Hapkido Grandmaster Rim, Jong Bae was born in Taegu, Korea in 1937. He lived in Korea until 1973. He and his family immigrated to the United States to own and operate a general store in Baltimore, Maryland. Master Rim was overweight as a young man. His father, who was also overweight, died early. It was generally felt that being overweight would shorten one's life, so he tried to find a remedy for his condition. He tried diets and steam baths, with no effect. So he sought an exercise in which to participate.

Master Rim was religious from a young age. He did not want to participate in the martial arts he knew of because he thought their purpose was to hurt people. A cousin of Master Rim's, an instructor at Master Choi's dojang, suggested Hapkido. When Master Rim went to see Hapkido he saw it was not a martial art designed to hurt anyone else. When Mr. Rim went to see Hapkido he saw it as an art whose real purpose was to subdue without injury. It joined with his own strong religious feelings.

Mr. Rim started training in Hapkido in 1964. Mr. Rim attended the morning class, which met at 5:30 every morning. Master Rim would walk 20 minutes to the dojang. Class size varied from 20 to 30 students. Mr. Rim received his black belt in approximately three years. By 1973, Mr. Rim was a sixth degree black belt and the chief instructor at Mr. Choi's dojang.

Master Rim was the top student, as well as a close friend of Grandmaster Choi. They frequently visited with each other outside of the Dojang, playing Go(a game like chess), and discussing many things.

In 1978 Master Rim came to the United States with the hopes of employing himself as a teacher of Hapkido. Because of his limited knowledge of English, got a job to support his family. At first, Master Rim taught Hapkido at his home. Years later, in the mid eighties, he began teaching at the Baltimore Judo Club, which has become the Bonbu Dojang of Rim’s Hapkido.

Master Rim has extensive knowledge of anatomy, accupuncture, Qi flow and general health and fitness. He teaches Qigong on Saturday sometimes Sunday mornings at 6 a.m. Qigong is an ancient health system that was popularized by the Chinese more than 5000 years ago. It has even been discovered that Qigong could be traced back to India long before it arrived in China. Qigong massages all of the internal organs and makes the joints supple, as taught by Master Rim. Its main purpose is to keep meridians, or energy channels, clear and free from obstructions. These obstructions could be caused from an injury, bad diet, scar tissue, or even improper blood flow. These blockages or obstructions can be corrected with Qigong. Also it is historically known the many martial arts sprang from Qigong. These arts include Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing Yi, Bagua and many others. Qigong not only teaches an indivual how to heal himself, but how to heal others.

Master Rim is often seen in many classes using his Qi to heal his students. Master Rim’s skill in Hapkido, as well as Qigong, is truly exceptional. He is small in stature but possesses tree trunk like arms that are unbendable. His arms are this way from many years of Hapkido practice. We will continue to strive to learn hapkido through unbendable arms while healing ourselves.