Choi and also visited and trained in many Hapkido schools, including training with Moo-woong Kim and In Hyuk Suh, founder of Kuk Sool. He claims to have merged a little HKD with secret techniques taught to him and his brother Joo Sang Lee by a monk named Sahm Dosa to create Hwarang-do. Supposedly the techniques were secretly handed down through 57 generations of warrior/monks since the Silla dynasty and the days of the hwarang. Dr. Lee had his own school as early as 1960, and was promoted to 8th degree by Yong Sool Choi at the same time as Han Jae JI in May of 1968, so his skill level was certainly superlative. From 1961-68 he called his school a Hapkido school. But shortly after that he supposedly got permission from Sahm Dosa to teach the ‘secret techniques’, founded Hwarangdo, and moved to the USA. Actual differences to Hapkido appear to be in the trappings — more philisophical and Korea
