|
|
"General Choi
receiving an honorary degree
from the University of Humanities"
About
General Choi, Hong Hi, Author of the Tae Kwon-Do Encyclopedia: As one of the
closest associates of the author and having learned this art from him during
our imprisonment under the Japanese occupation, I might deserve to write
about the life of the author. First of all, it must be said about the
author, that he had given so much devotion to this art, that the man, his
life and his work are one. He has long developed and brought the
little-known ancient genres up-to-date through long years of assiduous,
zealous application and firm resolution. If Tae Kwon-Do today had gained
international status, it is because of the tireless efforts of one man- the
father of modern Tae Kwon-Do.
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 Tae
Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-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.
Technically, 1955 signaled the beginning of Tae Kwon-Do as a formally
recognized art in Korea. During that year, a special board was formed which
included leading master instructors, historians, and prominent leaders of
society. A number of names for the new martial art were submitted. On the
11th of April, the board summoned by Gen. Choi, decided on the name of Tae
Kwon-Do which had been submitted by him. This single unified name of Tae
Kwon-Do replaced the different and confusing terms; Dang Soo, Gong Soo, Taek
Kyon, Kwon Bup, etc.
In 1959, Tae Kwon-Do spread beyond its national boundaries. The
father of Tae Kwon-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 Tae Kwon-Do techniques. Many of these black belt holders
such as Nam Tae Hi, President of the Asia Tae Kwon-Do Federation; Colonel Ko
Jae Chun, the 5th Chief of Tae Kwon-Do instructors in Vietnam; Colonel Baek
Joon Gi, the 2nd Chief instructor in Vietnam; Brigadier Gen. Woo Jong Lim;
Mr. Han Cha Kyo, the Head Instructor in Singapore and Mr. Cha Soo Young,
presently an international instructor in Washington D.C. eventually went on
to spread the art to the world.
In this year, Choi was elevated to two illustrious posts; President of his
newly formed Korea Tae Kwon-Do Association and deputy commander of the 2nd
Army in Tae Gu.
The Korean Ambassador to Vietnam, General Choi Duk Shin was instrumental in
helping to promote Tae Kwon-Do in this nation locked in a death struggle
with the communists. That same year General Choi Hong Hi published his first
Korean text on Tae Kwon-Do which became the model for the 1965 edition.
In the year of 1960, the General attended the Modern Weapons
Familiarization Course in Texas followed by a visit to Jhoon Rhees Karate
Club in San Antonio, where the author convinced the students to use the name
Tae Kwon-Do instead of Karate. Thus Jhoon Rhee is known as the first Tae
Kwon-Do instructor in America.
This marked the beginning of Tae Kwon-Do in the United States of America.
Choi returned to Korea as the Director of Intelligence of the Korean Army.
Later that same year, he assumed command of the Combat Armed Command with
direction of the infantry, artillery, armored, signal and aviation schools.
The Year 1961, incidentally, was the year of maturation for both
Choi’s military career and Tae Kwon-Do, with the command of the largest
training centers in Korea and the newly assigned command of the 6th Army
Corps.
Tae Kwon-Do spread like wildfire, not only to the Korean civilian and
military population but to the U.S. soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division
which was under his operational control. Through his students, Tae Kwon-Do
was even introduced to the greatest military academy in the world. West
Point, In the same year, he also made Tae Kwon-Do a compulsory subject for
the entire armed and police forces in south Korea.
1962, Choi was appointed as Ambassador to Malaysia, where, as a
dedicated missionary of Tae Kwon-Do, the art was spread. In 1963, the
Tae Kwon-Do Association of Malaysia was formed and reached national
acceptance when the art was demonstrated at the Merdeka Stadium at the
request of the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rhaman.
The same year, two important milestones took place; the famous demonstration
at the United Nations building in New York, and the introduction of Tae
Kwon-Do to the Armed Forces of Vietnam under Major Nam Tae Hi, In February
of the following year, a Tae Kwon-Do Association was formed in Singapore,
and the groundwork was laid for forming associations in the outer reaches of
Brunei.
The same year, Ambassador Choi made a trip to Vietnam with the sole purpose
of teaching the advanced Tae Kwon-Do patterns that he perfected after years
of research to the instructors group headed by Lt. Col. Park Joon Gi, in
person. This was indeed a new era for Tae Kwon-Do in that he was able to
draw a clear line between Tae Kwon-Do and Karate by completely eliminating
the remaining vestige of Karate.
Late this year, he was re-elected to be the President of the Korea Tae
Kwon-Do Association upon returning home, which gave him a chance to purify
the Tae Kwon-Do society by cleaning up the political circles within its
organization.
In 1965 Ambassador Choi, retired two star general, was appointed by
the Government of the Republic of Korea to lead a goodwill mission to West
Germany, Italy, Turkey, United-Arab Republic, Malaysia, and Singapore. This
trip is significant in that the Ambassador, for the first time in Korean
history, declared Tae Kwon-Do as the national martial art of Korea.
This was the basis not only for establishing Tae Kwon-Do Associations in
these countries but also the formation of the International Tae Kwon-Do
Federation as it is known today. In 1966, the dream of the sickly
young student of calligraphy, who rose to Ambassador and the Association
President of the most respected martial art in the world came true. On the
22nd of March, the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation was formed with
associations in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, West Germany, the United
States, Turkey, Italy, Arab Republic of Egypt and Korea.
In 1967, the father of Tae Kwon-Do received the first Class
Distinguished Service medal from the Government of Vietnam and he helped to
form the Korea-Vietnam Tae Kwon-Do Foundation, presided by Gen. Tran van
Dong. That same year the Hong Kong Tae Kwon-Do Association was formed. In
August, Choi visited the All American Tae Kwon-Do tournament held in
Chicago, Illinois, where he discussed expansion, unification, and the policy
of the United States Tae Kwon-Do Association with leading instructors. This
visit led to the formal establishment of the U.S. Tae Kwon-Do Association in
Washington, D.C. on November 26th, 1967.
During his visit, Choi also met with Robert Walson, fourth degree black belt
and one of the foremost American authorities on Tae Kwon-Do, to lay the
ground work for a new edition of a book on Tae Kwon-Do.
In late 1967, the author invited Master Oyama to the I.T.F. Headquarters in
Seoul to continue the discussion they had earlier at Hakone, Japan, whereby
Master Oyama would eventually change his techniques to that of Tae Kwon-Do.
In that same year, the President of the I.T.F. selected five instructors
from the Armed Forces for Taiwan, at the request of Generalissimo Chiang
Kai-Shek. This request was channeled through General Chung II Kwon, then the
Prime Minister of South Korea.
In 1968, the author visited France, as the chief delegate of the
Korean Government, to attend the Consul International Sports Military
Symposium held in Paris. Tae Kwon-Do was a major topic on the agenda.
Delegates from 32 countries witnessed demonstrations of Tae Kwon-Do by a
team of experts. That same year, the United Kingdom Tae Kwon-Do Association
was formed and the author visited Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium
and India with the hope of spreading Tae Kwon-Do.
When Choi returned to Korea he was presented with the first Sports Research
Award from south Korea for his dedicated work on behalf of the Korean
martial art.
In 1969, Choi toured Southeast Asia to personally investigate the
preparations of each country for the First Asian Tae Kwon-Do Tournament that
was held in September in Hong Kong. Immediately after the tournament, the
author undertook a worldwide tour of twenty-nine countries to visit
instructors and gather photographs for the first edition of his previous
book “Tae Kwon-Do”. (copyright 1972)
August 1970, the author left for a tour of twenty countries
throughout Southeast Asia, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. Choi, of
course, held seminars for international instructors every place he went and
helped spread and weld the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation into a
cohesive force.
In March 1971, Choi attended the Second Asian Tae Kwon-Do Tournament,
held at Stadium Negara in Malaysia, which was opened with the declaration of
Tun Abdul Rhajak, the Prime Minister, and closed with the presence of their
Majesties.
Also in this year, the author was asked by Gen. Kim Jong Hyun, head of the
Army Martial Art department, to select qualified instructors for the
Republic of Iran Armed Forces.
The world tour of 1972 was quite retrospective in that Choi had an
opportunity to introduce Tae Kwon-Do to those heads of state of Bolivia,
Dominica, Haiti and Guatemala respectively.
In this year, Choi moved the headquarters of International Tae Kwon-Do
Federation, with the unanimous consent of member countries, to Toronto,
Canada, envisaging to spread this art eventually to the countries of Eastern
Europe, according to the milestone he set up years before.
During these travels, the author has been especially interested in promoting
Tae Kwon-Do among the youth of the world. The President of the International
Tae Kwon-Do Federation has been instrumental in introducing the art to
numerous universities in Europe, America, the Middle East and the Far East.
During the months of November and December 1973, General Choi and a
specially selected I.T.F. Demonstration Team, consisting of Kong Young II,
Park Jong Soo, Rhee Ki Ha, Pak Sun Jae and Choi Chang Keun, all 7th degree
black belts, toured Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East. A
total of 13 countries were visited and new I.T.F. branches established in 5
of these countries. The tour was an overwhelming success with a total of
more than 100,000 people watching the demonstrations in Egypt alone. At each
stop, general Choi and the Demonstration Team were hosted by ranking
representatives of the local governments.
1974 was indeed an exuberant and long remembered year for Choi,
because the founder of Tae Kwon-Do was not only able to proudly present the
superiority of techniques as well as the competition rules of this art, but
also to bring his dream into reality by holding the first World Tae Kwon-Do
Championships in Montreal.
In November and December of this year, he led the 4th International Tae
Kwon-Do Demonstration Team consisting of 10 of the world’s top instructors
to Jamaica, Curacao, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and Surinam.
In 1975, Tae Kwon-Do alone had the privilege to demonstrate at the
Sydney opera house for the first time since its opening. General Choi
visited Greece and Sweden to conduct seminars later in this year. In the
middle of 1976 he toured Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Europe to
inspect Tae Kwon-Do activities, giving seminars at the same time. In
November of the same year, Choi went to Holland to declare the opening of
the First European Tae Kwon-Do Championships held in Amsterdam.
September 1977, the founder of Tae Kwon-Do visited Malaysia, New
Zealand and Australia following the Tokyo meeting in which he publicly
denounced the South Korean President Park Jung Hee who had been using Tae
Kwon-Do for his political ends. Later that year he visited Sweden and
Denmark to aid in the formation of their National Associations of Tae
Kwon-Do.
In May of 1978, General Choi toured Malaysia, Pakistan, Kenya and
South Africa accompanied by Rhee Ki Ha. In this year he led the 5th
International Tae Kwon-Do Demonstration Team consisting of Choi Chang Keun,
Rhee Ki Ha, Park Jung Tae and Liong Wai Meng to Sweden, Poland, Hungary and
Yugoslavia. In September of the same year the Second World Tae Kwon-Do
Championships was held in Oklahoma City, U.S.A.
In June 1979, the All Europe Tae Kwon-Do Federation was formed in
Oslo, Norway. After this historic event General Choi toured Sweden, Denmark,
West Germany, France and Greenland accompanied by Khang Su Jong and Rhee Ki
Ha. In November of that year he led the 6th International Tae Kwon-Do
demonstration team consisting of Kim Jong Chan, Choi Chang Keun, Rhee Ki Ha,
Park Jung Tae, Lee Jong Moon, Chung Kwang Duk, Kim Suk Jun and Michael
Cormack to Argentina.
The year 1980 was indeed an unforgettable one for the father of Tae
Kwon-Do, both for himself and the future of his art. He and 15 of his
students, including his son Choi Joong Hwa, made a monumental trip to the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was the first time Tae Kwon-Do
was introduced to the people of North Korea, Choi’s birth place. In November
of this same year, the first All Europe Tae Kwon-Do Championships was held
in London with 18 countries participating.
In January of
1981, Gen. Choi made a visit to Queensland, Australia, accompanied by
Choi Chang Keun, to declare, open the first Pacific Area Tae Kwon-Do
Championships. At this time he helped to form the South Pacific Tae Kwon-Do
Federation as well as the Australian Tae Kwon-Do Federation.
In June of the same year, the author led the 8th International Tae Kwon-Do
Demonstration Team to Tokyo, Japan. In October, he conducted a seminar for
the founding members of Tae Kwon-Do in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea, and in November he proudly presented the unified Tae Kwon-Do
demonstration team consisting of North and South Korean instructors to the
historic meeting called North and Overseas Korean Christian Leaders, held in
Vienna, Austria. In August, President Choi visited Argentina to declare the
opening of the Third World Tae Kwon-Do Championships held in Resitancia,
Chaco.
In January 1982 the President of the International Tae Kwon-Do
Federation formed the North America Tae Kwon-Do Federation in Toronto,
Canada. In this year, the author was finally able to realize his long
anticipated dream (since 1967) when a Tae Kwon-Do gym opened for the first
time in Japan under the auspices of patriot Chon Jin Shik. It was indeed a
very busy year for the President in that he visited Puerto Rico in July
accompanied by Master Park Jung Tae, to conduct seminars.
During the months of October and November he toured Greenland, the United
Kingdom, West Germany, Austria, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia and Finland, accompanied by Master Han Sam Soo, Park Jung
Taek and Choi Joong Hwa to promote Tae Kwon-Do. He also attended the First
Intercontinental Tae Kwon-Do Championships held in December in Naples,
Italy.
In October of the same year Gen. Choi met with Mr. Csandi, the Chairman of
programming committee of I.O.C. in Budapest, Hungary to discuss the
recognition of I.T.F. by the I.O.C. In January 1983, General Choi
made a visit to Colorado, U.S.A accompanied by Master Lee Suk Hi, the
President of North America Tae Kwon-Do Federation, to grade Charles
E.Sereff, the President of the U.S. Tae Kwon-Do Federation, for 7th degree.
In February 1983, the author toured Latin America including
Argentina, Columbia, Panama and Honduras to conduct a full scale seminar.
During his stay in Honduras he helped to activate the Central American Tae
Kwon-Do Federation. During the months of March, April and May he toured
Santa Barbara, California, Europe and the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea to conduct last minute preparation of the encyclopedia, the last
product of his life-long research.
In October and November of the same year, he made a visit to Yugoslavia and
Italy accompanied by Park Jung Taek and Choi Joong Hwa to prepare
photographs to be used for the Encyclopedia. In April 1984, President
Choi declared the opening of the Fourth World Tae Kwon-Do Championships held
in Glasgow, Scotland. In the same month, he visited Mr. Juan Antonio
Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, in Lausanne
accompanied by Master Rhee Ki Ha, Charles Sereff and Kim Yong Kyu to prove
that only the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation is the world governing
body of true Tae Kwon-Do.
In September the author invited key instructors such as Lee Suk Hi, Rhee Ki
Ha, Park Jung Tae and Choi Joong Hwa to Pyongyang to finalize the
publication of the Encyclopedia. In fact, this was the time when the
relocation of the I.T.F. to Vienna, Austria was seriously discussed.
In October of the same year, the President made an official visit to
Budapest, Hungary to declare the opening of the 3rd All Europe Tae Kwon-Do
Championships. This indeed was of particular importance as it was the first
large scale international event held in a socialist country as far as the
Tae Kwon-Do tournament is concerned.
In the following month, General Choi visited New York City along with
masters Lee Suk Hi and Park Jung Tae to declare open the 3rd annual General
Choi’s Cup in North America. In December the 5th I.T.F Congress meeting was
held in Vienna, where it was unanimously decided to relocate the I.T.F. here
by March of the next year. Also at the meeting, President Choi Hong Hi was
re-elected for another term. Mr. Jun Chin Shik, the President of Japan
International Tae Kwon-Do Federation, masters Lee Suk Hi and Rhee Ki Ha were
elected as Vice Presidents with master Park Jung Tae as Secretary-General.
Without doubt, 1985 was one of the most significant years for the
founder of Tae Kwon-Do as he was able to document all of the techniques he
had researched for years by publishing the Encyclopedia of Tae Kwon-Do. He
was also able to establish a strong foundation for the spreading of his art
to the entire world, especially the socialist as well as the Third World
countries by moving the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation to Vienna, the
capital city of Austria.
In April of this year, President Choi visited Puerto Rico accompanied by
Tran Trien Quan, the President of the Canadian Tae Kwon-Do Federation, James
Limand Kim Suk Jun to attend the 1st Latin American General Choi’s Cup. In
June, he visited East Berlin to attend the opening ceremony of the 24th
I.O.C. Congress.
In November of the same year, Gen. Choi, accompanied by Secretary-General
Master Park Jung Tae and Tran Trien Quan, visited Norway to honour the
opening of the 1985 Scandinavian Tae Kwon-Do Championships.
In December, various festivals celebrating the 30th anniversary of Tae
Kwon-Do was held in Quebec, Canada sponsored by the Tae Kwon-Do Federation
of Canada were highlighted with the presence of the Father of Tae Kwon-Do,
Gen. Choi Hong Hi.
In June 1986 the founder took DPRK Tae Kwon-Do demonstration team to
the People’s Republic of China. This visit eventually became the motivation
for the Chinese people to adopt the Korean martial art, Tae Kwon-Do.
1987 was a significant year for General Choi because he showed once
again the indomitable spirit as well as perseverance to the Tae Kwon-Do
world by declaring the 5th World Championship in May in Athens, Greece,
despite persistent interference of the South Korean dictatorial regime.
In December of the same year, president Choi began to formulate the
Promotion and Popularization Foundation of ITF boosted by the pledge given
by Mr. Chon Yon Shik, the elder brother of senior vice-president Mr. Chon
Jin Shik, in the amount of 100,000,000 Japanese Yen.
The year 1988 was culminated by two important events. In May, the
Hungarian government hosted the 6th World Championships in Budapest which
was by far, the largest in scale, finest in technique and also for the first
time, televised via satellite throughout Europe.
In August, the Father of Tae Kwon-Do was at last able to realize his
ultimate dream of introducing and teaching his art without regard to
religion, race, national or ideological boundaries, by leading the I.T.F.
demonstration team to Moscow, U.S.S.R.
It is hoped that all instructors will follow his example by devoting part of
their time towards introducing the art into the school systems in their
respective areas.
Merely introducing the art, however, is not enough. The instructor must also
concern himself with imbuing and maintaining a positive influence that will
eventually serve as a guiding light to all students. Then and only then, can
the instructor consider himself an apostle of Tae Kwon-Do.
|
