The Ki-hap

You can tell a lot from someone’s yell…

The Ki-hap is a yell; but it is much more than a simple shout. The actual noise doesn’t come from your throat, but from a much lower place. As you make the noise your abdomen should slightly tense, and your anus contracts. Your power becomes focused and concentrated.

The word “Ki-hap” is a combination of two Korean words:
Ki: which we can translate as Inner power, energy, spirit or mind
Hap: translates as coordination (of mind & body) or total concentration

So, thru the shout we concentrate our inner power…

The Ki-hap then, is a “Concentration of spirit”.

I did an experiment in the kitchen the other day whilst washing up. Much to my neighbor’s confusion, I made a few funny shout-y noises, and tried to think about what I ate for breakfast. Not a problem…. some fruit, oatmeal, a green tea.

Then I did the same thing whilst performing a ki-hap. I couldn’t think! My mind went blank and I became totally focused on what I was doing – not being distracted by other silly thoughts.

What does this highly scientific experiment mean to our Hapkido practice? …it means that through the Ki-hap, our whole ‘being’ concentrates itself. We are able to totally concentrate on what we are doing, which enables us to generate the maximum amount of power needed for the technique.

So, we should perform the ki-hap correctly; it helps us concentrate, but is also an outward expression of our mind.