Directory:
For now the history of Tae Kwan Do will have to do...you get the same history
(for now) that you get with all other Tae Kwan Do pages. I want mine to be Chang Moo Kwan
specific...and when my Grandmaster is feeling better it will be.
Tae Kwon Do
is a traditional martial art which was developed in Korea over twenty centuries
ago. It's origin dates back to Koguryo Dynasty founded in 37
B.C. Modern times saw Taekwondo being oppressed by Japanese policy,
this included the elimination of certain Korean Cultural practices
during the Japanese colonial rule. This is why quite
a few Korean Taekwondo masters left their motherland in an effort to preserve
their traditional art in foreign countries.
Some of these masters hurried back to Korea near
the end of World War II to rejuvenate the spirit and techniques of Taekwondo
in the newly liberated Korea. Grand Master
Byung In Yoon was one of them. yu
On September 1st, 1946.Grand Master Byung In Yoonestablished the Taekyon Club at Ng N Sung Agricultural High School in Seoul, Korea. He then inauguratedChang Moo Kwan at the Taekyon department of the Y.M.C.A. and appointedNam Suk Lee as first Instructor. Political and military conflicts erupted bringing about the Korean War from June 25th, 1950 to June 27, 1953. In South Korea martial arts trained commandos were used and dispatched to spy and execute the enemy occasionally . The cost to the arts was high. By the end of the war, Sup Chun Sang and Byung In Yoon , respective founders of Yun Moo Kwan and Chang Moo Kwan were declared missing. Nam Suk Lee took over Master Byung's school. Woo Lee Chong succeeded Master Sang in the Yun Moo Kwan. Because of these actions, Chang Moo Kwan was considered the leading self-defense method.
In 1952, during the Korean War, a demonstration before Korean President Syngman Rhee was considered the most significant turning point for the Korean martial arts. Rhee watched a 30-minute performance by Korean martial arts masters, and was especially impressed when Tae Hi Nam broke 13 roofing tiles with a single punch. When the demonstration ended, Rhee asked Hong Hi Choi some questions about the martial arts. So impresses was Rhee he immediately turned to his military chiefs of staff and ordered that ALL Korean soldiers receive training in these arts. This dictate ultimately accounted for a tremendous surge in schools and students.
In 1953-54, three more Kwans emerged. Gae Byang Yun founded the Ji Do Kwan (a.k.a. Jee Do Kwan), Byung Chik Ro the Song Moo Kwan, and Hong Hi Choi, with help of Tae Hi Nam, the Oh Do Kwan. Counting the original schools, (Kwans) there where now eight Kwans, all apparently espousing a different style.
On April 11, 1955, at a pivotal
conference of kwan masters, historians, and Taekyon advocates, it was decided
to uniformly adopt the term "Tae Kwon Do" which had been created and submitted
by General Choi The name was approved
because of its resemblance to Taekyon and so provides continuity and maintains
tradition. Further it describes both hand and foot techniques.
The Number of Kwans which then consolidated into
Tae Kwon Do is the subject of much debate and historical confusion.
With the addition of the Han Moo Kwan founded by Kyo Yoon Lee, it is believed
nine Kwans merged to officially form Tae Kwon Do. According to Grandmaster
Jhoon Rhee, dissension among the Various Kwan carried on for six years,
and it wasn't until September 14, 1961 that the groups once again
organized into a single association, as ordered by an official decree of
the new military government. It was called the Korean Tae Kwon Do
Association (KTA), with General Choi elected its first president.
The New association soon gained official recognition
by the major kwans, but not for long. Hwang Kee, the founder of the
Moo Duk Kwan, maintained the Korean Soo Bahk Do association and became
a competing body to the KTA. The Chi Do Kwan Association also seceded.
By 1962, however, many of the individual instructors rejoined the KTA,
possibly because that year the KTA re-examined all the black belt ranks
to determine national standards, and they did not wish to be omitted.
Source: Inside Tae Kwon Do, October 1993 issue