Transform Your Life with Combat Hapkido from Danny Williams Combat Martial Arts Program

At Danny Williams Combat Martial Arts Program, we believe that martial arts training can be a powerful tool for personal growth and transformation. Our programs are designed to help our students develop not just physical strength and skill, but also mental and emotional resilience, confidence, and discipline. Our supportive community of instructors and students will help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals, both on and off the training mat.

 Combat Hapkido (known in Korean as Chon-Tu Kwan Hapkido 전투관 합기도) is an eclectic modern Hapkido system founded by John Pellegrini in 1990. Taking the next step in 1992 Pellegrini formed the International Combat Hapkido Federation (ICHF) as the official governing body of Combat Hapkido. Later, in 1999, the ICHF was recognized by the Korea Kido Association and the World Kido Federation, collectively known as the Kido Hae, as the Hapkido style Chon Tu Kwan Hapkido. The World Kido Federation is recognized by the Government of South Korea as an organization that serves as a link between the official Martial Arts governing body of Korea and the rest of the world Martial Arts community. The founder of Combat Hapkido was very clear in his statement that he did not invent a new martial art. He stated "I have merely structured a new Self-Defense system based upon sound scientific principles and modern concepts. For this reason Combat Hapkido is also referred to as the "Science of Self-Defense." Combat Hapkido is a new interpretation and application of a selected body of Hapkido techniques. The word "Combat" was added to Combat Hapkido to distinguish this system from Traditional Hapkido styles and to identify its focus as Self-Defense.

The style employs joint locks, pressure points, throws, hand strikes, and low-lying kicks, and trains practitioners to either counter or preemptively strike an imminent attack to defend one's self. In common with many Hapkido styles, it also emphasizes small circular motion, non-resisting movements, and control of an opponent through force redirection and varied movement and practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork, distractive striking and body positioning to employ leverage.

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 Combat Hapkido's "Ground Survival" program previously referred to as the "Ground Grappling" program was developed to create a ground self-defense program where the purpose is to survive encounters on the ground by escaping and evading along with takedown prevention methods. The program's focus on ground self-defense utilizes transitions from ground positions to standing positions avoiding long extended confrontations on the ground, which the curriculum addresses but does not encourage. The Ground Survival program blends with Combat Hapkido's core curriculum and adopted aspects of Combat Hapkido's Anatomical Targeting Strategies (Pressure Point) program utilizing small and large joint locking and pressure point techniques. To develop this program, Combat Hapkido Master Instructors experienced in the grappling arts researched different styles such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Vale tudo and Combat Sambo, with additional technical assistance from grappling experts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu such as Carlson Gracie Jr.

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 The “Tactical Pressure Points”(TPP) program was developed to enhance the effectiveness of Combat Hapkido self-defense system's core curriculum of manipulations of an attacker's body by targeting vulnerable areas, weak points, pressure points, or vital points of the body to produce significant pain or other effects. This form of target striking is called pain compliance and generally, but not always, leads to an immediate response by the attacker. This response can then be taken to transition into another technique from the Combat Hapkido curriculum. This material has also been specifically designed and modified for the Law-enforcement community, called “Anatomical Compliance Tactics” (ACT) and is taught as part of the ICHF's "International Police Defensive Tactics Institute"(IPDTI) course.

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 The Combat Hapkido Trapping program is designed to be the blocking method of the Combat Hapkido System since Combat Hapkido does not use the "Traditional" hard blocks of the Traditional martial arts. The Trapping Program is designed to become reactionary and reflexive and not to impede or stop incoming attacks. The techniques and drills in this program are based to develop specific technical attribute from Jeet Kune Do that blend drills and techniques with Combat Hapkido. This Trapping program is a way to gain advantage over an opponent by manipulating them to accomplish a finishing technique, such as strikes, joint-locks, and throws  or to simply buy time to escape.

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 In today's social climate with the prevalence of handguns and other weapons on the rise, one of the most important components of Combat Hapkido is its 'Weapon Disarming' techniques. These involve close quarters combat where footwork and bridging the gap are used to achieve superior positioning and leverage to gain control of the weapon or the weapon's carrying arm, and then to disarm the attacker. Because of the effectiveness of these techniques, the ICHF has been invited by many foreign and domestic police organization along with invitations from the United States Military  to train both U.S. and Coalition troops in Afghanistan and Iraq 

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 FOUNDER OF COMBAT HAPKIDO

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•    10th Dan Combat Hapkido - World Martial Arts Alliance

.     9th Dan Hapkido – World Ki-Do Federation / Hanminjok Hapkido Association

•    Founder / President “International Combat Hapkido Federation”

•    9th Dan TaeKwonDo - Founder “Independent TaeKwonDo Association”

•    Founder / President of the “International Police Defensive Tactics Institute”

•    Founder / President of the “Military Combatives Association”

•    Founder / President of the “World Martial Arts Alliance”

 •    1988 USA Korean Karate Association “Instructor of the Year”

•    1995 World Martial Arts Hall of Fame “Diamond Life Achievement”  

•    1996 - 1997 WHFSC Martial Arts Hall of Fame “Golden Life” - “Founder of the Year”

•    1996 Florida Martial Arts Hall of Fame “Pioneer”

•    1998 Martial Arts Masters, Pioneers & Legends Hall of Fame “Founder of the Year”

•    1998 – 2004 World Karate Union Hall of Fame “Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts”

•    1999 United Martial Arts Association Hall of Fame “Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts”

•    2000 United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame “Founder of the Year”

•    2001 Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Fame “Outstanding Contribution to the Martial Arts”

•    2003 United States Martial Artists Assoc. Hall of Fame “Golden Life Achievement”

•    2003 Masters Hall of Fame “Silver Life Achievement”

•    2003 Int. Assoc. of Martial Arts Hall of Fame “Outstanding Practitioner”

•    2004 Inducted in the “TaeKwonDo Times Magazine Hall of Fame for Hapkido”

•    2004 Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame “Instructor of the Year”

•    2005 Budo Int. Magazine Hall of Fame “Legend Grandmaster”

•    2006 Aaron Banks’ World Professional M. A. Hall of Fame: “World Renowned Hapkido Grandmaster”

•    2007 Artes Marciales Magazine Hall of Fame “Martial Arts Pioneer”

•    2007 Cinturon Negro Magazine (Spain) International Hall of Fame “Distinguished Founder”                     

•    2008 Inducted “Hall da Fama Das Artes Marciais Brasileiras”

•    2014 TaeKwonDo Times Magazine Hall of Fame "U.S. Grandmaster of the Year"

• 2017 WHFSC Martial Arts Hall of Fame "Pioneer Award"
• 2019 "Who's Who in the Martial Arts Legends Award"

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