Seo Bok-seob

Seo Bok-seob (also spelled Suh Bok-sup; ) was the first student to study under hapkido founder Choi Yong-sool, with whom he founded the art's first school, the Daehan Hapki Yu Kwon Sool dojang in Daegu, Korea. Moving to Seoul he later became a professor of East Asian medicine and worked for a time at Kyung Hee University.

Life Coming from a wealthy and politically active family, he was given an excellent education and was a graduate of the prestigious Korea University. Seo also studied judo and gained his black belt in the art while still quite young. He gained positions of some authority early in life and by his early twenties was the chairman of a rice wine distillery.

Seo's father was a congressman and both the founder, Choi Yong-sool, and other hapkido practitioners, such as Won Kwang-Wha were employed to work as bodyguards for the politician.

Seo designed the first symbol used to denote the art consisting of two inverted arrowheads featured in both the original and modern incarnation of the Korea KiDo Association, the World Kido Association.

Choi Yong-Sool was also employed during this time as a bodyguard to Seo's father who was a congressman.

Seo claims that he and Choi agreed to shorten the name of the art from 'hapki yu kwon sool' to 'hapkido' in 1959.