History of Yongmudo

The following was written by Dr. Ken Min, Director Emeritus of the University of California Martial Arts Program at U.C. Berkeley.

“The root of yongmudo is ho shin sul (self-defense techniques) which has been taught as an extracurricular activity since Yongin University was founded in 1953. These techniques eventually became very popular in the training of martial arts demonstrations externally and internally, until a Combative Sports Department was created in 1976 that included hankido (yongmudo), kumdo, and ssirum (Korean wrestling) in its curriculum.”

Yongmudo was formally incorporated as a new martial arts discipline on October 15, 1998. A Yongmudo Development Committee was also created and subsequently subdivided into academic and technical research sub-committees.

Academic: The Academic Sub-committee formulated the physiological, bio-mechanical, psychological and philosophical foundation.

Technical: The Technical Sub-committee developed techniques from judo, taekwondo, hapkido, kumdo, ssirum, self-defense, wrestling, boxing and others.

The World Yongmudo Federation was founded on April 25, 2002.