A marcial art is born: Taekwondo ITF

"Here I leave Taekwon-Do for mankind as a trace of man of the late 20th century”  General Choi Hong-Hi

Taekwondo is a martial art formed in Korea by the Korean General Choi Hong-Hi, a man with a very interesting history;  General Choi was born on November 9, 1918, in the Dae Hwa district, in what is now North Korea, which was then under Japanese rule. When he was twelve, he was expelled for revolting against the Japanese authorities, then his father sent him to study calligraphy under Han II Dong, who also taught him Taekkyon, an ancient Korean martial art. In 1937, at the age of twenty, he traveled to Japan to continue his studies, there he met also learned Shotokan Karate-Do under Funakoshi Gighin, he attained the rank of 1st dan in 1939, and then 2nd dan soon after. During World War II, Choi had been forced to serve in the Japanese army and the Empire. When he returned to North Korea, Japanese people designated him as a planner of the Korean Independence Movement, for this reason he was imprisoned for eight months prior to the trial. In prison he continued polishing his training, and began to develop a new martial art, where his jailer and cellmate were his students, followed throughout the prison yard.  Choi managed to leave after the liberation of Korea, then over time his military career increased, and he continued to polish his techniques and promote his martial art, which in 1955 he decided to call Taekwondo. Analyzing the word "Taekwondo";  Tae: action of jumping, hitting or destroying with the foot, Kwon: hitting or destroying with the hand or fist and Do: art or path, it could be said that it means "The path of the fist and the kick", referring to a mental training  with combat techniques, without weapons and self-defense, highlighting the skill of the limbs.

International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) was founded in 1966.

Due to disagreements in some training methods and due to political issues, a separation was formed, where was born a new federation: World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), which has similarities and differences with the style ITF.

After a lifetime of effort and dedication to developing his martial art, General Choi died of stomach cancer on 15 June 2002, in North Korea.  His remains are interred in the Cemetery of the Patriotic Martyrs, Pyongyang, North Korea.

"To help others to develop and succeed in life is a reward itselfs and only has value when nothing is expected in return" General Choi Hong-Hi