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Choi Hong Hi
Choi Hong Hi
	;
Born	9 November 1918; Hwa Dae, Myong Chun District, Korea
Died	15 June 2002 (aged 83); Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
Style	Taekkyeon, Karate, Taekwondo
Teacher(s)	Han Il Dong (Taekkyeon), Kim Hyun Soo (Karate)
Rank	9th dan taekwondo, 2nd dan karate

This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.

Choi Hong Hi (최홍희; 崔泓熙; 9 November 1918–15 June 2002), also known as General Choi, was a South Korean army general and martial artist who is a controversial figure in the history of the Korean martial art of taekwondo.^[1] Choi is widely regarded as the 'Founder of Taekwondo'—most often by International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) organizations.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Others, such as World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) organizations, portray Choi as either an unimportant or dishonorable figure in taekwondo history, whether by omitting him from their versions of taekwondo history^[5] or through explicit statements.^[6]

[edit] Early life

Choi was born on 9 November 1918 in Hwa Dae, Myŏngch'ŏn county, in what is now North Korea.^[7] Choi's father sent him to study calligraphy under Han Il Dong, who was also "a master of Taek Kyon, the ancient Korean art of foot fighting" (Park, 1993, p. 241).^[7] Choi travelled to Japan, where he studied English, mathematics, and karate.^[7]^[8] In Kyoto, he met a fellow Korean with the surname Kim, who was a karate instructor and taught Choi this martial art.^[7] Choi also learned shotokan karate under Funakoshi Gichin.^[9] Just before he had left Korea, Choi had apparently had a disagreement with a wrestler named Hu, and the possibility of a future confrontation inspired him to train hard; in his own words, "I would imagine that these were the techniques I would use to defend myself against the wrestler, Mr. Hu, if he did attempt to carry out his promise to tear me limb from limb when I eventually returned to Korea" (Park, 1993, p. 242).^[7] Choi attained the rank of 1st dan in karate in 1939, and then 2nd dan soon after.^[7]^[2]

[edit] Military career

Choi had been forced to serve in the Japanese army during World War II, but was implicated in a rebellion and imprisoned, during which time he continued practicing martial arts.^[7] Following the war, in January 1946, Choi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Korean army.^[7] From 1946 to 1951, Choi received promotions to first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and then brigadier general.^[7] Choi was promoted to major general in 1954.

[edit] Taekwondo

Choi stated he combined elements of taekkyeon and karate to develop a martial art that he called "Taekwon-Do" (태권도; 跆拳道), which means "foot, hand, art" or "the art of hand and foot" and it was so named on 11 April 1955.^[7]^[10] Choi founded the Oh Do Kwan, and held an honorary 4th dan ranking in the Chung Do Kwan. Due to accusations of dishonesty, Choi was stripped of his rank and position in the Chung Do Kwan.^[6] ITF taekwondo organizations credit Choi with starting the spread of taekwondo internationally by stationing Korean taekwondo instructors around the world,^[7] and have consistently claimed that ITF-style taekwondo is the only authentic style of taekwondo, most notably in early sections of its textbooks.^[11] He was also the author of the first English taekwondo syllabus book, Taekwon-Do, published by Daeha Publication Company in 1965.

In 1972, Choi went into exile in Canada and the South Korean government formed the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in 1973.^[8] He was based in Toronto until he returned to North Korea in 2000.

[edit] Death

Choi died from cancer on 15 June 2002 in Pyongyang, North Korea.^[8] Choi is listed in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame with various titles: "Founder and First President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation," and "Founder of Oh Do Kwan."^[12] Choi was survived by his wife, Choi Joon Hee; his son, Choi Jung Hwa; two daughters, Sunny and Meeyun; and several grandchildren.^[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

^ The spelling of "taekwondo" varies widely in English usage. The WTF and affiliated organizations typically use "taekwondo," while the ITF and affiliated organizations typically use "taekwon-do" (as Choi used this spelling). In Wikipedia, the default spelling is "taekwondo." This article follows this standard, but uses "taekwon-do" when referring specifically to the ITF or affiliated organizations' names.

^ In Park's (1993) article, the note on Choi's promotion to 2nd dan in karate is followed by a note about the outbreak of World War II, which would suggest that Choi's 2nd dan promotion occurred no later than the early stages of that conflict (c. 1939–1940).

[edit] References

^ International Taekwon-Do Federation (Austria) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.
^ International Taekwon-Do Federation (Canada) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.
^ International Taekwon-Do Federation (North Korea) Retrieved on 28 January 2008.
^ General Choi (ITFNZ) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.
^ Present Day Taekwondo (WTF) Retrieved on 29 January 2008.
^ ^a ^b Son, D. S. (1959): Letter in Seoul Shinmoon newspaper (16 June 1959) Retrieved on 20 September 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Park, S. H. (1993): About the author. In H. H. Choi: Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence, 3rd ed. (Vol. 1, pp. 241–274). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Goldman, A. L. (2002): Choi Hong Hi, 83, Korean general who created Tae Kwon Do, The New York Times (29 June 2002). Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
^ http://www.tkdnews.com/news/quickViewArticleView.html?idxno=3991
^ Kim, S. J. (2007): History of Taekwondo Retrieved on 18 September 2007.
^ Franks, A. (1993): Taekwon-Do and imitators. In H. H. Choi: Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence, 3rd ed. (Vol. 1, pp. 10–11). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.
^ Taekwondo Hall of Fame Retrieved on 12 January 2008.

[edit] External links

Comdo.com: The Founder at TaekwonDo-Legacy.
Obituary: General Choi Hong-hi in The Guardian, 9 August 2002.
Obituary: General Choi Hong-Hi in The Daily Telegraph, 26 June 2002.
Ode to General Choi by Scott Downey.
General Choi Hong Hi at the Taekwondo Hall of Fame, including a photograph of Choi's grave.
TKD Source

[ITF1-0] International Taekwon-Do Federation (Austria) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.

[ITF2-1] International Taekwon-Do Federation (Canada) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.

[ITF3-2] International Taekwon-Do Federation (North Korea) Retrieved on 28 January 2008.

[ITFNZ-3] General Choi (ITFNZ) Retrieved on 15 January 2008.

[WTF-4] Present Day Taekwondo (WTF) Retrieved on 29 January 2008.

[Son-5] Son, D. S. (1959): Letter in Seoul Shinmoon newspaper (16 June 1959) Retrieved on 20 September 2007.

[Park-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Park, S. H. (1993): About the author. In H. H. Choi: Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence, 3rd ed. (Vol. 1, pp. 241–274). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.

[NYTimes-7] Goldman, A. L. (2002): Choi Hong Hi, 83, Korean general who created Tae Kwon Do, The New York Times (29 June 2002). Retrieved on 26 December 2007.

[8] ttp://www.tkdnews.com/news/quickViewArticleView.html?idxno=3991

[Kim-9] Kim, S. J. (2007): History of Taekwondo Retrieved on 18 September 2007.

[Franks-10] Franks, A. (1993): Taekwon-Do and imitators. In H. H. Choi: Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence, 3rd ed. (Vol. 1, pp. 10–11). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.

[HallofFame-11] Taekwondo Hall of Fame Retrieved on 12 January 2008.

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