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Biography of General
ABOUT
GENERAL CHOI, HONG HI, AUTHOR OF THE TAEKWON-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
Taekwon-Do today had gained international status, it is because of
the tireless efforts of one man- the father of modern Taekwon-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 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.
Technically, 1955 signaled the beginning of Taekwon-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 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. Many of
these black belt holders such as Nam Tae Hi, President of the Asia
Taekwon-Do Federation; Colonel Ko Jae Chun, the 5th Chief of
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do instead of Karate. Thus Jhoon Rhee is
known as the first Taekwon-Do instructor in America.
This marked the beginning of Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do, with the command of the
largest training centers in Korea and the newly assigned command of
the 6th Army Corps.
Taekwon-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, Taekwon-Do was even introduced to the greatest military
academy in the world. West Point, In the same year, he also made
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do, the art was spread. In 1963, the
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do to the Armed Forces of Vietnam under
Major Nam Tae Hi, In February of the following year, a Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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
Taekwon-Do in that he was able to draw a clear line between
Taekwon-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
Taekwon-Do Association upon returning home, which gave him a chance
to purify the Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do as the national
martial art of Korea.
This was the basis not only for establishing Taekwon-Do Associations
in these countries but also the formation of the International
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do received the first Class
Distinguished Service medal from the Government of Vietnam and he
helped to form the Korea-Vietnam Taekwon-Do Foundation, presided by
Gen. Tran van Dong. That same year the Hong Kong Taekwon-Do
Association was formed. In August, Choi visited the All American
Taekwon-Do tournament held in Chicago, Illinois, where he discussed
expansion, unification, and the policy of the United States
Taekwon-Do Association with leading instructors. This visit led to
the formal establishment of the U.S. Taekwon-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
Taekwon-Do, to lay the ground work for a new edition of a book on
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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. Taekwon-Do was a major topic on
the agenda. Delegates from 32 countries witnessed demonstrations of
Taekwon-Do by a team of experts. That same year, the United Kingdom
Taekwon-Do Association was formed and the author visited Spain, the
Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and India with the hope of spreading
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 “Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do
Federation into a cohesive force.
In March 1971, Choi attended the Second Asian Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do to those heads of state of
Bolivia, Dominica, Haiti and Guatemala respectively.
In this year, Choi moved the headquarters of International
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do among the youth of the world. The President of
the International Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Championships in Montreal.
In November and December of this year, he led the 4th International
Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team consisting of 10 of the world’s top
instructors to Jamaica, Curacao, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela and
Surinam.
In 1975, Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Championships held in
Amsterdam.
September 1977, the founder of Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do for his political ends. Later that year he
visited Sweden and Denmark to aid in the formation of their National
Associations of Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Championships was held in Oklahoma City,
U.S.A.
In June 1979, the All Europe Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do was introduced to the people of North Korea,
Choi’s birth place. In November of this same year, the first All
Europe Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Championships. At this time he helped to form the
South Pacific Taekwon-Do Federation as well as the Australian
Taekwon-Do Federation.
In June of the same year, the author led the 8th International
Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team to Tokyo, Japan. In October, he
conducted a seminar for the founding members of Taekwon-Do in the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and in November he proudly
presented the unified Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Championships held in
Resitancia, Chaco.
In January 1982 the President of the International Taekwon-Do
Federation formed the North America Taekwon-Do Federation in
Toronto, Canada. In this year, the author was finally able to
realize his long anticipated dream (since 1967) when a Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do. He
also attended the First Intercontinental Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Federation, to
grade Charles E.Sereff, the President of the U.S. Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do Federation is the world governing body of
true Taekwon-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
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do as he was able to document all of the
techniques he had researched for years by publishing the
Encyclopedia of Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do
Championships.
In December, various festivals celebrating the 30th anniversary of
Taekwon-Do was held in Quebec, Canada sponsored by the Taekwon-Do
Federation of Canada were highlighted with the presence of the
Father of Taekwon-Do, Gen. Choi Hong Hi.
In June 1986 the founder took DPRK Taekwon-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,
Taekwon-Do.
1987 was a significant year for General Choi because he showed once
again the indomitable spirit as well as perseverance to the
Taekwon-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 Taekwon-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 Taekwon-Do.
Park, Sung Hwa
Reproduced, with permission, from "Taekwon-Do" (The Korean Art of
Self Defense) also known as The Condensed Encyclopedia.
Fifth Edition 1999, All rights reserved
Copyright 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1999 General Choi, Hong Hi.
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