At long last, here is the revelation I have been dying to reveal:
My (first ever) Book is LIVE :-D
Click here for amazon
I have not seen it myself yet, but Kindle and Paperback version of The Lost Forms of Oh Do Kwan Taekwondo Volume 1: Taegeuk 1-3 Hyeong is live. The series on Kwan history has all been from the introduction section of the book, with the meat of the book being the Taegeuk forms as practised in Oh Do Kwan and Chung Do Kwan (they practiced the same versions).
In 1959 Choi Hong Hi published the first ever book on Taekwondo called Taekwondo Kyobon or Textbook, where he among other things presents a lot of old Hyeong later phased out. Some he also included in the 1965 English language book, the Taegeuk forms did not make it into that one though meaning that for most people their practice was unknown.
I translated the forms for my own research, and wanted to share their story and make the material more available for English speaking people who might not even know that a 1959 Taekwondo Textbook even existed.
This is just Volume 1, and I seriously contemplated starting directly at the Pyeongahn or Heian forms instead. The Taegeuk are not flashy, or "exciting". They are fundamental movements taught to beginners. In the 1959 book appendix we find a grading diagram revealing all 3 Taegeuk was required at a students first belt promotion test. I do see the value of the basics and fundamentals however and since its not really a commercial project I decided to make it from the beginning anyway :-)
The "Oh Do Kwan" in the title is there because the main source material I am framing this series on is the 1959 Taekwondo Textbook, but it is not a Kukkiwon Taekwondo book, nor is it an ITF or Chang Hon Ryu Taekwon-Do book, it is for people interested in Taekwondo history and nerds like myself. In that spirit I have included Kwan variations that I could find documentation from:
- Ji Do Kwan (Sihak Henry Cho 1970)
- Mu Duk Kwan (Hwang Kee 1958)
- Kang Duk Won (Park Chul Hee 1957)
And since I used Choi's book: Oh Do Kwan, and since Chung Do Kwan practiced the same version move for move Chung Do Kwan. In short most of the older Kwan are represented, the ones missing (like Song Mu Kwan) is not missing out of disrespect but because I could not find era-appropriate documentation in either English or Korean.
Below you can read the final excerpt from my book focusing on Choi Hong Hi and the Oh Do Kwan. Together in these 7 blog post series I have given away most of the introduction chapter, but there are a few goodies for those who buys the book itself: deep dive into the name Oh Do Kwan, as well as a discussion of the different Kwan variations and a deep dive into the alternative names for the same Taikyoku based foundation forms.
Quote from my book:
"CHOI HONG HI AND THE OH DO KWAN
Choi Hong Hi was born in 1918 in Yongwon Village, located in what is now North Korea. His father owned a brewery business, which made the family financially secure even during the otherwise harsh conditions of Japanese colonial rule. In 1930, Choi’s father paid a significant fee to Han Il Dong to provide Choi with instruction in the Chinese classics, calligraphy, and - according to some sources - the Korean art of Taekkyon. I say “some sources” because accounts vary: in some, Choi learned and mastered Taekkyon; in others, he only received a brief introduction or was shown a few basic kicks and evasions. Choi proved to be a diligent student under Han Il Dong, and the family eventually saved enough money to send him to Japan for higher education.
According to Choi’s own accounts, just days before he was scheduled to leave Korea in 1938, the 20-year-old Choi attended a card game where he lost most of the money set aside for his travel and tuition in Japan. Also present was a well-known wrestler named Haak Soon Huh, who had won the money from Choi. Suspecting he had been cheated, but knowing he couldn’t win in a physical confrontation, Choi pretended to leave the venue-only to return with a heavy ink bottle, which he threw at the wrestler, knocking him unconscious. He quickly retrieved his money and fled to Japan earlier than planned. Once there, fearing reprisal from the wrestler who had promised to break every bone in his body, Choi began training in martial arts to protect himself.
While studying in Kyoto, Choi found a fellow Korean named Kim Hyun Soo, a karate instructor who agreed to teach him. Motivated both by fear of reprisal and by the difficult conditions facing Koreans in Japan-who were often bullied and treated as second-class citizens-Choi devoted himself to karate training. He reportedly practiced obsessively, toughening his striking surfaces on trees, lamp posts, and other available materials. In one story, Choi claimed to have defended a friend from two bullies, knocking one unconscious with a punch and causing the other to flee. Later, he is said to have traveled to Tokyo, where he continued training at Chuo University and at the Tokyo YMCA Karate Club. He also visited the Shotokan dojo, home of Gichin Funakoshi´s Karate, though there is no evidence of prolonged formal study under Funakoshi himself.
According to Alex Gillis in Taekwondo: The Killing Art, when Choi returned to Korea in 1942, the wrestler who had previously threatened him observed him training from a distance. Choi was seen kicking and punching the air and reportedly breaking roof tiles with his bare hands. There was no confrontation between them. Choi had, in effect, defended himself from reprisal through visible skill and deterrence rather than violence.
Toward the end of World War II, Japan conscripted approximately 4,300 young Koreans into their army. In 1943, Choi Hong Hi was among them. Opposed to serving the Japanese, he and several others planned a mass desertion in 1944. However, the plan was betrayed by a fellow Korean, in what would later be referred to as the Pyongyang Incident. The group had intended to escape and join Korean guerrilla forces in the Baekdu Mountains to fight against the Japanese occupation, but instead Choi was arrested and imprisoned. He endured harsh treatment and poor living conditions while awaiting what he likely believed would be execution. To maintain his sanity, he practiced martial arts in his cell and during time in the prison yard. He was released in 1945 following Japan’s defeat and the end of the war. Upon returning to his village, Choi found it under communist control and, unwilling to remain there, relocated to Seoul. He became one of the first to enroll in the newly established Korean Military Academy-an American-supported institution created to help rebuild Korea and establish a modern national army.
In the years following World War II, Choi began exploring ways to transform the Japanese martial art he had studied into something uniquely Korean. At the time, he referred to what he taught as Tang Su Do or Kong Su Do, following the terminology widely used by Korean martial artists who had learned Karate in Japan. It was during this period that the first seeds of what would eventually be called Taekwondo were planted.
In 1950, war broke out between North Korea, supported by Communist China, and South Korea, backed by the United States. Choi Hong Hi rose quickly through the ranks and became a two-star general in 1952 at the age of 33. Although the war did not officially end, an armistice was signed in 1953, establishing a ceasefire. That same year, Choi was assigned to form and train the 29th Infantry Regiment on Jeju Island. To assist in martial arts instruction, he recruited Nam Tae Hi, a decorated war hero who, according to some sources, used his Tang Su Do skills to kill enemy combatants with his bare hands during the 1950 Battle of Incheon
Nam Tae Hi was born in 1929 and reportedly began martial arts training in response to bullying by Japanese students during the occupation period. He is said to have trained five days a week at the Chung Do Kwan under its founder, Lee Won Kuk. In 1953, he was summoned to Jeju Island to serve as the martial arts instructor under Choi Hong Hi, teaching Tang Su Do and other related skills to the soldiers of the 29th Infantry Regiment.
A year later, in 1954, President Syngman Rhee observed a demonstration by fifty soldiers who had been trained in Tang Su Do. The soldiers performed forms, sparring, self-defense against unarmed attacks, and defenses against weapons and bayonets. According to Alex Gillis, Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Gyo also demonstrated the newly developed Hwarang Hyeong during this event, though I have not found independent historical confirmation of this claim. Hwarang is widely regarded as the first Korean-developed form, and it appears as one of five such forms in Choi’s 1959 textbook, but the exact date of its first public demonstration remains unclear. The finale of the demonstration was a breaking feat in which Nam Tae Hi broke thirteen roof tiles with his bare hand, an act that reportedly left President Rhee deeply impressed. Rhee is said to have referred to the martial art as “Taekkyon,” which created a problem for Choi. He had been teaching Tang Su Do, and what Rhee had seen was certainly not Taekkyon. Following the event, President Rhee ordered Choi to expand martial arts training to more soldiers.
That same year, 1954, the Oh Do Kwan was formally established in Kangwon Province as a training hall dedicated to martial arts practice. Choi Hong Hi was appointed as its head, with Nam Tae Hi serving as the primary instructor. Choi also became the honorary director of Chung Do Kwan, while the second Kwanjang (headmaster), Son Duk Sung, continued managing the school’s daily training. This arrangement positioned Oh Do Kwan as the martial arts school of the military and Chung Do Kwan as the school for civilians. It also meant that Son Duk Sung now had access to military resources, while Choi gained influence outside of the military through his connection to Chung Do Kwan.
In 1955, Choi proposed a new name for the martial art: Taekwondo. He ordered its use within the Oh Do Kwan, although Chung Do Kwan and other schools continued referring to their martial arts as Tang Su Do, Kong Su Do, or Kwon Bop. President Syngman Rhee was initially opposed to the new name, preferring the term Taekkyon. However, after lobbying efforts and committee discussions, he eventually accepted "Taekwondo" as the official name. In 1956, Choi left the army but continued to focus on developing Taekwondo, beginning work on a manuscript that would become the first book to feature Taekwondo in its title.
In 1959, Choi returned to military service and spearheaded the creation of a joint organization intended to unify and promote the various martial arts schools (Kwan) in Korea. This organization became known as the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA), with Choi serving as its first president. That same year, he finally published the Taekwondo Gyo-bon (Taekwondo Textbook), the first official book to present the martial art under its new name.
The 1959 Taekwondo Textbook is a landmark publication. Although it was not the first Korean martial arts manual-Hwang Kee had already published books in 1949 and 1958-it was the first to explicitly present a martial art under the name "Taekwondo." Choi Hong Hi’s textbook included both traditional Karate-derived forms and newly developed Korean forms. The forms covered in this volume, such as the three Taegeuk Hyeong (derived from Taikyoku Kata), the five Pyeongahn (Heian/Pinan), the three Cheolgi (Tekki/Naihanchi), and Ban Wol Hyeong (Hangetsu or Seisan), are among the many Karate-based forms found in the book. Alongside these were five newly created Chang Hon Ryu forms: Hwarang, Ul-ji, Cheong-mu, Sam-il, and U-nam. These five constitute the complete set of Chang Hon Ryu forms found in the 1959 edition and were clearly intended for Dan-level practitioners, as indicated by the grading chart in the appendix. U-nam was named in honor of President Syngman Rhee’s pen name (U-nam), but the form was later removed from official practice, reportedly due to political reasons following Rhee’s fall from power. The remaining four continue to be practiced in the modern ITF system. “Chang Hon” was Choi’s pen name, and the name eventually adopted for his style.
The years 1960 and 1961 were politically turbulent for South Korea. In 1960, President Syngman Rhee resigned and went into exile following the student-led April Revolution. The following year, on May 16th, the military seized control in a coup, bringing Park Chung Hee to power. According to Alex Gillis in Taekwondo: The Killing Art, Choi and Park had crossed paths earlier. Park had been a Japanese collaborator during the colonial period, and Choi was reportedly among those who voted for his execution 13 years earlier. Culturally, it is possible that Choi viewed Park as a junior in social status, despite Park being one year older. Choi had entered the Korean Military Academy before Park began his own studies there. By this time, Choi had already coined the term “Taekwondo” as the name for a unified Korean martial art, but many of the other kwan headmasters were hesitant to adopt it. They petitioned instead for the term “Tae Su Do,” which was approved by President Park that same year. The name “Tae Su Do” was reportedly proposed by Yun Kwae Byung as a compromise, combining the “Tae” of Taekwondo and the “Su” of Tang Su Do and Kong Su Do.
Possibly due to the political shift and the perception that Choi Hong Hi might pose a threat to President Park’s authority, Choi was effectively sidelined in 1962 when he was appointed South Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia. While stationed there, he began teaching Taekwondo and is credited with founding what may have been the first Taekwondo association outside of Korea. That same year, Nam Tae Hi was deployed to South Vietnam to instruct military personnel in martial arts. Having received substantial support from the United States during the Korean War, South Korea now returned the favor by supporting U.S. operations during the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, a separate Taekwondo association was also established.
During his time as ambassador, Choi continued to develop Taekwondo. He focused on creating new Chang Hon Ryu forms and began drafting what would become the first English-language book on Taekwondo. Alongside his diplomatic duties, he taught and trained Taekwondo actively until his return to Korea in late 1964.
In 1965, Choi Hong Hi was elected president of the Korean Tae Su Do Association and successfully lobbied for a return to the name “Taekwondo.” That same year marked the publication of the first English-language book on Taekwondo: Tae Kwon Do: The Art of Self-Defense. This book reintroduced many Karate-derived forms, now using Japanese names instead of the Koreanized names found in the 1959 publication. Notably, despite the overlap in content, the three Taegeuk Hyeong forms from 1959 were omitted from the 1965 book. The number of Chang Hon Ryu forms had grown significantly-from five in 1959 to twenty in 1965-still four short of the final total of twenty-four, which later came to symbolize the 24 hours of a day. Some Oh Do Kwan dojang continue to teach only the twenty forms listed in the 1965 edition.
Another major development in 1965 was the World Ace Demonstration Tour, led by Choi Hong Hi. Although Taekwondo associations already existed outside Korea, they were primarily located in Asia. This tour marked the first major introduction of Taekwondo to the West, outside of the limited military context of the Vietnam War. Copies of Choi’s 1965 English-language book were distributed, new international Taekwondo associations were established, and the demonstration team gained near-legendary status within the Taekwondo community. Meanwhile, in Korea, Kwan representatives began discussing the development of new forms. Since the Chang Hon Ryu forms had been created within the Oh Do Kwan and the military, there was a growing desire for forms that reflected input from all schools. Representatives from all Kwan within the KTA formed a joint committee to begin this development process.
In 1966, Choi Hong Hi stepped down from the presidency of the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA). Key figures such as Lee Chong Woo and Ro Byung Jik assisted Choi in establishing a new international organization-the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF)-with Choi serving as its founding president, a role he would hold until his death in 2002. That same year, a significant number of students from Mu Duk Kwan and Ji Do Kwan joined the KTA. These two Kwan had previously remained outside the KTA structure and had been organized under Hwang Kee’s Su Bahk Do Association, which had been established shortly after the KTA's founding in 1959.
In 1967, the KTA officially introduced the Palgwe forms for colored belts, along with a set of black belt poomsae. Since Ji Do Kwan and Mu Duk Kwan had not participated in the development of these new forms, the KTA formed a new expanded committee that included representatives from both Kwan to ensure broader consensus.
In 1972, the modern Taegeuk Poomsae 1 through 8 and a new version of the Koryo form were formally introduced by the KTA. The original Taegeuk Hyeong-widely practiced during the 1960s-had remained in use up until 1971, with at least two of them reportedly taught before Palgwe 1 Jang in the curriculum. With the release of the new Taegeuk series, the earlier Taegeuk Hyeong 1–3 was removed from KTA usage and phased out.
Due to escalating political tensions in South Korea-most notably between Choi Hong Hi and President Park Chung Hee-both Choi and his close associate Nam Tae Hi relocated to Toronto, Canada, in 1972. They brought the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) with them, effectively removing the KTA’s international representation and operations. In response, the Korea Taekwondo Association moved to establish a new global organization, resulting in the founding of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in 1973, which today is known as World Taekwondo (WT)."
I really hope you enjoyed the series and if this is a project you want to see fulfilled and support please consider buying a copy of the full book (either Kindle or Paperback)
O:-)
Link to buy the book
PS: use your "local" amazon to get it as cheap as possible. If you are in Norway and use the .com USA one you will pay around 60 USD for a 16 USD book. In that case Sweden (.se) or Germany (.de) is a lot cheaper and faster.
Thank you for your support.
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