This essentially became General Choi’s International Kwan, which was then independent of Korea, and the authority of the KTA. The ITF continued to teach General Choi’s Chang Hon system, where students could join as white belts, and be promoted to Black Belt, and through the Black Belt Degrees. After much tension, and political unrest in the government, General Choi moved to Canada where he established his new ITF headquarters. However, the KTA was still the official governing body, and continued to assert control over the way the ITF was run, to which General Choi objected. General Choi organized many of them in the ITF, and provided a connection to foreigners to gain Dan certification in Taekwondo. Taekwondo had already begun to spread around the globe through soldiers returning from Korea, demonstrations to foreign military, and a handful of Korean Masters who had moved abroad to teach. He subsequently resigned and on March 22, 1966, he created the ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) in Seoul, South Korea. It was suggested by the other Kwan leaders that Choi step down as president of the KTA, and start his own organization. However, General Choi had a very authoritarian approach, and wanted to enforce his “Chang Hon” Oh Do Kwan curriculum in the KTA, which was not accepted. General Choi taught his Chang Hon curriculum in the military as his own system that he named Oh Do Kwan (School of My Way). During that time, the name was still debated, and temporarily changed to Taesudo under the second President, but later changed back to Taekwondo when Choi returned, and was named the third President. General Choi was elected as the first President of the KTA, but was sent as an ambassador to Malaysia. However, in 1961, the KTA (Korea Taekwondo Association) was formed in Seoul, South Korea, and many of the larger Kwans united under this title. The term Taekwondo (태권도) was officially selected, although there ensued much debate and discourse over the term for more than a decade. General Choi, and another student of the Chung Do Kwan had done some research on terminology, and came up with the words “Tae Kwon” 태권 (foot hand), since it expressed the use of kicking, and was similar to the ancient Korean Tae Kkyeon. There was a push among the major Kwans to unite under one name, but since no one could agree on which name to use, there was a meeting held on Apto vote on suggestions. In the years following the Korean War, more than 30 Kwans had been opened teaching a variety of systems under many different names. This development was interrupted by the Korean War (50-53). General Choi called the forms practice “Teul” 틀 (also written as “Tul”).īy 1950, around 18 Kwans had sprung up in, and around Seoul Korea (in a time prior to the permanent division of North and South Korea). However, the Korean Kwans were focusing on Kicking as a primary weapon, and the Karate Kata did not compliment this, so Choi modified them, adding kicks and giving each form a name, and meaning to incorporate the formerly suppressed Korean history. Since Korean Martial Art systems had never previously used the practice of forms training, this concept was borrowed from the Japanese Karate. He developed his own curriculum for teaching Martial Art, using his penname of Chang Heon 창헌 (aka: Chang Hon – “Blue Cottage”). He quickly rose through the ranks to eventually become a Major General. After WWII ended, the Chung Do Kwan relocated, and became the largest civilian Kwan (school under one leader).Īnother student of Funakoshi was Hong-Hi Choi, who, following WWII, was a student at the Chung Do Kwan, and joined the newly formed ROK Army. He called his school “ Chung Do Kwan” 청도관 (school of the Blue Wave). He combined this with his studies of Chinese hand fighting from the T’ang Dynasty, and coined the term “Tangsudo” 당수도 (way of the T’ang hand) to describe his unique system. Won-Kuk Lee had an early influence of native Korean Tae Kkyeon 태껸 (kicking method), and studied Shotokan Karate-Do in Japan from its founder, Gitchen Funakoshi, becoming the highest ranked student at 3rd Degree Black Belt.
In 1944, near the end of World War II, one Korean was given permission by the occupying Japanese government to open the first Martial Art school run by a Korean since the time Korea was occupied in 1905, and annexed in 1910. Without going too deep into the history, I would like to explain where these organizations came from, and what their functions are. There seems to be a lot of confusion, and misinformation.
Many Taekwondo students and Masters often use incorrect or misleading terminology, such as comparisons between the WTF and ITF.