Test Hall of fame

Maxime Bujold, Canada

ITF Hall of Fame Winner, presented at ITF World Championships Quebec, 2007

Grand Master Trân Triêu Quân was the ITF President from the time of his democratic election at the ITF congress in Poland, 2003 until his tragic death in Haiti in January 2010. Prior to serving as ITF President Grandmaster Tran held such important posts in the ITF such as president of the Canadian National Governing Body as well as the Pan American Continental Body for the ITF. Additionally he served as the Chairman of the ITF Tournament Committee. In Montreal in 1990 and Quebec City in 2007 Grandmaster Tran hosted ITF World Championships. The City of Montreal gave him an award for “Best Event of the Year” for his efforts in organizing the 7^th World Championships in August of 1990. . Grandmaster Tran was a Canadian citizen who was born in Vietnam, where he started studying the martial art of Taekwon-Do when he was twelve years old. Five years later, he started a Taekwon-Do school to teach this martial art within the education system of the city of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).

He moved to Canada in 1970 to study engineering at Laval University in Quebec City. There he also set up Taekwon-Do schools, the first such schools in Eastern Canada. After receiving his engineering degree, he chose to make his permanent home in Canada.

Seminar given in Trondheim, Norway in 2006.

His professional career: Grand Master Trân started a consulting firm, Norbati Consultants Trân & Associates, which specializes in building standards and project management for the construction sector. Norbati has worked on projects in Canada and abroad and has developed an innovative concept for the modernization and optimization of the building construction sector in developing countries.

Grand Master Trân’s realizations in Taekwon-Do:

1. Starting in 1979 and for more than 20 years, Grand Master Trân Triêu Quân worked closely with General Choi Hong Hi, assisting him in the development of the ITF and conducting seminars in countries around the world.
2. In 1982, Grand Master Trân published Cessez d’avoir peur (“Don’t be afraid”), a practical guide with an innovative approach to self-defense using simple, easy-to-learn techniques.

Flying sidekick (Twimyo Nomo Yop Cha Jirugi) in Malaysia in 1985

1. In 1984, after leading the Canadian Taekwon-Do team to a first-place overall win at the World Championship held in Glasgow (Scotland), he was named Coach of the Year at the athletic awards dinner for all sports in the Quebec City region.
2. From 1985 to 1989, Grand Master Trân served two terms as president of the Canadian Taekwon-Do International Federation.
3. In 1986, the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City proclaimed Grand Master Trân one of their “Productive Citizens”.
4. In 1990, he received the “Best Event of the Year” award from the City of Montreal (Canada) for organizing the ITF Taekwon-Do World Championship in that city.
5. In 1997, the Trân family were given the title of “Family of the Year” for the Quebec City region and, he was named “Personality of the Year” by the 6,000 members of the regional professional association of engineers in Quebec.
6. From 2001 to 2003, Grand Master Trân was president of the Pan-Am Taekwon-Do Federation.
7. At the 2003 Congress of the International Taekwon-Do Federation in Warsaw (Poland), Grand Master Trân was elected President. He thus became the successor to the Founder of Taekwon-Do, the late General Choi Hong Hi.
8. Grand Master Trân was very proud of the vision he and his team implemented for the ITF in the years following his election. This vision is that Taekwon-Do must be fully developed in all four facets: Taekwon-Do is a sport and a martial art, but also a way of life and a tool for social development.
9. The members of the ITF Board of Directors have kept this vision in mind while making changes in structure and administration to make the organization more efficient and offer better services to ITF members.
10. After General Choi Hong Hi’s death, there were conflicting claims by various groups, each claiming to be the legitimate leaders of the ITF. Therefore, the direction team worked hard to clarify the legal status of the ITF and to bring harmony among the associations and members of the ITF.
11. Under Grand Master Trân’s leadership, the ITF structure has become a more efficient and democratic operation. The technical aspect and the administration of the ITF now work independently of each other. This formula has been very successful in terms of efficiency and productivity. As a result, membership has increased significantly. There have been positive repercussions on the standardization of ITF Taekwon-Do techniques around the world, especially since the new structure was introduced for the International Instructor Courses.

Side piercing kick (Yopcha Jirugi) in Beijing, China in 2004

1. Since Grand Master Trân’s election as President, the ITF has become more service oriented than ever. It has set as its first priority to increase the number and the quality of the services offered to ITF associations, clubs, and individual members. There is more emphasis on consultation with the members, to be able to create innovative services to suit their needs.

Grand Master Trân and General Choi in 1983

1. Working with a team of experts, Grand Master Trân developed the Basic Program for Teaching the Do, the ITF philosophy. The ITF is the only International Taekwon-Do Federation to offer such a program.
2. At various times Grand Master Trân collaborated with experts in different academic fields at Laval University to do scientific research on various subjects such as the Theory of Power in Taekwon-Do, intervention techniques to help troubled young people, and the value of certain teaching methods.
3. During his time as President of ITF, Grand Master Trân traveled to an average of twenty countries each year, putting into practice his belief that to be a good leader one needs to be close to all the members.
4. For 2006-2007, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Immigration of the Province of Quebec, and the City of Quebec proclaimed Grand Master Trân an «Immigrant of the World».
5. Grand Master Trân was Chairman of the Organizing committee of the ITF 9th Junior and 15th Senior World Championship in Quebec City, Canada. It was the first time in the ITF history that both junior and senior world championships were held together.
6. Grand Master Trân was re-elected for a second mandate for 4 year-term as President of the ITF at the 16th Congress of ITF on June 1st, 2007 in Quebec City (Canada).
7. In December 2008, Grand Master Trân was promoted to 9th degree by Grand Master Van Binh, Chairman of the ITF Masters Promotion Committee, & 1 of only 7 promoted to Grandmaster level by Gen. Choi.

Grand Master Trân Triêu Quân was a leader and a builder. He worked very hard to further the best interests of the ITF and its members. As ITF members we were inspired by his creativity and his dedication and work in harmony to build a better world.

Grandmaster Trân tragically passed away during the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010. We endeavor to carry on his vision and continue to develop and grow the ITF using many of the principles and structures he inspired.

Master Per Andresen

Norway

ITF Acting President, 2002 to 2003.

Former Premier Russell MacLellan, B.A., LL.B, who was also a Canadian Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly, was serving as the Senior Vice President of the ITF at the time of General Choi’s death on June 15^th 2002.

Following the passing of General Choi, under the constitution of the ITF, Mr MacLellan became the acting ITF President until the democratic election of Grandmaster Trân Triêu Quân on June 13^th 2003 at the ITF Congress in Warsaw, Poland. 

In addition to the life long public service career of the Honorable Russell MacLellan, he was a longtime Black Belt Student and Instructor of ITF Taekwon-Do who very much appreciated the many benefits the training instills.

A lawyer and member of Nova Scotia Bar. Past Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. A 21 -year veteran of public life as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, and as a Member of Parliament. A tested manager of contentious public issues with a proven ability to advance an agenda. A strong record in public consultation and consensus-building. An energetic and experienced communicator with intensive experience in dealing with all media.

To learn more about the life of the Honorable Master Russell MacLellan

Skills and accomplishments

• Elected successively in five federal and three provincial elections.
• English and diminished French, due to lack of practice.
• Black Belt in Taekwon-Do.

As Parliamentarian:

• As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Regional Economic Expansion, helped to develop regional development policies, particularly those for Atlantic Canada.
• As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, guided the National Health Act (1984) through committees, and through House of Commons. A cornerstone of Canada’s health care system, this legislation codified and guaranteed national standards for one of the most admired systems of universal health care in the world.
• As Parliamentary Secretary to the Justice Minister, helped modernize national legislation that addressed gun control, family violence, child pornography, sexual assault, stalking and national unity issues.
• Championed critical infrastructure investments in education, health and transportations sectors.
• Represented the respective Ministers at events, both nationally and internationally, as well as various speaking engagements.

As premier:

• Staked political career on the 1999 Health Investment Fun, a budget proposal to stabilize funding for Nova Scotia’s acute health care sector while making long-term investments in home care, nursing homes, community clinics and technology.
• Consulted and prepared the community for the privatization or closure Sydney Steel Corp. and the Cape Breton Development Corp. Led a concerted campaign for fair compensation for displaced coal miners resulting in arbitration process and award in June 2000.
• Introduce a long-term resource royalty regime in Nova Scotia that safeguards the public interest while encouraging risk and reward by the energy industry. Improve Nova Scotia’s benefit regime for Tier One development of Sable offshore natural gas reserves.
• Forged closer trade and investment link with New England, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in particular through the creation of Nova Scotia – Massachusetts Economic Summit.
• Led and supported a multi-stakeholder group to promote the Port of Halifax as Post-Panamax shipping centre, and recruited Sir Graham Day to advance the Port’s bid for aesk/Sea-Land traffic.
• Proposed a doubling of capacity at the Nova Scotia College and budgeted a study to plan the growth strategy.

As Opposition Leader:

• Restored caucus morale and solidarity after difficult electoral result. Led a vigorous Opposition through two sittings of the legislature. Stepped down as leader with the Liberals ahead of all Nova Scotia political parties in public popularity.

Experience

• Member of Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly for Cape Breton North from 1997 – 2000.
• Provincial Liberal Leader of the Opposition and critic for Nova Scotia Resources Ltd., Human Rights Act, The Status of Women Act, ans Intergovernmental Affairs (1999-00).
• Premier of Nova Scotia with ministerial responsibility for the Petroleum Directorate, Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Affairs (1997-99).
• Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997, winning the re-election in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1993, winning the 76 percent of the popular vote in the final federal campaign.
• Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mines, Health and Welfare, Regional Economic Expansion and Justice.
• Federal Liberal Opposition critic for Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Energy and Justice.
• Campaigned on behalf of the Charlottetown Accord, and chaired on Accord sub-committee on Aboriginal Affairs (1990).
• As Federal Energy critic, consulted widely with Western Canada’s energy industry, and led a process to reform the energy policy of the Liberal Party of Canada (1988).
• Represented Canada before the World Health Organization and the United Nations.
• From 2002 – 2003 was President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation and holds a 6^th dan Black Belt in Taekwon-Do.
• Operated a successful private law practice in Sydney, Nova Scotia (1973 – 1979).
• Legal Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the Sydney Steel Corp. (1971 – 1973).
• Executive Assistant to the President and Vice – President of the Cape Breton Development Corp. (1968 – 71).

Education:

• French Studies, l’Institute de Touraine, Tours, France (1965).
• Bachelor of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax (1965); Articled with Stewart MacKeen & Covert; admitted to the Bar (1966).
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Kings College, Halifax (1962).

Personal:

Married to Ann MacLean and father of two; Sarah and Matthew.

An avid golfer and martial artist, played on university teams in golf, tennis and curling. Other interests including reading non-fiction and classical music.

Ambassador Choi was the “principle founder” of Taekwon-Do as credited by the Encyclopedia Britannica. As a founding member of the south Korean Army he taught martial arts to the soldiers assigned to him from 1946. He named Taekwon-Do and promoted it endlessly as the Korean Martial Art of Self Defense. He was the Vice President of a short-lived Taekwon-Do Association of Korea in 1957. He formed the Korean Taekwon-Do Association (KTA) in 1959 and served as the first President. Also in 1959 he wrote the first book on Taekwon-Do and led the Military Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team to Vietnam and Taiwan, marking the first time ever Taekwon-Do was performed abroad.

General Choi would devise 26 Patterns or Tuls. These were the first Korean forms ever created. In 1962 he personally introduced Taekwon-Do to Malaysia when he was assigned there as the first Korean Ambassador. In 1965 he led a Korean government sponsored Kukki Taekwon-Do Goodwill tour around the world. The tour formed the base in 1966 for creating International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), the world’s first global governing body for Taekwon-Do. This marked the first time ever that Korea was home to any international organization. The ITF would grow to have millions of members in well over a hundred countries and he would preside over 17 of their World Championships during his lifetime. General Choi traveled the world tirelessly to teach and promote the original Taekwon-Do. He authored 5 books on the subject, many of which had numerous editions and several reprints. His written works have been translated into at least 8 languages. He also oversaw the development of various sets of electronic recordings of what he created; making it the most documented Martial Art ever.

Background & Accomplishments

General Choi Hong-Hi was born in 1918 in Hwa Dae Ri, Ham Kyung Buk Do, a Province in the northeastern part of Korea near Cheongjin. It is important to note that when General Choi was born, Korea was a unified Nation. However Korea was suffering under a brutal occupation by Imperial Japan. Koreans often refer to this time as the “Dark Period.” When he was born Korea utilized the Lunar calendar. Using the Lunar calendar his birthday was November 9, 1918. However on the Western calendar it was December 22. However General Choi preferred to celebrate his birthday on November 9 on the Western calendar, thus combining the two cultures he would come to live within.

General Choi had been exposed to stories and some basic Taek Kyon techniques to bolster his health and confidence when he studied Calligraphy as a frail teenager. Ironically his Father sent him to study Calligraphy and the Chinese classics as he was expelled from his local Japanese controlled school for participating in protests as a youngster. This demonstrated early on his stubbornness, strong independence streak, affinity for justice and anti-Japanese sentiment, the latter influenced by his Father’s feelings that they shared. Years later as he grew older he went to Japan to further his academic education. While there he would go onto earn a II Dan Black Belt in a form of Shotokan Karate. Independent sources confirm that he did indeed teach Karate in Japan at a YMCA before returning home to Korea.

As World War II was winding down, the Japanese who were now clearly losing, resorted to forcefully conscripting Korean males into military service. Once drafted into service through no volition of his own, a young Choi Hong-Hi became involved in a plot to overthrow the Imperial Japanese Colonial Government. Eventually the plotters planned to join what some called the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and the efforts of Korean guerrilla warrior Kim Il-Sung, who rose to be a commander of their underground resistance and independence movement. He was high on the Japanese most wanted list. The success of this movement and Korean resistance army was aided by the availability to move back and forth across the borders of China and the Soviet Union that were located in this northeast region of Korea. Traitors who were Korean collaborators reported the plans and General Choi and others were jailed. While he was imprisoned he trained in his Karate and at times even instructed the prison guards, as verified by a fellow inmate who was involved in the plot and also held in confinement as a jail mate.

The end of WWII spared General Choi and he was released from captivity in Pyongyang. He went to Seoul and became instrumental in helping to set up the south Korean government, advocating for democratic national control and against communism. As a young 2nd Lieutenant he started to teach his soldiers Karate under the Tang Su Do label. As this Junior Officer moved up the ranks, he continued to spread this through not only his personal teaching efforts, but he also later recruited Korean Martial Artists to become instructors to teach the growing number of soldiers under his command. Even when he traveled to the United States for military training as early as 1949, he took the opportunity to display his martial art (most likely first Korean to do so).

A prime example of this initiative to teach the martial arts to his soldiers was when as a General he was tasked to form a new Division on JeJu Island. The 29th Infantry would become known as the “Fist Division”. It was here that he had Lieutenant Nam Tae-Hi and Sergeant Han Cha-Kyo, members of the Chung Do Kwan transferred under his command and assigned to teach the Martial Arts to the soldiers of this new Infantry Division. The use of General Choi’s fist on the Division Flag and emblem was symbolic of the Martial fighting spirit the young General wanted to instill in his Troops. A monument was erected on JeJu Island to commemorate the historic “Fist Division” inauguration. This monument contains the Calligraphy of Gen. Choi, labeling and teaching about that Martial Spirit. As a result of this history JeJu Island has come to be known as the “Womb of Taekwon-Do”.

When this famous Division completed their training they moved to mainland Korea. General Choi arranged for a martial art demonstration for the south Korean President Dr. Seung-Man Rhee, PhD. The performance was in honor of both the President’s birthday and the 1-year anniversary celebration of the “Fist” Division’s formation. Their exhibition was so successful that the President stated that this should be taught to all the Troops! Dr. Rhee had also called what they showed Taek Kyon, an indigenous Korean martial folk game that predated the Japanese occupation. General Choi however knew that is was more correctly called Tang Soo Do. This event provided motivation to find a new name for what would become a Korean Martial Art of self-defense.

Later in the fall and winter of that year (1954) General Choi, utilizing both his advanced education and Calligraphy skills that involved extensive knowledge of Chinese characters and language, searched for and later conceived of the new term Tae Kwon Do. This label more accurately reflected the shifting emphasis on the use of the legs for kicking. It of course had a word for fist, but like the “Fist Division,” a hand formed into a fist signified strength. So Kwon was joined with Tae to describe the physical parts of their Martial Art. General Choi gave directions to his instructors to have the soldiers shout TAE KWON when saluting, to help cement usage of the new name. This tradition is still carried on by millions of students following the ITF even today every time they bow.

After General Choi created the new name of Taekwon-Do, he then engaged in several attempts to unify the civilian Martial Art Kwans as he had obtained the south Korean President’s approval as evidenced by the Calligraphy of Taekwon-Do that Dr. Rhee penned with his own hand. In 1957 he became the Vice President of a short-lived Taekwon-Do Association of Korea. The president of the Association at that time was a non-martial artist and politician named Lee Jae-Hahk. Then Master Son Duk-Sung the instructor of the Chung Do Kwan served as the Secretary General. General Choi also served as the honorary Kwan Jang Nim of the Chung Do Kwan, after their founder Grandmaster Lee Won-Kuk moved to Japan in 1950 to escape political maltreatment. The Chung Do Kwan was one of the 1st Korean Martial Art Kwans to open post WWII in Korea. It was a very influential Kwan and many of their members staffed General Choi’s military training programs as instructors and senior leaders.

In 1959 he led the 1st Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team abroad when he took the team to Vietnam and Taiwan in March. That same year he established and became the first Director of the Martial Art Department in the Army. On September 3rd, 1959 he formed the first Korean Taekwon-Do Association and served as the initial President. A couple of months later he authored the first book ever on Taekwon-Do, written in both Korean HanGul and Chinese HanJa. This book documented the first five Korean Patterns he created along with the assistance of the soldiers under his command. (Hwa-Rang, Chung-Mu, Ul-Ji, U-Nam and Sam-Il). This historic book is on display in the museum history section of the Taekwondowon in MuJu Korea.

General Choi would go on to author several other books, including the 1972 textbook that became known as the “bible of Taekwon-Do”, the unprecedented 15 Volume Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do in 1983, several condensed versions of that work, his 3 Volume Set of Memoirs, as well as a Guidebook on Moral Culture. His written texts have been translated into Korean, Chinese, English, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Dari (Farsi or Afghan Persian). He has received at least 3 Doctorate Degrees “honoris causa,” numerous awards and honors for his global work on Taekwon-Do including a Korean Government Sports Award in 1968.

(PhDs was awarded in 1992 Physical Education, 1999 Sports Science, 2001 Philosophy)

While still Ambassador to Malaysia he flew to Vietnam in 1964 to introduce his new Tuls to the Korean Military Instructors there for further dissemination. He also sent the manuscripts back to Korea where they were instituted there as well. After completing his diplomatic assignment he returned to Korea and in January of 1965 was elected the 3rd President of the Korean TAE SOO DO Association. He was successful in getting them to change the name to Tae Kwon Do by August of 1965, by a reported 1-vote margin. He then led as Ambassador-At-Large a Korean Government sponsored Kukki Taekwon-Do Goodwill Tour around the world later in the fall of 1965. On that global tour he also distributed his English book on Taekwon-Do: The Korean Art of Self Defense. This was the first book on Taekwon-Do written in the English language.

Ambassador Choi moved the ITF Headquarters to Toronto Canada, a city that is a very diverse major metropolitan area in North America. This new location afforded him a geographically advantaged position half way between Asia and Europe, as well as due north from South America and the Caribbean. Strategically this would help to further the internationalization of Taekwon-Do as a global martial art. Canada would also be the host for the upcoming Olympics, something that General Choi desired to have his Taekwon-Do become part of.

In 1985 he again relocated the ITF Headquarters to Vienna Austria. Vienna is located in Central Europe and Austria maintains a long-standing neutral posture that allows equal access politically. This was especially important during the “Cold War” era and the days of the “Iron Curtain” divide of Europe and the global political polarization that resulted from competing political ideologies. This brilliant move helped Ambassador Choi to further his dream of spreading his Taekwon-Do all around the world, without regard for political ideology, national boundaries, race, religion or creed. A vision that he lived to see come true!

Today there are numerous national headquarters, national and allied associations of the ITF all around the planet. This is living proof of the fact that his dream was indeed realized.

After a life dedicated to the development of Taekwon-Do, a modern martial art based on traditional values, philosophy, and training, General Choi, Founder of Taekwon-Do and President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, died on June 15th, 2002, in the country of his birth.

General Choi Hong Hi, Founder and President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation died on June 15th, 2002, in Pyongyang, People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. 

Gen. Choi Highlights

A Partial Chronological Listing

Political Influences

Advantages & Disadvantages

General Choi was a “founding member” (#44 of 110 Officer Candidates) of south Korea’s Armed Forces when he graduated from their first Military Academy in 1946. In 1962 a year after a military coup (May 16th 1961 Revolution) took place Mr. Choi was assigned to Korea’s Diplomatic Foreign Service Corp and sent to Malaysia as the 1st Korean Ambassador to that Southeast Asian Country. His involvement and work with personally introducing Taekwon-Do there, gave rise to Malaysia being called the “2nd Home of Taekwon-Do.” Ambassador Choi’s power he held and yielded in these high-level government capacities afforded him the opportunities to become the most significantly important and influential person in Taekwon-Do’s creation, development and global dissemination.

The tragic division of Korea by outside forces after the end of the Second World War has adversely impacted Taekwon-Do and General Choi as well. General Choi was a military senior of General Park Chung-Hee, whose Army serial number was 166, graduating from the 2^nd Academy. Early on in Park’s military service he was charged with being both a communist and a Japanese collaborator. During the Colonial Occupation Park volunteered to join the Imperial Army of Japan and achieved the rank of Lieutenant. During Park’s court martial proceedings General Choi served on the Military Tribunal that convicted him. Park’s life was spared when he cooperated and informed on other members. The outbreak of the all out fighting of the Korean Civil War helped reinstate Park and salvage his Army career.

General Park led the military coup in 1961 in the name of the Army Chief of Staff, a Lieutenant-General Chang Do-Young, who General Choi supported. When it came to light that Lt. Gen. Chang was not leading the charge and was in fact deposed by Park, General Choi began his opposition to the rule of “his junior” who would become dictator. Since General Choi was not part of Park’s inner-circle, comprised of young commissioned officers of the 8^th Academy and was born in the northern part of a then unified one Korea, he was not trusted. Park purged potential opponents by removing people from office, jailing some, while others suffered a worst fate. It was common to send some abroad, as was the case when General Choi was dispatched to Malaysia on a diplomatic assignment as the Korean Ambassador in 1962, returning by the end of 1964 after Park consolidated his power. Naturally one can see the root cause of the tensions between a dictator who yielded immeasurable power and a Patriot like General Choi, who eventually would lose his influence, as he was part of the process that sentenced a younger Park to death!

As time passed by, the tensions became so severe that General Choi was forced to flee to Canada to live a life in exile in 1972. That year has been recorded as the height of the brutal measures Park’s dictatorship employed. Once in Toronto General Choi relocated the ITF headquarters there with the consent and approval of the ITF Congress. Since he was outside of the immediate reach of the dictatorship General Choi raised his opposition voice. The military regimes used the power of the dictatorships to pressure those loyal Korean instructors of the ITF. The far-reaching pressure of the KCIA, as documented by extensive investigations by outside entities like the American Federal Government’s Senate, FBI and House Committees, also touched these ITF Masters and their families.

Eventually General Choi planned to go back to Korea after the Director of the KCIA shot and killed General Park in 1979. The plan involved going to both parts of Korea. However in the south another military coup resulted in continuing dictatorial rule that barred General Choi. In the north General Choi and the ITF’s 7^th Demonstration Team was invited. The performances were well received and as a result the government in Pyongyang requested the ITF to send instructors to teach the “Original Taekwon-Do” there. This was a dream for General Choi and it allowed him to replenish his cadre of instructors with new Koreans, who along with their government’s support would help the ITF’s ongoing global dissemination of Taekwon-Do. Naturally this bonus came with a high price, as other Koreans used this to slander General Choi. However General Choi’s notable and honorable work resulted in him later on in his life in being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is important to understand some of the political complexities and the context of the “Cold War” era, if one is to more fully comprehend and appreciate the enormous gift of Taekwon-Do that General Choi and Korea gave to the world. Without General Choi Hong-Hi, there would be no Taekwon-Do. All students of Taekwon-Do, be they ITF, WTF or independent should follow the many examples of General Choi. It is by knocking down barriers that General Choi never let get in his way, such as race, religion, creed, national boundaries, politics or ideology, that Taekwon-Do students can truly help “build a more peaceful world.” It is fitting that present day Taekwon-Do leaders should acknowledge the common roots, which ultimately lead to General Choi for all students of Taekwon-Do. Everyone should pledge mutual respect as well as cooperation moving forward. All students past, present and future should follow these examples started by General Choi.