EveryDojo

Chapter 3 of 7 · 3 min

What became of General Choi?

He started a federation in Seoul, had to leave Korea, wrote a book so big it fills 15 volumes, and left behind three federations with the same name.

Read the version for teenagers and adults

On 22 March 1966, in Seoul, General Choi Hong Hi founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation, the ITF. 3,64 It became one of the two big families of taekwondo.

Ten men in suits standing behind a long table in a 1960s meeting room.

Leaving Korea

In the early 1970s the South Korean government stopped supporting the ITF. One of the arguments was about whether to teach taekwondo in North Korea. 1,2 In 1972 the ITF moved its headquarters far away, to Toronto in Canada. 64 General Choi lived abroad, and in 1980, by the ITF's account, he went to North Korea. 165 In 1985 the ITF moved again, to Vienna in Austria. 64

An older man writing at a desk by a window full of falling snow and city lights.

A book in 15 volumes

Away from Korea, General Choi wrote everything down. His Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do fills 15 volumes. He finished it in 1983, it was printed in 1985, and he worked on it until the 1999 edition. 1,3,62,166

Fifteen plain hardback volumes on a shelf, one open at a page of stance drawings.

The book explains how his taekwondo is built. Coloured belts have 10 grades. Black belts have nine grades, called degrees. 62 Why nine? General Choi said nine is the biggest single digit, and three times three, and three is a special number. 62

There are 24 patterns, called . He explained that number too: the 24 hours in a day, which stand for a whole lifetime. 62

The book has a rule for children. Breaking boards is "strictly prohibited for children", because it could hurt growing bones and muscles. 62

Three federations with one name

General Choi died on 15 June 2002, in North Korea. 1,2 After he died, the ITF split into three. Each one is still called the International Taekwon-Do Federation! 3,18,60,64,68

  • One is based in Vienna, and its president is Prof. Ri Yong Son. 60
  • One is registered in Madrid, and its president is Grandmaster Paul Weiler. 64
  • One is run from Harlington in Middlesex, England, and its president is General Choi's son, Grandmaster Choi Jung Hwa. 18,68

All three practise the same 24 patterns from the Encyclopedia, with small differences. 1,62

Three training halls side by side, with one black belt in each performing the same low block.

One more federation

A senior ITF man called Park Jung-tae had already left before that. In 1990 he founded the Global Taekwon-Do Federation, the GTF, and added six patterns of his own. 14 Nobody is sure whether the GTF still exists. 69

A man in a suit addressing seated delegates in a 1990 conference room.

While the general was abroad, something else was being built in Seoul: a brand new headquarters for the other family of taekwondo.

Quick quiz

Three questions, just for you. Nobody is keeping score.

1. Where did General Choi found the ITF in 1966?

2. How many patterns does the ITF have?

3. What does General Choi's Encyclopedia say about children breaking boards?

Next: Who are the patterns named after?
Previous: Who gave taekwondo its name?

Written from checked sources, listed on the sources page. Pictures are drawn, with computer help, under our direction; none shows a real child. Recorded chapters and words are read by a computer voice; a word not yet recorded uses your device's own voice.