
Pioneers of Tae Kwon Do in Argentina
Choi
Nam-Sung

Choi Nam-Sung (l) with student Hector Marano |
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 |
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