General Choi Hong Hi – 10 years on

The man pivotal to the development and spreading of the art of Taekwon-Do will be ten years dead this June. General Choi Hong Hi, the principal founder of Taekwon-Do and founder and first president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) died of stomach cancer in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 15^th 2002.

Reportedly a 2nd dan in Japanese Karate he began work on developing a new Korean Martial Art and during the 1950's while developing this new Korean Martial Art of Self Defence he received permission from the then President of The Republic of (south) Korea to use the name Taekwon-Do as the new Martial Art of Korea. The date of 11^th April 1955 became the day recognised as the birthday of Taekwon-Do.

For over nearly half a century and being well into his 80's General Choi worked tirelessly to develop Taekwon-Do through his seminars and International Instructor courses. He controlled the International Taekwon-Do Federation with an iron fist and commanded genuine respect from followers the world over.

Historical Context

On March 22^nd 1966 General Choi formed the International Taekwon-Do Federation after separating from the Korean Taekwon-Do Association in a bid to spread Taekwon-Do around the globe, a feat he lived to appreciate. The separation from the Korean Taekwon-Do Association was caused in part by General Choi’s autocratic leadership style and differences with the second generation leaders who were emphasising sports rules as a unifying rallying point and not the first set of Korean patterns that General Choi had designed. Along with his contentious battle to have them adopt his name of Taekwon-Do over their preferred compromise name of Tae Soo Do, General Choi eventually parted ways with the KTA.

General Choi courted controversy. He was incarcerated for resisting Japanese rule during the Japanese occupation of Korea. He was also an outspoken critic of the military dictatorships that plagued South Korea at that time. It was during the height of this government brutality in 1972 that General Choi exiled himself to Canada while leaving his entire family behind. He remained a fierce critic of the government while exiled.

When the Korean dictator General Park was assassinated by the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, General Choi had hoped he could return to Korea to continue his build of Taekwon-Do. However this was not to be. Another military coup took control as General Chun Do Hwan became the leader of South Korea. The South Korean government and the KCIA were adamant on destroying the ITF as it provided General Choi with a world-wide traveling platform which he used in addition to his teaching to severely criticise his government back home. Additionally South Korea was looking to use Taekwon-Do as a political and cultural propaganda tool. Dr. Kim Un Yong (first president of the WTF) was already working on his vision to have Taekwon-Do become an Olympic Sport. So naturally they would also look to minimise the influence of the ITF, a rival organisation. As the pressure from the KCIA of South Korea increased and the WTF became more successful in attracting and building their Taekwon-Do, General Choi's Korean following shrank.

In light of this General Choi courted North Korea in an attempt to gain more Korean instructors, as well as political and financial help to battle the political influence and money South Korea was providing to the WTF. This was a move that greatly helped the ITF but also one that was to frustrate it in the years ahead.

His desire to see the ITF grow led General Choi to make many enemies and even in death he stirred controversy. His final wishes in relation to the future of his ITF remains a topic of controversial debate, with many ITF members disputing the direction of his final wishes.

He died in a Pyongyang hospital ward surrounded by North Korean officials some of which were his closest masters. From that ward it was announced that General Choi chose Prof Chang Ung a North Korean politician and member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to become the next and second president of the ITF.

It has been documented that this was in fact General Choi's wish, it was not a last minute decision, but rather one that took place over a course of time. At this point there were serious and very high level government talks between South and North Korea, which included an idea to exchange Taekwon-Do Demonstration teams while discussions to merge the Taekwon-Do's of both Koreas took place. As a result, General Choi, who fought his adult life to get to this point wanted to be at that table and he probably would have been if he hadn't passed away prior.

In light of these political circumstances General Choi thought about who would be the best person to politically accomplish what was a highly political move, so he picked a politician, Prof. Chang Ung. This of course did not sit well with many members of the ITF, as they did not wish to be political, many members were not interested in politics, with some even resenting General Choi’s politics and his constant use of Taekwon-Do and the ITF as a political tool.

The cracks begin to show

At the ITF congress in Italy 2001, General Choi's son, Choi Jung Hwa along with his supporters initiated a plan to unseat General Choi as president by having him voted in for only two years out of the six year term with the remaining four years being presided over by Choi Jung Hwa. This was passed at the congress but due to the nature of the vote it caused divisions between General Choi and his son. They fought furiously after the congress with Master Choi Jung Hwa saying the North Koreans would not work with him as he would not let them control the ITF or exert their influence over the ITF as they did with his father.

General Choi met with his senior masters and instructors in a bid to plan the undoing of the vote at the 2001 congress. General Choi stated that the vote had to be undone as their were serious and significant merger talks taking place between the ITF and the WTF at which he needed to be remain as the president of the ITF. The WTF denied there were talks happening, but that organisation had signed an agreement in the early 1980's that WTF president Dr Kim had never honoured. The talks that were taking place were above and beyond Taekwon-Do and resided in the hands of the North and South Korean government's reunification ministries. The pressure was on General Choi to remain ITF president.

It was January 2002 in Vienna when an emergency meeting was called by the ITF, General Choi and his supporters voted to undo the result of the previous congress on the grounds that these were important political times. ITF meeting agreed with General Choi and he was reinstated as president for the full six year term, the vienna meeting also removed Master Choi Jung Hwa as Secretary General. This caused major frustration for Master Choi Jung Hwa resulting in him and his followers leaving the ITF and setting up their own organisation which was also to be called the ITF. Master Choi and some of his supporters were later expelled officially from the original ITF. This was the start of a very bitter division between Master Choi and General Choi which continued until before the time of General Choi's death when as father and son they reconciled.

It was also the beginning of a number of further divisions within the ITF as General Choi planned for the future of his organisation.

Following on from the Vienna meeting which reversed the decision to have Master Choi as the next ITF president, a hastily called meeting of the ITF ratified Prof. Chang Ung as the next president in accordance with General Choi's wish to have a politician lead through a politically charged period for Taekwon-Do and for Korea.

The decision to elect Chang Ung should have taken place at the scheduled congress which was to take place in 2003 in Poland. Some members were disgruntled at how this decision was handled and decided to challenge the decision at the congress in 2003. However this congress did not happen as agreed, Chang Ung and the ITF moved the world championships to Greece where the congress took place, while back in Poland opponents to the move held their congress as was agreed previously by the ITF. At this congress in Poland, Master Tran Trieu Quan was elected as president of the group emerging from this congress also to be called the ITF.

Tran Trieu Quan was a professional business man with an MBA, in addition to a knowledgeable martial artists with a depth of experience as a close and long time student of General Choi.

The stage was set, there now existed three International Taekwon-Do Federations. All three groups dispute the legalities of each of their respective congress meetings and votes taken within.

The ITF today ten years on

Master Choi Jung Hwa’s ITF went on to attract new member schools and also attracted some followers from the original ITF structure.

Choi Jung Hwa’s ambition was to return the ITF to South Korea, the country that his father had been exiled from decades previously.

In 2004 his organisation ran the first world championships held in South Korea and again in 2010 at which he attended himself which was as a result of his cooperation with the South Korean government. It was during this time that he gave an interview to an international news paper about his involvement with North Korean intelligence. Choi jung Hwa had been previously jailed for his role in a plot to assassinate the South Korean dictator president – General Chun Do Hwan.

Many of the changes introduced to Taekwon-Do through his organisation are confined to the tul, or patterns. Master Choi Jung Hwa introduced the ‘kihap’ into the patterns and also changed the name of a controversial pattern titled ‘Juche’ to ‘Kodang’ a move seen as a sweetener to the South Korean government as the organisation moved closer to that country. ‘Juche’ is a North Korean communist ideology based on Marxism and Leninism.

Today Master Choi Jung Hwa’s ITF appears to be the smallest of the three main organisations with 14 countries at their last European championships held in Italy 2011 (www.itf-administration.com). They continue to work within South Korea which appears to have become the headquarters for that organisation. Choi Jung Hwa’s organisation has lost many significant master instructors and countries over the past few years with many returning to either of the other international groups or operating independently.

Grand Master Tran Trieu Quan presided over his ITF until he was

tragically killed in Port Au Prince, Haiti by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Ironically he was there in his capacity as a civil engineer surveying buildings in a bid to make them safer; he was killed when the hotel he was staying in collapsed under the pressure of the earth quake. His organisation is now presided over by GM Pablo Trajtenberg. GM Tran was the first non-Korean to preside over an international Taekwon-Do Federation.

GM Tran's ITF introduced many changes also, but most noticeable is their work towards giving the organisation a more corporate image. The introduction of a new logo is a significant step away from the original recognisable blue and gold logo which is still in use by this ITF presently but sources close this organisation say it will eventually use the new design as their corporate logo moving the ITF’s even further away from each other. In relation to performances, this ITF tends to use a much slower rhythm when performing patterns, nearly giving more emphasis to the aesthetic beauty of the patterns over martial application.

This ITF attracted twenty four countries to its last world championships in 2011 held in New Zealand (www.tkd-itf.org) and maintains a considerable competitive standard.

Prof Chang Ung remains as president over the ITF which has it's headquarters in Vienna, where controversially an Austrian court found that the consultative committee of the ITF properly followed the rules at the time of Prof Chang Ung's election and hence ruled him as the president of the ITF. Much of Chang Ung's work to date as been around courting Olympic recognition for the ITF.

This work has resulted in many of the changes made to Taekwon-Do competition by this organisation which many say help to promote ITF Taekwon-Do as a dynamic kicking art. In order to achieve recognition this ITF has introduced a two punch rule, where the competitor may only throw two punches before kicking or pausing to throw another set of punches thereby encouraging more kicking. Its rules have also changed to include the compulsory use of 360 degree kicks during a bout again to promote more aerial kicking. This group ran the largest of the recent international tournaments with fifty eight countries participating in the last world championships in Pyongyang North Korea (www.itftkd.org).

Newer organisations

Although it is acknowledged that these three groups represent the ITF, other smaller organisations have also popped over the course of the last ten years.

GM KS Hwang who originally supported General Choi's wishes to have Prof Chang Ung as the next president eventually left the ITF and formed Unified ITF as he felt Chang Ung had deviated away from General Choi's wishes. Unified ITF is relatively small but has a mission statement to unify all the international groups again at some point in the future.

The Future?

Across the ITF grass roots there is common desire for unifying the membership. Unification of the international bodies lends more credibility to its world and European-class tournaments as well as it’s standing as the official world governing body for traditional Taekwon-Do.

Unfortunately with all of the technical and aesthetic changes taking place as well as a number of bitter court battles over trademark rights, the unification of the ITF’s has never been so distant. While all of the groups pay homage to their founder and still hold him dearly in their hearts, only one action can truly show the respect and appreciation for the work that General Choi carried through his entire life and that is the action of unification. Until then, his legacy remains a myriad of disputes and conspiracies as the international Taekwon-Do Family walks in different directions.

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Acknowledgement:

A special thanks to Dr George Vitale of New York (Taekwon-Do Master and reputed TKD historian) for his time and assistance in compiling information for this feature.

The Author and Dr Vitale would appreciate any feed back, new information, memories and insights that any Taekwon-Do practitioner may have about these past turbulent times for the ITF.

Taekwon.