Remembering The Coming of Taekwon-Do To Malaysia And Efforts Of Gen.Choi

There are many international Taekwon-Do organizations. The two largest and most influential are the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) and the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). The two organizations have internal problems, including fraud, embezzlement, and power struggles, as well as conflicts with each other. As usual, the ones who suffer most are the students, who only want to learn and practice Taekwon-Do.

In 1965, Choi retired from the South Korean army as a two-star general (major general) and was appointed as the country's first ambassador to Malaysia, by President Park. (Some claim Choi was not a general because you must be a four-star general be called a general. While it is true that that only a four-star has the rank of general, all generals [1, 2, 3, and 4 star] are commonly referred to as general. When a one-star rear admiral (lower half) is introduced, he or she is referred to as admiral. The same holds true for colonel or lieutenant colonel, commander or lieutenant commander, first lieutenant or second lieutenant, etc. A military person may correctly be referred to, for the rest of their life, by the last military rank at which they honorably served.) Through Choi's efforts, Taekwon-Do spread through Malaysia and reached national acceptance when, in 1971, the art was demonstrated in the Merdeka Stadium at the request of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. In 1965, Ambassador Choi was appointed by the Korean government to lead a goodwill mission to West Germany, Italy, Turkey, United-Arab Republic, Malaysia, and Singapore. This trip was significant in that for the first time in Korean history, it declared Taekwon-Do as the national martial ar t of Korea. Although Choi briefly returned to Korea to start an international branch of the KTA, he never gained much political influence in Korea.

On March 22, 1966, Choi formed the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) in Seoul, Korea, with the consent of nine countries. The federation established associations in Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, West Germany, Turkey, Italy, Arab Republic of Egypt, Korea, and the United States. This was the first time that the headquarters of an international organization had been established in Korea. The ITF was formed as a private organization and was never the international arm of the KTA.

The next few years saw the exponential growth of Taekwon-Do, with Choi, through the ITF, tirelessly traveling the world to teach and expand his art, especially to the youth of the world. While he was working internationally, others were establishing a stronghold in Korea, which led to his loss of influence within Korea.

A goodwill trip (one of many he made to numerous other countries) to North Korea (he was born in 1918 in Hwa Dae, Myong Chun District in what only became North Korea in 1953) by a Taekwon-Do demonstration team in 1980 caused General Choi to fall in disgrace in the eyes of South Koreans. (Although there was controversy over the trip, Choi did nothing illegal or treasonous). Due to the controversy over the trip, Choi, who was 54 years of age at the time,resigned as president of the KTA and, with the unanimous consent of member countries, moved the ITF to Toronto, Canada. (It was his choice to move the Canada and not to the United States. There was nothing to prevent him from moving to the United States.) Since the ITF was a private organization, not a governmental entity, Choi was allowed to take the ITF with him to Canada.

In Canada, Choi felt that he would be wise to teach Taekwon-Do in North Korea and trained the instructors who would do the job. Through North Korea, he felt that Taekwon-Do could spread to other socialist and third world countries. He made up his mind to produce Taekwon-Do instructors in North Korea who were not contaminated by eastern commercialism. In this way, he felt the true Taekwon-Do, philosophy, and techniques could be developed. In addition, he thought that this movement would stimulate and motivate instructors in the free world.

North Korea is a member of the original International Taekwon-Do Federation and South Korea is a member of the World Taekwon-Do Federation, founded 7 years after the ITF was founded. The unification of Taekwon-Do would motivate various groups to work for the unification of peninsula. Taekwon-Do instructors in Korea do not have the same freedom of voice that the overseas instructors do. Therefore, overseas Taekwon-Do instructors will probably play a bigger role and serve as a bridge between South and North Korea. To open the door between the two sides, overseas instructors should visit and attend seminars, demonstrations, and championships of both Federations. Frequent contact between instructors of the two groups would eliminate mistrust. Creating this type of environment would be a very important step for the Reunification of Korea.

With Choi out of the South Korea, rival martial arts academies organized an international rival to the ITF, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). The WTF is discussed in the next section.

As evidence of the almost total loss of influence of Choi in Korea, the book Olympic Politics, states that, during the September 30, 1981 vote by the IOC to decide on Seoul for the 1988 Olympics, Kim Un-Yong dealt with the rumor that Choi, then living in Canada, would stage an anti-Seoul demonstration. Kim did not believe the rumor, but he put five Taekwondo instructors on standby in case of trouble; however, nothing happened.

In October 1982, General Choi met with Mr. Csandi, Chairman of the Programming Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss IOC recognition of the ITF. In April 1984, Choi visited Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, in Lausanne, to prove to him that the ITF was the only governing body of true Taekwon-Do.

In September 1984 Choi Hong Hi invited key instructors such as Lee Su Hi, Rhee Ki Ha, Park Jung Tae and Choi Jung Hwa to Pyongyang to finalize the publication of his Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do.

A desire to establish a strong location for spreading Taekwon-Do throughout the world, especially in socialist, Third World countries, and politically disadvantaged countries, led the ITF to consider leaving Canada. In December 1984, the Fifth ITF Congress meeting in Vienna unanimously decided to relocate the ITF to Vienna, the capital city of Austria. In 1985, the ITF moved to Vienna and Choi published the Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do, which documented all Taekwon-Do techniques.

On September 20, 1985, during the administration of Kim iL Sung (North Korea) and General Chun Doo Hwan (South Korea) visitors and art performers of South and North Korea were exchanged simultaneously between the two countries. It was the first time in 40 years since the division of the country that separated families in two Koreas had an opportunity to meet their lost families. An art performance was held at Pyongyang Grand Theatre by the South, and at Seoul National Theater by the North on September 21 and 22.

On June 11, 1986, Choi took the DPRK Taekwon-Do demonstration team to the People's Republic of China. The members of the Korean Taekwon-Do team made a wonderful performance and created a stir in the capital of Beijing, and in the cities of Xian and Jinam. It was Taekwon-Do's first appearance in China and the performance made a deep impression on the people. This visit eventually became the motivation for the Chinese people adopt Taekwon-Do as a martial art.

In 1994, the 9th World Taekwon-Do Championship was held in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. ITF in Malaysia was lead by Master Sabree Salleh (now a GTF Grandmaster). It was regarded the best ITF World Championship ever been organised and number 9 is Choi's favourite. This championship was officiated by former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad and patronised by the current Sultan of Terengganu, who happened to be an exponent of ITF Taekwon-Do.