All of those but Master Chois is under the ITF in Austria but are the head of the itf in their country
Two separate organisations in Austria + Master Choi + USTF INTERNATIONAL ITF ORGANISATIONS ITF Headquarters, President Mr. Russell MacLellan (AKA: ITF/V) Brünner Strasse 190/2/16, 1210 Vienna AUSTRIA http://www.itf-generalchoi.com/ ITF Headquarters, President Mr. Chang Ung (AKA: ITF/NK) Draugasse 3, 1210 Vienna AUSTRIA http://www.internationaltaekwon-dofederation.com/ ITF Headquarters, President Master Choi Jung Hwa (AKA: ITF/C) ITF Centre, 37 George North Street, Fourth Floor Brampton Ontario L6X 1R5 CANADA http://www.itf-admin.com/ USTF Headquarters, Sereff TaeKwon-Do (AKA: USTF) 6801 W. 117Th.Avenue, E-5 Broomfield, Colorado 80020 http://www.ustf-itf.com/ It’s a shame we split but thats politics for you. ...
News on USTF Headquarters, Sereff TaeKwon-Do (AKA: USTF) He has resigned as apart of the ITF and will not be know through that org any more. ITF Headquarters, President Mr. Russell MacLellan (AKA: ITF/V) is the org that was left my the general when he died. ITF Headquarters, President Master Choi Jung Hwa (AKA: ITF/C) Is International Tae Kwon Do Federation North America. Formed when Jung Hwa was told that the general was not going to turn over the ITF to him but to someone else
I'm in Oh Do Kwan TKD, and when I asked my instructor, he told me we are WTF affiliated. However, we basically train ITF forms.
Ive noticed that a lot of WTF school do that. They think the forms are better but want to be noticed as a WTF school due to sport reasons
Booksie_Girl: I understand! Our style is WTF, with all rank certificates from the Kukkiwon. However, our original grandmaster was in Oh Doh Kwan and was in South Korea. He used all of the ITF forms. With the break in systems, our grandmaster was forced to be a WTF member... so he just added the Taegook forms (and the Pal-gye forms) and added the WTF sparring rules to the ITF ones. In class we do both. We also are responsible for the ITF forms and the Taegooks (and supposedly the Pal-gyes at even higher levels... but I haven't done them yet.) at testing. The good thing about it is instead of playing the politics game between the ITF and WTF, we just do both and try to stay away from the politics.
Well thats good to hear. I think that schools that are able to form their own thoughts about TKD and stay away from the thought that one org is better than the other, then that school will be better off.
Your wrong. TKD is illiegal in North Korea that is why Major General Choi Hong Hi was banished, I should know I do ITF style, and our school is fine and I am a memeber of P.U.M.A a new faction figure-headed by Major General Choi Hong Hi's son, even though Major General Choi Hong Hi didn't assign his son to take over TKD (he chose someone, who didn't even know any TKD)
That's strange!! must have been the "imaginary" North Korean Demonstration team I saw at the World Championships. Just out of curiosity Street Spirit how old are you?? Also who is your instructor in the PUMA federation? Hope you don't mind so many questions! P.s. Welcome to MAP happy posting
Tosh is right street. Taekwondo is not illegal in North Korea, in fact it is my understanding that it is government run. Master Choi's is not the only ITF currently. There is one based out of North Korea . . . although Kick Chick may correct me on this if I'm wrong they also have a HQ in Vienna. Oh and welcome to the board, drop by TKD check in Street Spirit and tell us a little bit about yourself
The ITF's main HQ is in Vienna Right now. Was moved there a while back before Gen. Choi died. That was one reason that his son was said to have been upset. He said Vienna TKD had way too much influence from North Korea, and he didnt like the politics. SO now there is a "ITF - From Somewhere,Under President Master Tran Trieu Quan www.itf-generalchoi.com" there is an "ITF - Vienna Under Mr. Chang Ung www.internationaltaekwon-dofederation.com" There is also a ITF out of canada run by PRESIDENT Master Choi Jung Hwa, the Generals son. They all say that they are the true ITF but who knows. Ever since the general died, the ITF had gone down the drain. I dont know who is the "real" one but go with whatever side you like. Im sure you will learn the exact same thing. OH BTW there is an ITF-Korea and North Korea TKD
Has anyone ever emailed all the different ITF orgs and asked them whats going on, what the other ITF orgs are, if they feel like they are the "real ITF??????
personally i try to not get mixed up in all of the political bull that surrounds tae kwon do and just practice the art. My school has basically the same philosphy, we practice chung do kwan tae kwon do. We are a memeber of ITU but not really that active because most of the ITU tournaments are 5 to 7 hours away. This has been a burden at local tournaments, where our chon ji patterns are generally not accepted . However i believe that the school has benefitted from this attitude, we concentrate on the art and not the competition and the technique of the students really show this. Of course my instructor has had a hard time finding someone to promote him to his 5th dan, but even the organizations want a ludicrous amount of money.
"Of course my instructor has had a hard time finding someone to promote him to his 5th dan, but even the organizations want a ludicrous amount of money." I feel his pain. Im with the ITU and i cant find anyone around that can promote me to 2nd dan. Everyone is 7-10 hours away. the Chang hun forms arnt done that much around the east us but thats not a bad thing in tourneys. People get to see more of them and the more they like and understand the scores go up. Even more so for the black belt forms.
thats tough chazz real tough, i mean personally i want to get as high as possible and im lucky that our instructor is high enough to be able to promote me to third dan, i really hope you find someone.
Modern-day Taekwondo is influenced by many other Martial Arts. The most important of these arts is Japanese Karate. This is because Japan dominated Korea during 1910 until the end of World War II. During WWII, lots of Korean soldiers were trained in Japan. During this occupation of Korea, the Japanese tried to erase all traces of the Korean culture, including the martial arts. The influence that Japan has given to Taekwondo are the quick, lineair movements, that characterize the various Japanese systems. After World War II, when Korea became independant, several kwans arose. These kwans were: - Chung Do Kwan - Moo Duk Kwan - Yun Moo Kwan - Chang Moo Kwan - Oh Do Kwan - Ji Do Kwan - Chi Do Kwan - Song Moo Kwan The Kwans united in 1955 as Tae Soo Do. In the beginning of 1957, the name Taekwondo was adopted by several Korean martial arts masters, for its similarity to the name Tae Kyon. General Choi Hong-hi required the army to train Taekwondo, so the very first Taekwondo students were Korean soldiers. The police and air force had to learn Taekwondo as well. At that time, Taekwondo was merely a Korean version of Shotokan Karate. In 1961 the Korean Taekwondo Union arose from the Soo Bakh Do Association and the Tae Soo Do Association. In 1962 the Korean Amateur Sports Association acknowledged the Korean Taekwondo Union and in 1965 the name was changed to Korean Taekwondo Association (K.T.A.). General Choi was president of the K.T.A. at that time and was asked to start the I.T.F. as the international branch of the K.T.A. The southern government was overthrown in 1961. General Choi Hong-hi left for America and established I.T.F. (International Taekwondo Federation) Taekwondo, as a separate entity, two years later. Demonstrations were given all over the world. It took a while before real progress was made, but eventually, in 1973, the World Taekwondo Federation (W.T.F.) was founded. In 1980, W.T.F. Taekwondo was recognized by the International Olympic Commitee (I.O.C.) and became a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 1988. In the year 2000 taekwondo made its debute as an official olympic sport. There were several attempts to unify I.T.F. and W.T.F. Taekwondo, but these attempts failed. Only difference is The forms and the uniforms. . teaching methods, sparring, and things like that vary from school and instructor. AIMAA incorporates both ITF and WTF (how I know).
