s at the temple and had a difficult life there, not only in school but with the other children due to his poor Japanese language skills and his Korean ethnicity which made him stand out in Japan. Apparently due to the boy's tendency of getting into fights and his intense interest in the temples murals depicting war scenes, when asked by Watanabe what direction that he wished for his life to take he expressed interest in the martial arts.
The temple monk (Wantanabe Kintaro) was reputedly a friend of Takeda Sōkaku, the founder of the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu system, which is a Japanese martial arts system emphasizing empty handed methods based upon the sword styles and jujutsu tactics in which Takeda was an expert. Takeda Sōkaku is also famous for having taught Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido.
The next portion of the story is quite controversial in Daito-ryu circles, but is claimed by many contemporary hapkidoists, and is attributed to Choi in a posthumously released interview reputed to have taken place during a visit Choi made to the United States in 1980.
In the interview, Choi says to have been adopted by Takeda Sokaku when he was 11 years old and was given the Japanese name, Yoshida Asao (吉田朝男). He says to have been taken to Takeda's home and dojo in Akita on Shin Shu mountain where he lived and trained with the master for 30 years. The interview also asserts that he traveled with him as a teaching assistant, that he was employed to catch war deserters and that he was the only student to have a complete understanding of the system taught by Takeda.
Other sources place Choi as a servant in the Takeda household, while still others assert that he merely attended some of Takeda's seminars. Kisshomaru Ueshiba, son of Morihei Ueshiba, stated that his father had told him that Choi had attended seminars held by Takeda with his father in Hokkaidō and that his father had been Choi's senior. Choi apparently contacted Kisshomaru upon hearing the news of Morihei's death.
Regardless of the circumstances of Choi's martial arts training, he returned to Korea after World War II and settled in Daegu, first selling sweets and later raising hogs. In 1948 after becoming involved in an altercation with several men in a dispute over grain at the Seo Brewing Company, son of the chairman of the brewery, Seo Bok-seob, was so impressed by his self-defense skills that he invited him to teach at a makeshift dojang that he created on the premises for that purpose. In this way, Seo Bok-seob became Choi Yong-sool's first student. Later Choi became a bodyguard to Seo's father who was an important congressman in Daegu.
Spreading the art
In 1951, Choi and Seo opened up the Daehan Hapki Yu Kwon Sool Dojang (Hangul: 대한 합기 유권술 도장), the first formal school to teach the art. In 1958 Choi Yong-sool opened up his own school using the shortened name Hapkido for the first time. Both schools were located in Daegu. Some of the more important students from this period of time were Kim Moo-Hong (Hangul: 김무홍) and Moon Jong-Won (Hangul: 문종원). Apparently Choi also taught people on his farm during the early years of the art and it was in this way that Ji Han-Jae (Hangul: 지한재), one of the great popularizers of the art, came to learn from Choi.
There is some disagreement about this but it also suggested that the founders of two arts, Lee Joo-Bang (Hangul: 이주방) of modern Hwa Rang Do and Seo In-Hyuk (Hangul: 서인혁; Suh In-Hyuk) of Kuk Sool Won, are thought to have trained with Choi Yong-Sool. However some others assert that their training came from Kim Moo-Hong's hapkido school in Seoul with which they were known to have been associated.
Choi's student Kim Jeong-Yoon (Hangul: 김정윤; also rendered Kim Jung-Yun) was one of his senior most students and in 1963 when Choi became the first Chairman on the Korea Kido Association (Daehan Ki Do Hwe; Hangul: 대한 기도회) and appointed Kim as Secretary General. Later Kim separated from the hapkido organizations to form his own Han Pul Hapkido organization, although his art remains firmly based in the teachings of Choi Yong-sool. Another 