ok 2 important points: 1st it should never really matter who is telling the story, as that is not history! History is who did what, along with the when & where did they do it. The how is a bit more complicated & the why can be highly subjective. So I would respectfully suggest t you & other readers that we discount stories & stick to more of what happened. If not we will tend to continue to confuse the already controversial issue of TKD's history & development. If we are to move past that petty bickering, we must look at the who, what, when & where, jmho. That is why I offer the criteria of defining original & early kwans as those founded by Koreans who learned MAs abroad & brought it back home, where they opened DoJangs & taught in Korea. 2nd the Director of KASA, an official SK Govt entity ruled in 1959 that since Gen. Choi & Col. Nam taught in the military since 1946 & 1947 respectfully, they must be considered on par, equal to the original 5 kwans & have a seat at the table which formed the 1st Korean TKD Assoc. These 6 early Kwans were the ones who began teaching between 1944 & 1947. It appears the annex kwans & off shoots opened after the Korean War & were started by Koreans that learned Korean karate in Korea. Given this criteria the ODK is not an annex or off shoot Kwan. Now within this definition, would you & others agree? If you disagree, please present evidence to the contrary to support your findings. Thanks
ODK was the vision of Gen. Choi and Col. Nam not just Choi. The first group of Black Belts from ODK were from CDK, this is also another point that ODK is an off-shoot. If there was no Gen. Choi there would have still been another Kwan might not have been named "Oh Do Kwan" but there would still be another. part of the reason why ODK was even founded in the first place is because both Gen. Choi and Col. Nam were expelled from CDK. Gen. Choi also had his honorary 4th degree revoked after he submitted a 6th degree form to be signed by Son, Duk Sung. Reference= Master Earl Weiss, 7th Dan, ITF for the Chung Do Kwan history. the whole story behind the founding of ODK screams Off-shoot. Thats similar story to how other martial arts systems were founded an they are regarded as off-shoots. Gen. Choi had political connections and alot of clout but that doesnt mean that he alone single handedly spear headed TKD's development, You seem to come off as implying that.
Im using the word "Story" as a figure of speech for History. You said that It appears that the annex Kwans opened after the Korean War and based on that criteria ODK is not an Off-shoot Kwan. the Korean War ended in 1953. ODK opened in 1956. Off-shoot
1) Sorry but it was Gen. Choi's vision & it was he who recruited Col. Nam, then a young subordinate Lt. to teach for him. Col. Nam will say the same thing I am sure. He looks at it as he was the martial artist on the floor & Gen. Choi was the martial artist director. 2) Sorry again, but the actions you describe took place in 1959 after Gen. Choi did not allow GM SON Duk Sung to be on the 1st historic TK D Demo Team to go abroad. This had nothing at all to do with the founding of the ODK. 3) You seem to have not addressed at all that the director of the KASA in 1959 ruled that since Gen. Choi taught MAs in the Army since 1946, he deserved a seat at the unification table. This was no different than the other early kwans who all came into play from 1944-47. Yes the ODK officially opened & was named in 1954, but the teaching in the military began in 1946. You also have to realize that if that is your criteria you may have to eliminate the Jidokwan & Changmukwan from the 5 original kwans, as they changed their names, locations, students & directors after the 2 founders disappeared during the war. Please we must try to stay close to the criteria. I don't mean to come off as 1-sided, but would like contrary evidence or alternate suggestions about definition criteria. We will waste too much time arguing apples & oranges. Plus that will only tend to confuse an already confusing, purposely distorted & controversial issue. Also there is little question that Gen. Choi did indeed spearhead TKD's early development & spread. If not him, who did? He of course was the only one even calling it TKD. Of course this is not to be confused with the later Olympic or sport movement that took off in the 1960s & 70s. Dr. Kim Un Yong spearheaded that movement & did an outstanding job. (To me spearheaded implies leader, not sole mover! How do you define that term?)
Thank you for that clarification. I think there is nothing wrong with stories told based on actual history, ie who did what, when & where did they do it! I took your using the word story as a sort of derogatory as a kind of slur that may imply it was a "made up story". Sorry You seem to have not addressed at all that the director of the KASA in 1959 ruled that since Gen. Choi taught MAs in the Army since 1946, he deserved a seat at the unification table. This was no different than the other early kwans who all came into play from 1944-47. Yes the ODK officially opened & was named in 1954, but the teaching in the military began in 1946. You also have to realize that if that is your criteria you may have to eliminate the Jidokwan & Changmukwan from the 5 original kwans, as they changed their names, locations, students & directors after the 2 founders disappeared during the war. Please we must try to stay close to the criteria. I don't mean to come off as 1-sided, but would like contrary evidence or alternate suggestions about definition criteria. We will waste too much time arguing apples & oranges. Plus that will only tend to confuse an already confusing, purposely distorted & controversial issue.
SIDE NOTE I think many people cringe when they hear that Gen. Choi did this or that. I think this is because of the great effort that SK & the dictatorial regimes that he was a highly vocal critic of to silence him. Along of course with his less than perfect leadership skills or styles outside of the military. This IMHO should not discount his enormous contributions as the principle founder of TK-D or the 1st KMA that was labeled TKD, or the ITF. On the other side of the coin, we must realize that he had virtually nothing to do with the TKD sport or Olympic movement. In fact he fought tooth & nail against the WTF, another reason he is hated by some. He even enlisted the help of NK to wage this battle & his going to NK in 1980 caused many more to forever hate him & label him as a communist traitor. But none of this takes away from what he did for the world through his undying devotion to TKD! On the WTF/KKW TKD side, Dr. Kim, GMs LEE Chong Woo, LEE Nam Suk & Uhm Un Gyu deserve the lion's share for this movement, along with others of course. But it was clear that Dr. Kim spearheaded this movement & was highly successful, even though he, like all humans had faults & imperfections. In his case he was a convicted felon, who served time in prison for his dishonorable criminal acts that tarnished Korea, TKD, the IOC & the international sports world.
Gen. Choi did not do ODK all on his own. It was both Gen. Choi and Nam who founded the ODK. When Gen. Choi promoted TKD around the world, Nam was there as well as Co founder. If theres going to be mention of honesty that should be considered. giving the Impression that Gen. Choi was the only person who developed TKD is Not being Objective. The Fact that Both Nam and Gen. Choi were members of the CDK and then left and founded ODK makes ODK an Off-shoot. There are other martial arts styles with similar history and the arts that came into development are considered off-shoots. Off-shoot does not mean that its not on the same par. But logically looking at how the organization came into being. Thats an off-shoot by definition. You say No Gen Choi, no TKD But it Was Nam who Impressed the Korean president so much at the military martial arts demonstration that the President mandated TKD training for military personnel. I say that the ODK was established by folks who came from CDK because both Gen. Choi and Nam were CDK Black belts. When the ODK was first founded, The membership was mostly folks who came from CDK, These guys along with Nam were the first ones to instruct the Military forces in "Tang Soo Do". When Gen. Choi developed the forms unique to TKD, again he did not do all of this on his own, he had assistance from Nam and Han Cha Kyo. Gen. Choi had the political power and connections but It was not all Gen. Choi. The detail of Events leading up to these activitie, Common Sense and Logic will tell you that this is the origin of an Off-shoot. ODK is split. You have North Korean ODK AKA ITF and you have South Korean ODK which is fraternal, absorbed into Kukkiwon and part of military/ police TKD. Some ITF material Omits information and makes it seem like Gen. Choi and Gen. Choi alone developed TKD and without Gen. Choi there would be no TKD. Not All ITF people are like this. I get some of my Information from ITF sources. But you seem to come from the Gen. Choi worshipping camp.
Teaching the Military began in 1946 but was this by a fully formed and established ODK? there was No ODK in the 1940s. What organization did Gen. Choi belong to in the 1940s? Formation of the ODK came while Choi and Nam were still CDK as well as the majority of their members. Again, this is the making of an off-shoot. This is part of reason for expulsion from the CDK. Since ITF is ODK, some folks dont want to be associated with "annex" or "off-shoot" which is what you seem to be implying because annex/ off shoot is being interpreted as not being on par in addition to some ITF folks preaching and promoting that Gen. Choi's TKD is the only true TKD.
Okay please understand that when I say no Gen. Choi, no ODK or no Gen. Choi, no TKD I in no way, shape or form am implying to any degree that without Gen. Choi there would be nothing or that Gen. Choi did everything. Gen. Choi was driven with his Korean nationalism. As a result he sought to rebuild his beloved Korea & reinvigorate the Korean culture that he was so proud of. As readers may know, Korea suffered for decades under a brutal rule as a subservient colony of the Empire of Japan, as their imperialism spread. When WWII ended, the occupation ceased. There was a domestic push to re-establish a Korean Korea. The Japanese were kicked out with the help of the Americans & Soviets. Many Koreans who collaborated were killed, jailed or fled the country, especially in the northern half. President Rhee had a policy that forbade anything Japanese. When he witnessed the demo he stated this is Taek Kyon, which of course it was not, as it was a Korean form of karate brought to Korea by Koreans who learned Japanese karate. Hence the motivation to find a new name. This was how the name TKD came to be. So I only mean that if no Gen. Choi, there would be no TKD. Maybe the civilians would have just continued to develop under the Tang Su Do, Kong Su Do or Kwon Bup names. But there would be no TKD label, plain & simple. Remember the civilians didn't even want the name TKD when it was offered to them on several occasions. Finally in 1961, they scrapped the karate connected names for the new compromise label of TAE SOO DO. It is quite possible that Kong Soo Do would have eventually became an Olympic sport. It was after all the unique sport competition rules that led to the revolutionary new Korean martial sport. These rules came from the Jidokwan & I am sure the success would have been the same, but the name would have not been TKD. I am also not sure there ever would have been a military gym established. Yes maybe the army would have incorporated MAs training into recruit basic school. I just don't think there would have been an ODK without Gen. Choi. He was obsessed & his emphasis on developing his KMA got him in trouble many times. As a powerful 2 Star Major-General, who was a founding member of the ROK Army & Korea's 1st Ambassador to Malaysia, he had the ability that few others had to hand pick the most talented martial artists. So while he did pick Col. Nam & Sgt Han, if they were never born he would have had access to thousands of top shelf physical specimens to work for him. He did pick Gen. Woo, Sgt-Major Kim, Sgt. Kang, Sgt. Kong, Corp. Kim & countless other soldiers like CK Choi, Park Jong Soo & Rhee Ki Ha. We had to realize that at 1 time Gen. Choi had approximately 100,000 soldiers under his command. I personally think Col. Nam Tae Hi was instrumental & was possibly the most important KMAist ever! But super talented physical performers are usually plentiful when you have access to more than a half a million men. But if there was no obsessive, megalomaniac Choi Hong Hi, there would not have been a KMA of SD called TK-D. I am certain that the civilians would have pushed to develop what they called TAE SOO DO & would have had basically the same great result.
I can assure you I worship no human being. I reserve worship for my concept of my G-d. But I am proud to say that I do admire Gen. Choi & realize that he has given a great gift to the world. I personally feel I have benefited through what he tried so hard to share with so many. I have no problem with people thinking I am in his camp. Be that as it may, I am not a sycophant by no means! I also do not like to highlight negative, but rather find it better to share the accomplishments of many, not just Choi Hong Hi. There are so many that have been written out of history because of the deception fabricated by the 2,000 year old myth! Because of this, far to many have not only been ignored, but have not benefit of being thanked or credited by Korea & millions world-wide whose lives have been made better by the role they took in creating & spreading TKD, whatever style, around the globe. When I point out contributions of Gen. Choi & state that he was a principle founder who spearheaded his TK-D (not Olympic or Kukki TKD), that should NEVER be mistaken that I think or feel he was a 1 man show. I am happy to comment on any other KMAist who deserves credit, no matter the style of TKD. I also try to be clear which TKD I am talking about. Maybe we can start to add some names of the many who truly do deserve public acknowledgement for their tremendous roles as well. I would also relish the opportunity to read more about those I may not be too familiar with.
May I please know the basis of this fact? I believe this is an internet myth. I am not sure of any credible source that says Gen. Choi was a member of the CDK. Gen. Choi trained in Japan with the same basic karate the other 6 Koreans did, who opened the 5 original kwans. Also kindly define what you mean as a member.
No it was not a fully formed & established ODK. Never meant to imply that. I simply stated that the Director of KASA, an official SK Govt entity ruled in 1959 that since the teaching in the military went back to 1946, the ODK deserved a seat at the unification table with the 5 original kwans, which BTW were all formed between 1944-47. Please also apply the same standard or be consistent, as both the Jidokwan & Changmookwan were both founded or recreated post 1950 by different leaders from the original founders. There was no named ODK in the 1940s, just the teaching of KMAs to the soldiers from 1946 forward. In the 1940s in Korea, Choi belong to a Korean Student Soldiers group who organized resistance to the brutal Japanese colonial oppressors, for which he was sentenced to death for. He then belonged to the English Language School established by the American Military occupation powers, which was the 1st Korean Military Academy. He was member #44 of 110 initial officer candidates, which qualified them as the founders of the ROK Army. As a founding member of the ROK Army, he served his Country proudly from 1946 to the 1960s, when Gen. Park, the military dictator that took over via a military coup, pushed him out of the Army to the Diplomatic Corp, as the brutal dictator consolidated his rule. This was a common tactic utilized. Those who were not trusted to follow the dictator completely were purged in some form. Some were killed, jailed, fired or forced out the country. So those were the 3 organizations I am aware of that he was a member of in 1940s Korea. He was not a member of the CDK or did not participate in any of the failed MA unification attempts under the Tangsudo or Kongsudo names. By annex or off shoot, I define that as derived from. In other words they would not have existed without the parent giving birth to them. By on par, I do not mean as good as, better than or anything along those lines at all. What I do mean by on par is even, as in starting basis or creation. In this example I have clearly stated how that creation formula was: Kwans founded or started by those that studied MAs abroad, brought it back to Korea & opened a Dojang. There are only 6 Kwans that fit this definition. The others were started by Koreans who learned MAs in Korea, taught by Koreans, ie the 2nd generation.
Again I am not trying to say that Gen. Choi did it all on his own or that he was the only one. I will gladly discuss the many others who played such pivotal & vital roles if you wish. The more public attention these Koreans get, the better it is! Gen. Choi was the leader who spearheaded the military TKD, which of course was the 1st KMA to apply the label of TKD to what they were doing. He of course was a martial artist & a political leader who pushed TKD's development & world-wide spread. Dr. Kim Un Yong was the political leader who spearheaded Kukki or Olympic TKD & its spread around the globe, that was so successful it gained official Olympic sport status! I think you have to define what you mean by off-shoot, please When did Gen. Choi join the CDK & when did he leave? Absolutely he impressed the President! It was truly an historic moment in the annals of TKD's history! But it was Gen. Choi who set the whole thing up. Without Gen. Choi, do you think a young Lt. could get the President to visit a division for a celebration? GM Nam was the man, but he could have been replaced, no? But who could have replaced Gen. Choi? And could his replacement set up the demo in the 1st place? No the majority of the members were likely soldiers with no MA training. The majority of instructors were indeed from the CDK, the most powerful civilian gym at that time. Actually Gen. Choi 1st taught Tangsudo to the troops while GM Nam was still a color belt in the CDK. Gen. Choi had already taught karate in Japan before GM Nam starting MA training. This is why the ODK is not an off-shoot of the CDK. Gen Choi taught karate before the CDK was even founded! Why do you say Gen. Choi was a CDK BB? There is no independent evidence that he ever had any BB, not even in Japan. It has only been verified that he taught karate in Japan. There is actually only independent verification to my knowledge of any ranking for only 2 of the 7 who studied MAs outside of Korea. I am sorry I don't follow your logic. I wish you would define the criteria for what you mean as an off-shoot. (See above) Yes Gen. Choi had help, a lot of help. He did design the forms, like the director, while they were the actors. It was not just GMs Nam & Han, but Kim Bok Man, Woo Jong Lim, CK Choi, Kim Young Soo, Cho Sang Min, Kong Yong Il, Park Jung Tae & others. I am not sure what you mean by NK ODK, aka ITF. There was never any ODK in NK. Gen. Choi introduced TK-D there in 1980, with a 15 member team, with the then VP of the ITF Lee Suk Hi as the senior. Gen. Choi I believe promoted himself as "THE" founder of TKD as a way to stay relevant & have an important counter-balance to the SK TKD machine. By this propaganda effort, he insured a constant influx of new students, who many sought of the rare opportunity to study under a styles founder. You can understand that right? He was of course the principle founder of his military TK-D, wasn't he? Of course as stated previously several times, he had nothing to do with the development & spread of Kukki TKD & fought against the inclusion of WTF TKD into the olympics. He even used the founder argument unsuccessfully to the IOC. This naturally was why he said that if you were not doing his TKD, you were not doing real TKD. This is why many ITFers, WRONGLY imho say they do the true TKD. That view is narrow & 1-sided. It is also wrong, as Gen. Choi forced the Olympic sport movement guys to take the name TKD in 1965. If he didn't they (WTF, KKW & KTA) would TAE SOO DO & they would still be in the Olympics & few people would even be doing TKD.
I don't think this school would give me what I am looking for, which is a good mixture of kata and sparring. I visited and spoke with the Sifu on an open gym night (too bad I couldn't get there during a class night). My previous training focused alot on the perfection and learning of kata, with self defense on some sparring. In practicing kata, we work towards perfecting our techniques and sparring gives the opportunity to practice techniques. This instructor basically avoided my question of which kata they learn, saying that he felt kata was useless and "just teaches breathing techniques". I disagree. So my search for a martial arts school continues...
When he became older he went to Japan to study at university, there he claimed to have trained in Shotokan Karate and achieved the rank of black belt within two years of training, however, all the Kwan leaders who trained at the universities in Japan, never saw him, and the Japanese masters did not know of him. He used NAM, Tae Hi to combine aspects of karate with aspects of the ancient Korean martial arts to create Oh Do Kwan. Source - http://www.bluecottagetkd.com/general.html Not too sure how good of a source this is, but finding proper sources for anything KMA is tricky. This is why I'm a Karate nerd and not a TKD nerd, I know I can trust Japanese references. Nam is quite well documented as being a student of CDK, if Choi Hong Hi in fact didn't learn Karate in Japan and learned everything from Nam, then the Oh Duk Kwam, and the later Chang-Huhn and ITF, are offshoots of CDK. As for Choi being a member of the CDK, if I understood correctly, he was given an honorary black belt (so he didn't train at the CDK to recieve it), but it was later taken away. Not sure true, mythe, or lie, but hey it's KMA.
The website itself is a good source that compiles a lot of info from various sub-sources. The website is an ITF one & I find it refreshing that the webmaster presents more than just the standard ITF propaganda. We must remember that with scholarly research we must realize that there are 3 sides to every story, his, her's & what really happened. What really happened is usually somewhere in between. Where exactly in between or whose version is more accurate is up to real researchers to sort through. With that disclaimer the source referenced above is from Dakin Burdick, who has done some good work, that also contains some shortcomings. Now let us try to look at this objectively & within context: Gen. Choi self reports learning, teaching & earning a 2nd BB in Karate while living in Japan. There is NO INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION of that. Dr. Kimm He Young, an historian & scholar did independently verify that Gen. Choi taught Karate in Japan. Now of the 7 Koreans that studied MAs abroad, during the occupation period, only 2 had their ranks independently verified. This verification came from a book by a Japanese master. 2 others knew each other as they trained in the same locale. 3 of the 7 left SK during the Korean War period 1950-53, not playing any role in TKD's growth, development & spread other than opening 3 of the original 5 schools, teaching students who did. 2 of these 7, Gen. Choi & GM Hwang Kee bitterly resisted the civilian TKD (TAESOODO) sport movement. Both also had different levels of political problems after the May 16, 1961 military coup. Both also (not surprisingly) have had their credentials attacked over the years. Also Gen. Choi, like many Koreans were forced to have a Japanese name. There are little records available because of the nature of that time period & the war. So it has become popular to try to belittle Gen. Choi & his MAs background over the years, as he was hated by many in SK & the SK TKD movement, with some even thinking he was a traitor. While I can understand those sentiments (not really agreeing) I do realize fully that the scrutiny of his background is not equally applied to the other 6, who are usually elevated to some special status. The truth is that these 7 had basic training in rudimentary karate, with some exposure to the CMAs. Only 1 of them had a high level that has been reported as a 4th to 7th dan, Dr. Yoon. But he did not take part in the TKD movement, preferring to stay loyal to his karate roots. It was what these 7 did with the rather limited exposure to the MAs that is important. Gen. Choi went on to create a system with a true world-wide following. So did GM Hwang Kee, even though he did not do it to the level of Gen. Choi & the ITF. The other 5 faded away into history. Their students went on to create TAESOODO, which became Olympic TKD. Now who were these students? They were guys who learned some basic karate & made something spectacular! Pretty impressive indeed. Gen. Choi was at some point in time, a type of honorary head of the CDK or someone who was tapped to help them because of his military power & standing in SK society at the time. He did get an honorary degree from the CDK, with no one actually knowing what the honorary meant or reflected. I refrain from using current western standards for that label. I suggest others exert caution as well. This was indeed revoked by GM Son Duk Sung after Gen. Choi did not allow him to be on the historic team that 1st displayed TKD abroad. He also expelled 3 that were loyal to Gen. Choi as well. He actually did this after he was no longer the KwanJangNim of the CDK. So some question the authority. I don't, as it is a moot point, as it was politics & bitterness. While many of Gen. Choi's detractors point to this, they often leave out the reason & context. They also usually fail to mention the other 3, who were untainted giant icons in the TKD movement. We really have to apply consistent standards! That is why many do not trust KMA sources, because of the nasty lies & mudslinging. We can take steps to correct that & should IMHO.
The Chung Do Kwan, of which I am a member and therefore biased actually predates the Song Moo Kwan. According to the Korean language book "Modern History of Taekwondo", available on the internet in English thanks to the efforts of my CDK senior Glenn U, the Song Moo Kwan started in 1946. The current Kukkiwon president, GM Kang Won Sik, one of the authors of the book, is from the Song Moo Kwan.
Yes it does say that & I also think it mentions the archery where he 1st taught. That was of course started March 11, 1944. I will recheck it as well. Thanks Chapter 1 Section 5: Song Moo Kwan The Song Moo Kwan was founded by Ro Byung Jik in Kae Song in 1946. Song Moo Kwan founder Ro Byung Jik studied together with Chung Do Kwan founder Lee Won Kuk in Japan. They both studied Karate under Funakoshi Sensei. Right before the Independence Day, he returned to Korea and taught youngsters Karate as a hobby at an archery place, the Kwan Duk Jung. Ok I did go & check. I thought my memory was right. Most TKD historians, scholars & history buffs, realize that the CDK was the most influential civilian gym & many rank it as the 1st to open, as it actually opened for a couple of months during the occupation. This of course led to rumors that GM LEE Won KUK was pro-Japanese, which led to a lot of trouble with the autocratic 1st president of the ROK. Rhee. Eventually GM Lee fled to Japan to escape political oppression, with Gen. Choi assuming some type of leadership over the CDK. Of course years later Choi himself would flee to escape political oppression as well. Some things don't change. The formative years get little attention IMHO. There are I think many reason for this. 1st & in no order, was that the connection to karate & the hated Japanese is right there, crystal clear! 2nd it took place right after the occupation ended with the end of WW2 & Korea was lawless & disorder ruled. This was compounded tremendously by a devastating civil war, where about 80% of Korea was destroyed by a never ending bombing campaign. There were more casualties in this war than any other in history of fighting for that duration. What is clear is that all of the 5 original kwans opened & closed during this time period. 3 re-opened under new leadership as the original kwan founders of these 3 kwans died, fled or were kidnapped to NK. 2 of these 3 even re-opened with new names, in addition to the new leaders. So yes I do think that GM Ro Byung Jik started teaching karate back in Kaesong in 1944, a couple of months before GM Lee did. I will make no counter to a claim that this teaching of youngsters at an archery range does not count as a kwan!
It sounds like too many people with huge ego's wanted their name attached to a martial art that no one gets the credit they truly deserve.
Yes there is truth to what you state. Again it all goes back to the terrible devastation Korea suffered under the half a century rule of Japan. There simply was no way Korea was going to embrace Japanese Karate! In fact the 1st President of the ROK forbid promoting anything Japanese. A law remained in effect in the ROK until the late 1990s. So initially Koreans boasted of their long & proud history, which did include have their own MAs at an earlier point in time. However there is really no direct connection to those MAs of a past long gone, to TKD! So once the political divides in TKD took hold, fostered by Korean politics, Gen. Choi started to assert himself as "THE Founder" of TKD. While he was the principle organizer, who systemized, designed the Chang Hon Tuls & endlessly promoted & spread his KMA of SD that he named & called TKD, there were many others involved who deserve credit as well. This is not only limited to his style, but the independents & Kukki TKD leaders as well. So I have also seen claims by others, like GM RO Byung Jik of the SMK. That claim seems based on the early initial start of that Kwan. Of course GM LEE Won Kuk has made that same claim, which seems based on how strong his early Kwan was & how many instrumental students he produced at the CDK who went on to play pivotal roles in all the TKD styles, branches or systems. Others like Col. Nam Tae Hi have claimed to be the founder & Sgt-Major Kim Bok Man, who says he is the technical founder of TKD. When it is all said & done, Gen. Choi came up with the name, with the help of Col. Nam. He then applied that label to the system he was creating & spreading around the world, when others in Korea was still calling it Tang Soo Do, Kong Soo Do, Kwon Bup, Kuk Sool & Tae Soo Do! Hence the evidence does show that he was the principle founder of the original style or system to use the name TKD!
