Who gave taekwondo its name?

Picture a big meeting in Seoul in the spring of 1955. Politicians, army officers, business people, historians and the teachers of the kwans are all in one room. ⁶⁴ General Choi Hong Hi has brought them together to answer one question: what should this Korean art be called? ⁶⁴

11 April 1955

On 11 April 1955 the meeting approved the name Taekwon-Do. ⁶⁴ The president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, wrote the new name out in calligraphy, beautiful brush writing. ⁶⁴ The ITF, the federation General Choi later started, calls this day taekwondo's "official birth". ⁶⁴ General Choi's own story gives the same date. ^2,101

Not everyone used the new name straight away. Other names like Tang Soo Do and Tae Soo Do were still around, and the new name was slow to catch on. ¹

The general's book

General Choi built his own style of taekwondo, called Chang Hon. ^1,2 In 1965 he wrote the first book about taekwondo in English. ^1,2 His first patterns, like Hwa-Rang and Choong-Moo, were made between 1955 and 1959. ¹³

Five words to live by

If you train at an ITF style club, you may say five words together at the start or end of class: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit. These are the five tenets, and they come from General Choi. ^1,46 Courtesy is ye-ui, perseverance is in-nae and self control is geuk-gi. ^1,46

The tenets travelled even further than the general did. British Taekwondo, which runs Olympic style taekwondo in Britain, uses the same five, and so does World Taekwondo. ^46,80

General Choi also wrote a student oath. It promises to follow the tenets, respect the instructor and seniors, never misuse taekwondo, stand up for freedom and justice, and help build a more peaceful world. ¹ Every club says it in its own words.

By 1965 the art had a name, a book and a code. Next it would get a federation, and its founder would leave Korea.