Why not spar in Hapkido then?
A. Because it is simply not safe to spar competitively with joint locks in the equation — someone will always be trying to out-tough the other guy — which means injuries. People can do full-speed full-contact sparring in Olympic Taekwondo safely because of limiting the target areas, limiting the allowed attacks, and wearing protective gear. People can do full-speed full power throws in judo safely by limiting the types of throws. But with a full speed full power joint lock the opponent either cooperates or the joint is broken. A Hapkidoist can do TKD type sparring using some of his or her HKD striking/kicking skills, and can do judo sparring using some of his or her HKD throwing skills; but the core of HKD is joint locks. Also, the mindset of Hapkido is defensive, not aggressive. Sparring rules are always geared to the more aggressive person – he who attacks more usually has a greater number of successful attacks. In Hapkido we don’t attack someone else; we take their attack and use
