TaeKwon-Do was brought into this world on April 11, 1955. Before this time there was no TaeKwon-Do, no Chon-Ji or Dan-Gun tul; the original TaeKwon-Do patterns.
In 1957, General Choi Hong Hi, who was also elected as its first president, established the Korean TaeKwon-Do Association. It is impossible to explain the history of TaeKwon-Do without mentioning General Choi Hong Hi, the president of ITF.
General Choi was born in 1918 in a small, rural village called Ham Kyung Buk Do, Myung Chun Gun Hwa Dae Myun in what is now North Korea. When he was young, his parents were concerned because his body was frail and weak, although he was independent and very responsible. The young boy, like the future General he would one day become, was strong on the inside in mind and spirit. When he was 12 years old, he was expelled from school for being an agitator to the Japanese authorities. Japan occupied the Korean peninsula at the time. His parents enrolled him in a private school where he studied calligraphy under the renowned Mr. Han IL Dong.
Coincidentally, Han also happened to be a Master of Taekyon, the Korean art of foot fighting. Taekyon dates back to about 200-300 years ago because Taekyon can only be written with the Korean alphabet. The Korean alphabet was developed only several hundred years ago. But the history of Korea and other martial arts, such as Soo Bak Gi, have been practiced since ancient times.
While General Choi was in Kyoto, Japan, he met a fellow Korean by the name of Mr. Kim Hyun Soo. Mr. Kim introduced karate to General Choi. This experience, along with his knowledge of Taekyon, influenced his development of the new Korean martial art of “TaeKwon-Do.”
TaeKwon-Do movements and techniques are scientifically designed to create power. Compared with other martial arts, TaeKwon-Do is well structured, using descriptive terminology for the anatomy and physics, with well-established rules of competition.
However, TaeKwon-Do is similar to other martial arts in its original purpose. Large or small, young or old, male or female, anyone can benefit from and enjoy practicing TaeKwon-Do and learn to create maximum power. All the techniques and theories of TaeKwon-Do are contained in a 15-volume encyclopedia originally published in 1980. General Choi not only proposed the name “TaeKwon-Do,” but also developed the techniques, terminology, and its system for teaching and training. His comprehensive book on TaeKwon-Do allowed him to reach millions of students throughout the world. General Choi personally taught TaeKwon-Do himself throughout the world, gaining many faithful students. When World War II broke out, General Choi was drafted against his will into the Japanese army as a “student soldier.” While stationed at Pyongyang, North Korea, he planned an insurrection as part of the Korean Independence Movement called the Pyongyang Students Soldiers' Movement. He was turned into Japanese authorities and was interned at a Japanese prison camp. He was freed the day after Japan surrendered, August 15, 1945, ending World War II. That was how he saved his life and began a second life.
While in the solitude of his jail cell, he practiced martial arts training with his bare hands and feet on a cold concrete floor. He promised himself that if he were ever to live in freedom, he would dedicate his entire life to building Korea's martial arts program.
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