Choi Hong Hi

Litt historikk om grunnleggeren av Taekwon-Do og ett brev fra Generalen! Samt nederst noen linker.

General Choi Hong Hi was born on November 9th, 1918 in the rugged and harsh area of Hwa Dae, Myong Chun District in what is now D.P.R of Korea. In his youth, he was frail and quite sickly, a constant source of worry for his parents. Even at an early age, however, the future general showed a strong and independent spirit. At the age of twelve he was expelled from school for agitating against the Japanese authorities who were in control of Korea. This was the beginning of what would be a long association with the Kwang Ju Students' Independence Movement. After his expulsion, young Choi's father sent him to study calligraphy under one of the most famous teachers in Korea, Mr. Han II Dong. Han, in addition to his skills as a calligrapher, was also a master of Taek Kyon, the ancient Korean art of foot fighting. The teacher, concerned over the frail condition of his new student, began teaching him the rigorous exercises of Taek Kyon to help build up his body. In 1937, Choi was sent to Japan to further his education. Shortly before leaving, however, the youth had the misfortune to engage in a rather heated argument with a massive professional wrestler who promised to literally tear the youth limb from limb at their next encounter. This threat seemed to give a new impetus to young Choi's training in the martial arts. In Kyoto, Choi met a fellow Korean, Mr. Him, who was engaged in teaching the Japanese martial art, Karate. With two years of concentrated training, Choi attained the rank of first degree black belt. These techniques, together with Taek Kyon (foot techniques), were the forerunners of modern Taekwon-Do. There followed a period of both mental and physical training, preparatory school, high school, and finally the University in Tokyo. During this time, training and experimentation in his new fighting techniques were intensified until, with attainment of his second degree black belt, he began teaching at a YMCA in Tokyo, Japan. Choi recounts a particular experience from this period of time. There was no lamp-post in the city that he didn't strike or kick to see if the copper wires ahead were vibrating in protest. "I would imagine that these were the techniques I would use to defend myself against the wrestler, Mr. Hu if he did attempt to carry out his promise to tear me limb from limb when I eventually returned to Korea." With the outbreak of World War II, the author was forced to enlist in the Japanese army through no volition of his own. While at his post in Pyongyang, North Korea, the author was implicated as the planner of the Korean Independence Movement and interned at a Japanese prison during his eight month pretrial examination. While in prison, to alleviate the boredom and keep physically fit, Choi began practicing this art in the solitude of his cell. In a short time, his cellmate and jailer became students of his. Eventually, the whole prison courtyard became one gigantic gymnasium. The liberation in August 1945 spared Choi from an imposed seven year prison sentence. Following his release, the ex-prisoner journeyed to Seoul where he organized a student soldier's party. In January of the following year, Choi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the new South Korean army, the "Launching Pad" for putting Taekwon-Do into a new orbit. Soon after, he made company commander in Kwang-Ju where the young second lieutenant lighted the torch of this art by teaching his entire company and was then promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to Tae Jon in charge of the Second Infantry Regiment. While at his new post, Choi began spreading the art not only to Korean soldiers but also to the Americans stationed there. This was the first introduction to Americans of what would eventually become known as Taekwon-Do. 1947 was a year of fast promotion. Choi was promoted to captain and then major. In 1948, he was posted to Seoul as the head of logistics and became Taekwon-Do instructor for the American Military Police School there. In late 1948, Choi became a lieutenant colonel. In 1949, Choi was promoted to full colonel and visited the United States for the first time, attending the Fort Riley Ground General School. While there, this art was introduced to the American public. And in 1951, brigadier general. During this time, he organized the Ground General School in Pusan as Assistant Commandant and Chief of the Academic Department. Choi was appointed as Chief of Staff of the First Corps in 1952 and was responsible for briefing General MacArthur during the latter's visits to Kang Nung. At the time of armistice, Choi was in command of the 5th Infantry Division. The year 1953 was an eventful one for the General, in both his military career and in the progress of the new martial art. He became the author of the first authoritative book on military intelligence in Korea. He organized and activated the crack 29th Infantry Division at Cheju Island, which eventually became the spearhead of Taekwon-Do in the military and established the Oh Do Kwan (Gym of My Way) where 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 Taekwon-Do, with the help of Mr. Nam Tae Hi, his right hand man in 1954. In the latter part of that year, he commanded Chong Do Kwan (Gym of the Blue Wave), the largest civilian gym in Korea; Choi was also promoted to major general. On the 11th of April 1955, the board summoned by Gen. Choi, decided on the name of Taekwon-Do which had been submitted by him. This single unified name of Taekwon-Do replaced the different and confusing terms; Dang Soo, Gong Soo, Taek Kyon, Kwon Bup, etc. In 1959, Taekwon-Do spread beyond its national boundaries. The father of Taekwon-Do and nineteen of his top black belt holders toured the Far East. The tour was a major success, astounding all spectators with the excellence of the Taekwon-Do techniques. In this year, Choi was elevated to two illustrious posts; President of his newly formed Korea Taekwon-Do Association and deputy commander of the 2nd Army in Tae Gu. 1960 Took military course in Texas. While there, he visited Jhoon Rhee's Karate Club where he convinced the instructor and students to use the term Taekwon-Do. Marked beginning of TKD in the U.S. Assigned to command largest ROC Training Ctr. in Korea and newly assigned 6th Army Corps. 1961 TKD introduced into the curriculum at West Point. Promoted TKD as a compulsory subject for all S. K. armed and police forces. 1962 Appointed Ambassador to Malaysia, TKD Demonstration at the United Nations in New York City. TKD grows in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. 1963 TKD introduced to Vietnam when Gen. Choi demonstrates perfected forms to instructors. The new forms eliminated the remaining vestiges of Karate in the Art. Re-elected President of Korea Taekwon-Do Association. 1965 Ambassador Choi, retired two-star general, appointed by Korean Government to lead a goodwill mission to West Germany, Italy, Turkey, United Arab Republic, Malaysia, and Singapore and to introduce TKD as the national martial art of Korea. On the 22nd of March 1966, the International Taekwon-Do Federation was formed with associations in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, West Germany, the United States, Turkey, Italy, Arab Republic of Egypt and South Korea. 1967 Received First Class Distinguished Service Medal from Vietnam and helped form Korea-Vietnam TKD Foundation. Visited Hong Kong and the U. S. 1968 Attended Sports Military Symposium in Paris as Korean delegate. Also visited Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, India. 1969 Toured Southeast Asia for preparation of First Asian TKD Tournaments. Toured 29 countries to spread TKD and collect material for his book 1970 Toured 20 countries throughout SE Asia, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. 1971 Visited Malaysia and selected TKD instructors to be sent to train Rep. Of Iran Armed Forces 1972 World tour to introduce TKD to heads of states of Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Guatemala. This year Gen. Choi moved to Canada, and ITF headquarters also moved to Toronto to facilitate the spread of TKD to Eastern Europe. He overcame many difficulties to develop Taekwon-Do. 1973 Led ITF Demonstration Team to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Far East (more than 100,000 attended in Egypt alone). 1974 First World TKD Championships in Montreal. Led top instructor demo team to Jamaica, Curacao, Costa Rica, Columbia, Venezuela, and Surinam. 1975 TKD demonstrated at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Visits Greece and Sweden to conduct seminars. 1976 Visits Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Europe to conduct seminars. Visits Holland to open the First European TKD Championships 1977 Visits Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden and Denmark to help form national organizations. 1978 Visits Malaysia, Pakistan, Kenya and South Africa, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and the U. S. 1979 Visits Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, France, Greenland and Argentina. 1980 First visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to introduce Taekwon-Do to North Korea. 1981 Visits Australia and Japan. Presents a united North and South Korean Taekwon-Do team in Vienna, Austria. 1982 Taekwon-Do dojang opens in Japan, a monumental point in the General's life. Visits Greenland, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, and Italy. 1983 Visits Argentina, Columbia, Panama, Honduras, the United States, Yugoslavia, and Italy. 1984 Visits Scotland, North Korea and Hungary where the first large-scale TKD competition was held in a socialist country. 1985 Publication of Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do by General Choi. Visits Puerto Rico and Norway. 30th Anniversary of the beginning of TKD. 1986 Visits China with the ITF Taekwon-Do delegation. The delegation made great success to show original Taekwon-Do in the city of Beijing, Xian and Jinan. The brilliant performance of Taekwon-Do moved Chinese people and created a sensation of Taekwon-Do. 1987 Visits Greece with 5th Worlds. 1988 World Championships televised via satellite throughout Europe. TKD introduced to Russia. 1989 Published condensed version of TKD Encyclopedia. Visits China to help organize national TKD association. 1990 Visits Uzbekistan, Russia, Vietnam, and China. 1991 Lectures at Lenin Central University in Russia. TKD adopted as a four-year credit course at the University. 1992 Received honorary Doctorate from Lenin Central Univ. Encyclopedia Britannica references General Choi as the "Principal Founder of Taekwon-Do. Visits Norway at Oppdal summercamp. 1993 Visits Moscow and Uzbekistan. 1994 Visits the Ukraine. 1995 Visits Tajikistan and meets with instructors from Tajikistan, Kirghizstan, Moldova, and Russia. 1996 First Conference of TKD in Toronto. 1997 Visits Russia for Tenth Worlds. 1998 Visits Cambodia to teach TKD courses in Phnom Pen. Visits China to meet Mr. Shuojong Song. 1999 Visits China formally set up China I.T.F. Choi Hong Hi continued to promote TKD throughout the world through seminars, instructor courses and promotions. Choi Hong Hi passed away on 15 June 2002.

 

Brev:

From General Choi, Hong Hi....

Although the origins of the martial arts are shrouded in mystery, we consider it an undeniable fact that from time in memorial there have been physical actions involving the use of the hands and feet for purpose of self-protection. If we were to define these physical actions as "Taekwon- Do", any country might claim credit for inventing Taekwon-Do. There is, however, scant resemblance between Taekwon-Do, as it is practiced today, and the crude forms of unarmed combat developed in the past. Modern Taekwon-Do differs greatly from other martial arts. In fact, no other martial art is so advanced with regard to the sophistication and effectiveness of its technique or the over-all physical fitness it imparts to its practitioners. Since the theories, terminology, techniques, systems, methods, rules, practice suit, and spiritual foundation were scientifically developed, systematized, and named by the author, it is an error to think of any physical actions employing the hand and feet for self-defense as Taekwon- Do. Only those who practice the techniques based on the author's theories, principles and philosophy are considered to be students of genuine Taekwon-Do.When and where did Taekwon-Do begin?A combination of circumstances made it possible for me to originate and develop Taekwon-Do. In addition to my prior knowledge of Taek Kyon, I had an opportunity to learn Karate in Japan during the unhappy thirty-six years when my native land was occupied by the Japanese. Soon after Korea was liberated in 1945, I was placed in a privileged position as a founding member of the newly formed South Korean Armed Forces. The former provided me with a definite sense of creation, and the latter gave me the power to disseminate Taekwon-Do throughout the entire armed forces, despite furious opposition. The emergence of Taekwon-Do as an international martial art in a relatively short period of time was due to a variety of factors. The evils of contemporary society (moral corruption, materialism, selfishness, etc.) had created a spiritual vacuum. Taekwon-Do was able to compensate for the prevailing sense of emptiness, distrust, decadence and lack of confidence. In addition, these were violent times, when people felt the need for a means of protecting themselves, and the superiority of Taekwon-Do technique came to be widely recognized.My social stature, the advantage of being Taekwon-Do's founder and my God-given health also contributed to the rapid growth of Taekwon-Do all over the world. My involvement with the martial arts did much to supplement the health that God gave me. I had been born frail and weak and was encouraged to learn Taek Kyon at the age of fifteen by my teacher of calligraphy. In 1938, a few days before I was due to leave Korea to study in Japan I was involved in an unexpected incident that would have made it difficult to return home without risk of reprisals. I resolved to become a black belt holder in Karate while I was in Japan.The skills I required were, I felt, sufficient protection against those who might seek to do me harm. Not only was I able to return to Korea, but I subsequently initiated the national liberation movement known as the Pyongyang Student Soldier's Incident. Like so many patriots in the long course of human history, my actions aroused the wrath of those in positions of power. I was imprisoned for a time in a Japanese army jail. In January of 1946, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the fledgling Republic of Korea army and posted to the 4th infantry regiment in Kwangju, Cholla Namdo Province as a company commander. I began to teach Karate to my soldiers as a means of physical and mental training. It was then that I realized that we needed to develop our own national martial art, superior in both spirit and technique to Japanese Karate. I strongly believed that teaching it throughout the country would enable me to fulfill the pledge I had made to three of my comrades, who had shared my imprisonment by the Japanese."The reason that our people suffer in this way at the hands of the Japanese," I had said, "is that our ancestors failed to rule wisely". "They exploited the people and, in the end, lost the country to foreign domination. If we ever regain our freedom and independence, let us not become the rulers of the people. Instead, let us dedicate ourselves to advising those who rule." It was with this ambition in mind that I began to develop new techniques, systematically, from March of that same year. By the end of 1954 I had nearly completed the foundation of a new martial art for Korea, and on April 11, 1955, it was given the name "Taekwon-Do". On the spiritual level, Taekwon-Do is derived from the traditional, ethical and moral principles of the orient and, of course, from my personal philosophy. Even though I am only five feet tall, I pride myself on having lived-in strict accordance with my moral convictions. I have tried to fight on the side of justice without fear of any kind. I believe that this was possible for me only because of the formidable power and indomitable spirit instilled by Taekwon-Do. The physical techniques of Taekwon-Do are based on the principles of modern science, in particular, Newtonian physics which teaches us how to generate maximum power. Military tactics of attack and defense have also been incorporated.I wish to make it clear that although Karate and Taek Kyon were used as references in the course of my study, the fundamental theories and principles of Taekwon-Do are totally different from those of any other martial art in the world. In March of 1959, I led the military Taekwon-Do demonstration team on a tour abroad. We visited South Vietnam and Taiwan. It was the first such visit in the history of Korea. On this occasion, I renewed my resolution to leave my personal legacy to the world, in the form of Taekwon-Do, and I formulated the following basic ideals for the Taekwon-Do practitioners: 1. by developing an upright mind and a strong body, we will acquire the self-confidence to stand on the side of justice at all times;2. we shall unite with all men in a common brotherhood, without regard to religion, race, national or ideological boundaries;3. we shall dedicate ourselves to building a peaceful human society in which justice, morality, trust and humanism prevail;I also resolved to dedicate myself to the world-wide propagation of Taekwon-Do, in the sincere hope that it would provide the means by which the unification of the divided halves of my fatherland would become possible. My study of Taekwon-Do proceeded in two parts, spiritual discipline and technical perfection. Because the human spirit belongs to the realm of metaphysics, what I mean by spiritual discipline is not easy to describe. One cannot touch, see or hear the spirit of man, It is wider and deeper than anything we can perceive. In this respect, Choi, himself, is only another student participating in a continuing and never-ending learning process.Choi has come to define the spiritual dimensions of Taekwon-Do as fusing oneself with the ideals of Taekwon-Do and attaining and understanding the full meaning of each of the Taekwon-Do patterns. If we consider ourselves as one with Taekwon-Do, we will respect it as we respect our own bodies and Taekwon-Do will never be used in a dishonorable way.The names of the patterns are derived from the most illustrious people to have been produced by nearly five thousand years of Korean history. A proper understanding of the patterns leads, inevitably to the realization that Taekwon-Do is a martial art to be used only for self-defense and only in the cause of justice. The history of Korea contains not a single sample of its military forces being employed for the invasion of its neighbors or for any other purpose except national defense. In the technical area, Choi created a wide variety of techniques that can be used in almost any situation. They are based on the following principles: All movement should be designed to produce maximum power in accordance with scientific formulas and the principle of kinetic energy   The principles behind the techniques should be so clear that even those ignorant to Taekwon-Do will be able to distinguish correct from incorrect movement   The distance and angle of each movement should be exactly defined in order to achieve more efficient attack and defense   The purpose and method of each movement should be clear and simple, in order to facilitate the teaching and learning process   Rational teaching methods should be developed so that the benefits of Taekwon-Do can be enjoyed by everyone, young and old, men and women Attack should be possible against any vital spot on the body and it should be possible to defend against all varieties of attack . Correct breathing methods should be devised, enhancing the speed of each movement and reducing fatigue . Each attacking tool should be clearly defined and soundly based on the structure of the human body. Each movement should be easy to execute, enabling the student to enjoy Taekwon-Do as a sport and recreation. Special consideration should be paid to promoting good health and preventing injuries   Each movement should be harmonious and rhythmical so that Taekwon-Do is aesthetically pleasing   Each movement in a pattern must express the personality and spiritual character of the person it is named after. Adherence to these basic principles is what makes Taekwon-Do a martial art, an aesthetic art, a science and sport. Choi Hong Hi President ITF