History

This Post  is about the history and founder of the martial art tae kwon do.

General Choi Hong Hi was born on November 9th, 1918, in the Hwa Dae Myong Chun District of Korea. At the age of twelve he began to study Taek Kyon (this was the name of tae kwon do before it was changed), an ancient Korean method of fighting with the feet. He later went to do studies in japan and while he was there, he met a Karate teacher who helped him earn his first degree Black Belt in less than two years. He then intensified his training, striving to earn his second degree. Around the same time he started teaching.

 

Conscripted into the Japanese army during World War II, he was posted to Pyongyang where he was imprisoned. Wanting to maintain his good physical and mental health during his imprisonment, he practiced karate, alone at first, then by teaching it to the staff of the prison and the other prisoners.

Becoming an officer in the new Korean Army after the end of the war, he continued to teach his martial art to his soldiers as well as to American soldiers serving in Korea.

 

His beliefs and his vision of a different approach to teaching martial arts led General Choi to combine elements of Taek Kyon and Karate techniques to develop a modern martial art. He called it Tae Kwon Do, which means "the way of the feet and the hands", and this name was officially adopted on April 11th, 1955.