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Master Choi Nam-Sung The official date of introduction of Taekwondo in Argentina is 1967. It was then that Kim Han-Chang, Choi Nam-Sung and Chung Kwang-Duk arrived and settled in Buenos Aires. They got into contact with Judo instructor Norberto Aspera and initially started teaching their "Korean Karate" in Judo academies. In prior times there had existed other Korean nationals teaching karate, but never developed schools of their own. On the contrary, these three instructors -who were in their late twenties- reported to the International Taekwondo Federation under Gen. Choi Hong Hi. A fourth instructor that started teaching around that time is Lee Chong-Seo, who had advanced ranking in Moo Duk Kwan. Master Choi Nam-Sung was a tough person rugged by the environment in which he grew. Originally from a northern Korean village, the withdrawal of American troops in 1950 forced the family to move south separately. As a twelve- year old boy he ended in an orphan house, and he eventually learnt to survive in the streets. Taekwondo, boxing and hapkido taught him how to deal with the mobsters that harassed him for "contributions" from his hard earned-money selling smuggled watches on the streets. Master Choi is a very tough person. He was had a short and powerful body, and his style was very strong, with heavy basics and his teaching was oriented to fighting. Although a few years older than Kim, Choi always regarded Kim as his elder brother because the latter was senior in rank and all institutional matters, contacts and business-like aspects were handled by Kim. Choi´s original students were H. Marano, P. Trajtenberg, E. Casagrande, C. Castagnola, C. Ouro, J. Vaccaro, G. Portela, O. Cruz Martín, R. Tiscornia, J. "Pepe" Sánchez, G. Gambolini and Sáenz. Choi is also a Kuk Ki Won 9th Dan. He follows WTF instruction, keeping the roots of his original "Korean Karate", Yun Moo Kwan style. He still gives weekly classes to his higher ranked students. Master Choi is a very simple and straight-forward person who doesn't socialize much and considers himself an eternal student of traditional Taekwondo at the old dojang built beside his house. Master Choi is regarded by his students as a humble man refusing to forfeit the good traditions of the past. He remains as close as a brother to Master Kim Han-Chang. - photos and text submitted by Master Manuel E. Adrogué |
