Yong Shul Choi, the founder of Hapkido, was born in Taegue, Korea in 1904. In 1909 Korea came under Japanese occupation. Japanese troops took Young Shul Choi from his homeland at the age of seven to be assigned work in Japan. It was a very common practice at this period of history for the Japanese occupying forces to relocate young male Korean children to Japan for various types of labor.

As fate would have it, Choi was assigned to Sokaku Takeda (1860-1943) the 32nd patriarch of Daito Ryu Aikijitsu. Takeda was forty-four years old at the time Choi, a seven year old boy, came to his service. Choi was given the Japanese name Yoshida, Asao. The first or given name Tatjutsu which is propagated as being the name Choi used in Japan, is not a valid Japanese name. Therefore, it is historically inaccurate to believe he went by this name.

Choi; now living under the employee of Takeda in Hokkaido, was not treated as an adopted son by Takeda, as many Hapkido practitioners are led to believe. A little known and rarely revealed fact is that Choi was, in fact, assigned the duties of a "house boy" and later personal "manservant," to Takeda.

We must place this association into historical perspective to understand the relationship between Takeda and Choi. Takeda, was the last in a long spanning illustrious samurai family. The Japanese viewed themselves as the "Divine race." Koreans to the Japanese, at this time period, were simply thought of as pawns in the game of life. Takeda, perhaps came to be found of Choi, but due to his cultural programming, he would never have accepted him as a son.

Morihei Ueshiba, an older contemporary of Yong Sul Choi and founder of Aikido studied Daito Ryu Aikijitsu for seven years during the period Choi was in Takeda's service. This is the reasoning many historians draw a comparison between the two martial art systems. Though Hapkido and Aikido have similar origins and, in some cases possess similar techniques, there exists a large difference in martial philosophy between the two martial art styles.

Choi remained in the employ of Takeda for thirty years, until April 25, 1943 when Takeda died. At that point he took his leave from the house of Takeda and returned to Taegue, Korea. Soon after that, Korean independence came and Choi set about founding Hapkido.

Initially, Choi taught his students a very pure form of Daito Ryu Aikijitsu. As time progressed and other Korean martial art pioneers, such as General Hong Hi Choi (Taekwondo), and Hwang Kee (Tang Soo Do), were rediscovering and expanding upon the offensive nature of Tae Kyon. These discoveries influenced Choi and his early students, who slowly began to incorporate these very aggressive punching and kicking techniques into his overall understanding of Hapkido.

Hapkido's final criteria came through a slow testing period, as did the other martial art systems born on the newly independent Korean Peninsula. The name of the art, which finally became known as Hapkido, went through various changes, including: Yu Kwon Sul, Yu Sool, Ho Shin Mu Do, and Bi Sool. Finally, in 1963, the name and the system of Hapkido became formalized.