General Choi Hong Hi
(1918 - 2002)
General Choi Hong Hi was born on November 9th, 1918 in the Hwa
Dae Myong Chun District
of Korea. He began study of the martial arts at an early age. He
eventually earned a Black Belt in
less than two years with the help of a Karate teacher he had met while continuing
his studies in Japan.
At the end of World War II he became an officer in the new Korean Army.
However during the war
he served in the Japanese Army and was at that time posted in Pyongyang.
While there were various names for the martial arts styles in Korea which
featured kicking techniques
in the early years, Choi Hong-hi a politically powerful General in the Korean
Army was responsible for
having the martial arts recognized under the name "Tae Kwon Do". The
name Tae Kwon Do which
generally translated means "the way of the feet and the hands" became officially
adopted as the name
of the martial art on April 11th, 1955.
With the support of the Korean government, General Choi Hong Hi was
responsible for spreading
Tae Kwon Do to various parts of the world. He utilized teams of instructors
comprised of persons
who were the most proficient in demonstrating the art.
In 1959, General Choi was named President of the Korean Taekwon-Do
Association.
On March 22, 1966 he created the International Taekwon-Do Federation
(ITF) which was
based in Toronto, Canada.
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