"Educate the young to create heroic
leaders" -General Choi, Hong Hi, Founder of TKD |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
TAEKWON-DO |
||||||||||
From The
Encyclopedia of TaeKwon-Do, by General Choi, Hong Hi: To put it
simply TaeKwon-Do is a version of
unarmed combat designed for the purpose of self-defense. It is more than just
that, however. It is the scientific use of the body in the method of
self-defense; a body that has gained the ultimate use of its facilities
through physical and mental training. It is a
martial art that has no equal in either power or technique. Though it is a
martial art, its discipline, technique and mental training are the mortar for
building a strong sense of justice fortitude humility and resolve. It is this
mental conditioning that separates the true practitioner from the
sensationalist, content with mastering only the fighting aspects of the art. This one of
the reasons that Tae kwon-Do is called an art of self-defense. It also
implies a way of thinking and life, particularly in instilling a concept and
spirit of strict self-imposed discipline and an ideal of noble moral
rearmament. The nearest description of it is almost a cult. Translate
literally “TAE” stands for jumping or flying, to kick or smash with the foot,
“Kwon” denotes the fist-chiefly to punch or destroy with the hand or fist.
“Do” means an art or way – the right way built and paved by the saints and
sages in the past. Thus taken
collectively “Taekwon-Do” indicates the mental training and the techniques of
unarmed combat for self-defense as well as health, involving the skilled
application of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges with bare hands and feet to
the rapid destruction of the moving opponent or opponents. TaeKwon-Do definitely enables the weak to possess a
fine weapon together with confidence to defend him or herself and defeat the
opponent as well. Of course, wrongly applied, TaeKwon-Do can be a lethal weapon. Therefore mental
training must always be stressed to prevent the student from misusing it. As for women
folk, they will undoubtedly find Tae kwon-do an invaluable asset in tackling
and driving away “wolves”, so to speak. When one is informed of the many
instances where frail women effectively protected themselves, they may sound
unbelievable. But really, they have been able to do so because they are well
versed in the art of self-defense. The feats of
Tae kwon-Do are great in number. To mention a few is probably pertinent: for
instance, flying over a mounted motorcycle or eleven persons in line to
attack a target with the foot; breaking an inch thick pine board places at a
height of ten or eleven feet with the foot; breaking two pieces of red brick
with an open hand or knife-hand; smashing seven or eight pieces of two inch
thick pine board at a single blow with fist; attacking two targets with the
same foot in succession while flying and so on. To the layman
in the street, such feats may sound impossible, but to the serious students
of Tae kwon-Do and the exponents of this art, it is quite ordinary. Of
course, by mastering this art it does not mean that you will be asked to acts
of impossibility. Particularly if someone should challenge you to kill a wild
bull with your bare hands. Therefore it is clear that equivalent
demonstrations of such effective use of pure somatic force is not to be seen
in other forms of physical combat technique. Hours spent
on training will not be wasted; for surely you will reap a rich reward in the
form of speedy reactions and deadly blows to rain down upon your enemy or in
any case to save life if and when a need arises. Even if TaeKwon-Do is practiced for the sake of exercise
alone, the enjoyment derived will justify the time invested and spent. As an
exercise, it is equally suitable for the old and young, male and female. Incessant
training is essential to keep oneself in top form and physical condition, In
training, all the muscles of the human body will be used. From the use of
one’s muscles, it will be possible to harness all available power generated
by every muscular contraction. It will then be necessary to deliver such
power to the human target especially to where the most vulnerable points or
vital spots of one’s opponent are located, in particular when the opponent is
in motion, At this point it is necessary to remind the students of Tae
kwon-Do that this art of self-defense is specially designed for swift
retaliation against the moving aggressor. Most of the
devastating maneuvers in TaeKwon-Do
are based specially on the initial impact of a blow plus the
consequential additional force provided by the rebound of the opponent’s
moving part of the body. Similarly by using the attacker’s force of momentum,
the slightest push is all that is needed to upset his or her equilibrium and
to topple him or her. In the case
of the students of TaeKwon-Do who have
been in constant practice or the experts themselves, they spend no time
thinking as such an action comes automatically to them. Their actions, in
short, have become conditioned reflexes. Therefore, throughout the readers
will notice that repeated emphasis is places on regular training, in order to
master the techniques of attack and defense |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
From Grand
Master Hwang, Kwang Sung: Taekwon-Do
was brought into this world on April 11, 1955. Before this time, there was no
Taekwon-Do, no Chonji or Dan-Gun tul; the original Taekwon-Do patterns. In 1957,
General Choi Hong Hi who also was elected as its first president established
the Korean Taekwon-Do Association. It is impossible to explain the history of
Taekwon-Do without mentioning General Choi Hong Hi, the president of the ITF. General Choi
was born in 1918, in a small, rural village in what is now North Korea called
Ham Kyung Buk Do, Myung Chun Gun Hwa Dae Myun. When was young, his parents
were concerned because his body was frail and weak, although he was
independent and very responsible. The young boy, like the future General he
would one day become, was strong on the inside in mind and spirit. When he
was 12 years old, he was expelled from school for being an agitator to the
Japanese authorities. Japan occupied the Korean peninsula at the time. His
parents enrolled him in a private school where he studied calligraphy under
the renowned Mr. Han IL Dong. Coincidentally, Han also happened to be a
Master of Taekyon, the Korean art of foot fighting. Taekyon dates back to
about 200-300 years ago because Taekyon can only be written with a Korean
alphabet. The Korean alphabet was developed only several hundred years ago.
But in the history of Korea, other martial arts, such as Soo Bak Gi, have
been practiced since ancient times. While General
Choi was in Kyoto, Japan, he met a fellow Korean by the name of Mr. Kim Hyun
Soo. Mr., Kim introduced karate to General Choi. This experience along with
his knowledge of Taekyon influenced his development of the new Korean martial
art of “Taekwon-Do”. Taekwon-Do
movements and techniques are scientifically designed to create power.
Compared with other martial arts, Taekwon-Do is well structured, using
descriptive terminology for the anatomy and physics, with well-established
rules of competition. However,
Taekwon-Do is similar to other martial arts in its original purpose. Large or
small, young or old, male or female, anyone can benefit from and enjoy
practicing Taekwon-Do and learn to create maximum power. All the techniques
and theories of Taekwon-Do are contained in a 15-volume encyclopedia
originally published in 1980. General Choi not only proposed the name
“Taekwon-Do”, but also developed the techniques, the terminology, and it’s
system for teaching and training. His comprehensive book on Taekwon-Do
allowed him to reach millions of students throughout the world. General Choi
personally taught Taekwon-Do himself throughout the world, gaining many
faithful students. When World War II
broke out, General Choi was drafted against his will into the Japanese army
as a “student soldier”. While stationed at Pyongyang, North Korea, he planned
an insurrection as part of the Korean Independence Movement called the
Pyongyang Students’ Soldiers’ Movement. He was turned into Japanese
authorities and was interned at a Japanese prison camp. He was freed the day
after Japan surrendered, August 15, 1945, ending World War II. That was how
he saved his life and began a second life. While in the solitude
of his jail cell, he practiced martial arts training with his bare hands and
feet on a cold concrete floor. He promised himself that if he were ever to
live in freedom, he would dedicate his entire life to building Korea’s
martial arts program. There is an Oriental
expression that disaster will turn to happiness and happiness will turn to
disaster. If General Choi had been a nine foot tall giant, Taekwon-Do would
probably not exist. If Korea had not endured 36 years of occupation by the
Japanese, General Choi might not have developed patience; the patience that
enabled him to establish Korea’s own martial art. It is difficult to imagine
but Japan’s attempt to destroy Korean culture inspired General to create a
martial art for 20 million Koreans. Taekwon-Do has
twenty-four unique patterns developed by General Choi. Reason being is that
when you consider eternity, the life time of one person, perhaps one hundred
years; is only a day. Therefore the twenty-four patterns represent
twenty-four hours of the day, or the lifetime of General Choi, his legacy to
the human race. The first of these
patterns is named “Chon-ji” which means “heaven and earth”. It is interpreted
in the orient as the creation of the universe and the beginning of human
history; therefore, it is the pattern practiced by the beginner. The next
pattern is called “Dan-Gun”. and as any Korean is well aware, Dan-Gun is the
legendary founder of Korea. The next pattern is called “Do-San”. Do-San is
the pseudonym of the patriot Ahn Chang-ho, (1876-1938), who devoted his
entire life to the education of Korea and its independence movement. The next
patterns are Won-Hyo”, a noted monk, and ‘Yol-Gok”, a great philosopher.
Joong-Gun, the next pattern, was named after the patriot Ahn-Joong Gun. The
32 movements in this pattern represent his age when he was executed in Liu
Shung prison in 1910. Subsequent patterns are Tae-Gae, Hwa-Rang and
Choong-Moo, the name given to Admiral Yi Soon-Sin. The final pattern is
called “Tong-IL”. Tong-IL denotes the reunification of Korea, which is
General Choi’s lifetime wish. As I speak of the
origin of Taekwon-Do, I must mention the period of Japanese occupation of
Korea. It was a time of great hardship for the Korean people. It is not my
intention to offend our neighboring country, but this period deeply
influenced General Choi and the development of Taekwon-Do and I am compelled
to discuss its impact. From 1946 to 1954,
General Choi studied and developed this new Korean martial art. On April 11,
1955, General Choi convened a meeting of prominent Koreans including leaders
in Congress, politicians, military Generals, historians, artisans, and
martial art experts, for the purpose of naming this art. General Choi
proposed the name “Taekwon-Do” and it was unanimously accepted. These were
the circumstances under which Taekwon-Do was born and became Korea’s new
martial art. In 1959, General
Choi established the Korean Taekwon-Do Association and was elected as its
first President. He was a founding member of the Korean military and served
as Commander of the Infantry Division, Commander of Army Training Center and
Commander of Army Corps. Through these positions, General Choi incorporated
Taekwon-Do into the daily training regimen of the entire Korean military. In 1961, Taekwon-Do
spread to colleges, government offices, and police academies. This started a
real boom in the expansion of Taekwon-Do. Finally, in 1965, Taekwon-Do became
the official Korean national martial art. The International Taekwon-Do
Federation (ITF) was founded on March 22, 1966. The original member countries
were; USA, West Germany, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam
and Korea. The ITF was the first international organization headquartered in
Korea. Unfortunately, Korea
was governed by several military dictatorships for a period over 30 years.
This marked the beginning of a period of trials for Taekwon-Do. Using the
name of Taekwon-Do, many phony organizations appeared as political tools,
cheapening Taekwon-Do into a commercial sport. Every student of
Taekwon-Do must endeavor to sacrifice for the unification of Taekwon-Do.
Martial artists, not politicians, must decide the destiny of Taekwon-Do. The
unification of Taekwon-Do is inevitable. Taekwon-Do is our life and we must
pass a single united Taekwon- Do down to the next generation. All martial
arts should insist that the influence of politicians should be removed from
martial arts organizations. We must rebuild our martial arts organizations
with martial artists only. We cannot ask anyone else to conduct our business
or define our mission. We cannot pass this responsibility to others. We must
ensure the next generation receives its rightful inheritance. Thank You. Grand Master
Hwang, Kwang S. President
Unified International Taekwon-Do Federation Chairman,
Merger Committee – International Taekwon-Do Federation Chairman,
Promotional Committee – International Taekwon-Do Federation Special
Assistant to General Choi, Hong Hi |
||||||||||
30 Willand Drive | Somersworth, NH 03878 Phone: (603) 534-3868 | [email protected] |
||||||||||