Man Hee Han, the founder of the youn wha ryu system, began his training at the age of 6 under Son Bop Sa, who at the time was a traveling monk. He taught Grand Master Han meditation and breathing techniques that made his mind stronger. This training lasted for 6 years until he began training under another teacher. This teacher’s name was Byung In Yun and taught a system called Kong Soo, which predates Tae Kwon Do and eventually led up to the creation of a similar style called Tang Soo Do. The system also taught techniques from karate and another less known martial arts system called Chuan Fa which is similar to Kung Fu. It is not clear that Grand Master Han trained directly under Master Yun but, it is clear that his training comes from Master Yun’s system as many of the Youn Wha Ryu forms are the same as Tang Soo Do, Kang Duk Kwon, Ji Do Kwan, and Tae Kwon Do.
During this time, Grand Master Han was also being taught by another instructor by the name of Sae Chong Wang. This is where he learned Youn Wha Ryu. Master Wang put more emphasis on the various advanced techniques from different styles of martial arts. This gave Grand Master Han a diverse background and curiosity in all martial arts systems. Grand Master Han then began training in various systems such as Hwarang-Do, Kendo, Hapkido, and weapons.
Grand Master Han was recognized as a black belt at a very early age. He then went on to achieve even higher levels of black belt in different styles which include: Hwarang-Do (8th Dan), Kendo (7th Dan), Hapkido (8th Dan), Judo (4th Dan). Along with his hand-to-hand combat training, he was taught how to use many weapons such as rope, throwing star, double sticks, short stick, six foot staff, Hapkido cane, tonfa, sai, and others.
These many achievements were recognized by the leaders of the Korean Tae Kwon Do Federation. Grand Master Han became the director in charge of operations in the north province of Seoul, Korea. During this time, he approved changes to the palgue forms which were used in the World Tae Kwon Do Federation until Tae Geuk forms replaced them.
His achievements went beyond being a board director in the Korean Tae Kwon Do Federation but, extend all the way into his experience as a special tactics instructor. He taught the Korean Intelligence Agency techniques to safely remove individuals from highly populated areas among many other things. He also trained the 7th Us Army infantry division from 1970 to 1972. He then served as a close combat instructor for the 2nd Army Infantry Division.
With all of this experience that Grand Master Han had, he took all his knowledge of the martial arts and put it into the system he believed in the most, Youn Wha Ryu. He had seen corruption and division in the other systems and he did not want to expose his students to that history. It is believed that Grand Master Han redesigned the Youn Wha Ryu system to become truly complete. That is why this system contains so many different motions and techniques from so many different martial arts. This is the version of Youn Wha Ryu that has been passed down.
