He was one of the foremost and recognized practitioners of hapkido through his participation in books, magazine articles, and popular films featuring the martial art.
[6] From 1948 to 1950, Han studied kwon bup, which was a mixture of Chinese chuan fa methods and Shudokan karate, and earned a black belt in the art under Byung-in Yoon.
[citation needed] Both had prior training in striking-based martial arts, Choi in the Jidokwan taekwondo and Han in kwon bup and tae kyon.
[8] Han being a senior student of Yong-sul Choi, assisted in promoting the first hapkido school in the country's capital city.
[citation needed] In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Han taught self-defense to hundreds of American and Korean military personnel as part of a demonstration team for the Korea Hapkido Association.
[11] In 1967, Han emigrated to the United States of America, first staying with and teaching at his friend Seo-oh Choi's hapkido school in California.
His early years were difficult and he worked in a factory during the day while he taught at a struggling hapkido school in the evening, located in an economically depressed area.
[12] In 1974, he had a starring role with Master Edmund K. Parker, the father of American Kenpo Karate, in the action film Kill The Golden Goose.
In a serious demonstration of pressure-point techniques, Han also arranged the fight scene in the 1988 movie The Presidio, in which Sean Connery uses one thumb to defeat a burly assailant.
On July 6, 2006, Black Belt Magazine presented the IHF with its 2006 Industry Award for Best Traditional School for its commitment to preserving the legacy of Hapkido.