Boxers Rebellion - Combat Hapkido

Combat Hapkido (known in Korean as Chon-Tu Kwan Hapkido) is an eclectic modern Hapkido system founded by John Pellegrini in 1990 the grandmaster of the system who holds a 9th degree black belt. In 1992 Pellegrini formed the International Combat Hapkido Federation (ICHF) as the official governing body of Combat Hapkido. The ICHF was recognized by the Korea Kido Association and the World Kido Federation, collectively known as the Kido Hae, in 1999 as a Hapkido style. The style is recognized under the Korean name Chon Tu Kwon Hapkido.

The World Kido Federation is recognized by the Korean Government 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 strike's, 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.

Combat Hapkido's focus on modern self-defense means that it had to delete some of the traditional Hapkido techniques which may be impractical for modern self-defense scenarios . These include aspects such as acrobatic break falls, jump/spinning kicks, forms, meditation, along with the removal of some weapons such as swords and other weapons which would be impractical and not-typically carried around in today's modern society.

Combat Hapkido's strategy includes adopting features from styles like Jeet Kune Do (JKD concepts branch), Jujutsu, Western Boxing, and Kuntao Silat to enhance its core curriculum. For instance, some Traditional Hapkido practitioners have complained that Traditional Hapkido doesn't provide an extensive ground self-defense curriculum; Combat Hapkido attempts to address this by researching and incorporating grappling techniques from different styles. Another instance is the incorporation of derived-versions of Jeet Kune Do (JKD concepts branch) trapping and entering techniques to enhance transitions into Combat Hapkido's core Joint Locking and Throwing techniques. The ability to incorporate such features into official curriculum is one of the characteristics that differentiate Combat Hapkido from Traditional Hapkido.

Combat Hapkido's core techniques rely heavily on those Traditional Hapkido techniques that the ICHF determined to have the most practical applications for their goal of modern self-defense. The core curriculum has been organized into 10 basic levels or ranks. To supplement the core curriculum, the ICHF researches and develops "modules" that are compatible with the core curriculum. Some examples are "stick and knife combative", "ground survival", "combat throws", "anatomical striking/pressure points", "trapping", "cane", "dan bong", and "weapons disarming".