Taekwondo Master Choi Hong Hi
He is known as the ‘father of modern Taekwondo’.
His life started in 1918 Myong Chun District. As a young child he had a strong independent character. At the time of his youth, the Japanese were at large in Korea. He was expelled from school for creating uprisings against the Japanese. A strong association with the Kwang Ju Students’ Independence Movement followed this event.
Choi’s father sent him to learn calligraphy. At this time he was an expert in Taek Kyon, the ancient Korean martial art. He exercised with a strict regime in Taek Kyon in order to build his body structure.
Choi spent an educational period in Japan. During this time he entered an argument with a large pro wrestler who wanted him beaten. This prompted Choi to train even harder in martial arts. Choi also managed to gain a 1st dan black belt in karate within two years of intensive training in Japan. It was this background that stimulated the development of modern day taekwondo.
He trained both mentally and physically. Once he had gained his second dan black belt, he began teaching karate in Tokyo. The young Choi tested his techniques on street lamp posts, seeing if they vibrated from his kicks.
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During world war II, Choi spent a period in a Japanese prison where he still continued his martial arts training. He also managed to gain a group of followers who would train in the courtyard with him.
Korea were liberated in1945 and Choi avoided a long prison sentence. In Seoul, he continued his promotion of the martial arts and during this time he was second lieutenant in the South Korean army. After teaching the whole clan, he was made first lieutenant. At this time Choi began teaching the skills to American soldiers too. In 1948, he was a Taekwon-Do instructor for the American Military Police School. Choi attained lieutenant colonel status in 1948. Choi visited the United States as a full colonel for the first time. This is when the main promotion to the American population occurred.
In the early fifties, he succeeded in training the cadre instructors for the military. He developed Karate and Taek Kyon techniques into modern Taekwondo, with the help of Mr. Nam Tae Hi in 1954. A year later his martial art was officially recognised in Korea. A board was formed which included masters, historians, and prominent leaders of society. Names for the martial art were submitted. The single unified name of Taekwon-Do replaced the multiple confusing terms such as Gong Soo and Taek Kyon etc.
In 1959, Choi and a selection of his top black belts toured the Far East. This brought spectators from different countries. It was a big success. Jhoon Ree ran a karate club in San Antonio, but he soon became the first Taekwondo instructor of the USA. The martial art gained popularity quickly with the U.S soldiers. The police and armed forces in South Korea soon had mandatory Taekwondo training.
Choi made visits to Malaysia and Vietnam with the aim of teaching Taekwondo patterns that he perfected after years of research. A clear distinction between Taekwon-Do and Karate was made.
Ambassador Choi declared Taekwon-Do as the national martial art of Korea. This led to the formation of Taekwon-Do associations such as the International Taekwon-Do Federation. In 1966 the International Taekwon-Do Federation was formed with links in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, the United States, Korea, Germany and Italy. In 1967 the Hong Kong Taekwon-Do Association was formed.
In the early seventies, Choi moved the HQ of the International Taekwon-Do Federation to Toronto, Canada. In 1979 the All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation was formed in Oslo, Norway. In 1980, Choi and his son together with 15 students travelled to introduce taekwondo to North Korea. In 1981, Gen. Choi helped to form the Australian Taekwon-Do Federation.
1985 was a significant year as the founder of Taekwon-Do as he documented all of the techniques he had researched.
In 1986 the founder led the Taekwon-Do team of the democratic republic of Korea to the People’s Republic of China. This led to the rising of the korean martial art within the Chinese population. In 1988 Choi the founder of Taekwondo made a massive leap by teaching the art to the I.T.F. team in Moscow, U.S.S.R.
General Choi, a great Taekwondo Master died in 2002, North Korea. His name is destined to last through the centuries as the founder of Taekwondo and its number one legend.