Grandmaster General Hong Hi Choi
General Choi Hong Hi 1918 – 2002
“It Was He Who Coined The Name Tae Kwon Do”
General Choi, was a South Korean army general and martial artist who is a controversial figure in the history of the Korean martial art of tae kwon do. Choi is regarded by many as the 'Founder of Taekwondo'.
Choi combined elements of Taekkyeon and Shotokan Karate to develop a martial art that he called "Tae kwon-Do", which means "foot, hand, way" or "the way of hand and foot" and it was so named on 11 April 1955.
During the 1960s, Choi, Nam Tae Hi, and Jong Soo Park, led the original masters of taekwondo in promoting their martial art around the world, though these
would be only the first of many such endeavors.
In 1946, Choi was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the new South Korean Army. Whilst there he began spreading his art and teaching not only Korean soldiers but also Americans stationed there. He rapidly progressed to Army General. South Korea was formed after liberation from the Japanese colonists. General Choi was one of the founding members of the South Korean army, marking the launching pad of the art of Tae kwon-Do in the Korean military. He succeeded not only in training the cadre instructors for the entire military but also developing the Taek Kyon and Karate techniques into a modern system of Tae kwon-Do, with the help of Nam Tae Hi, his right-hand man.
On March 22, 1966, General Choi founded the International Taekwondo Federation(ITF) in Seoul, South Korea. ITF taekwondo organizations credit Choi with starting the spread of taekwondo internationally by stationing Korean taekwondo instructors around the world,and have consistently claimed that ITF-style taekwondo is the only authentic style of tae kwon do, most notably in early sections of its textbooks.
In 1972, Choi went into
exile in Canada after the South Korean government objected to his introduction
of the sport into North Korea, and the South Korean government formed the WTF
in 1973.In 1972 Choi moved
the headquarters of the International Tae kwon-Do Federation, with the
unanimous consent of member countries, to Toronto, Canada. He moved again in 1979 to North Korea where
he was welcomed by the government and supported in his project of spreading
Taekwondo to the world. Tae kwon-Do
became an Olympic sport in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Choi’s contribution to world peace earned him a nomination for the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize from the Canadian government. With the foundation of the ITF, his vision of establishing Tae kwon-Do as a worldwide non-political organization and martial art, not just a sport, has come true.
‘It is my earnest desire that Tae kwon-Do should retain its original concept and technique. It is also my sincere hope that Tae kwon-Do’s emphasis on promoting a healthier body and mind will provide a significant contribution to human progress for many generations to come.’
Grandmaster General Hong Hi Choi
To Learn More about the Founder of Tae kwon Do General Choi Hong Hi watch this DVD and his complete interview!
