TKD just is Shotokan with with serial numbers filed off and aggressive marketing.

"TKD just is Shotokan with with serial numbers filed off and aggressive marketing..." 

I found this quote all over the internet the other day. Actually I found it by accident googling "martial arts quotes". I then copy pasted it and searched the quote to see how widespread it was and yes there it was all over the interenet. For those who have read my blog for some time now you will know that i strongly acknowledge my arts martial roots and I have done many a blog post to set the reccord straight on the Taekwondo history. My latest project with writing more indepth about the pioneers to honor them in a "kukki Taekwondo" setting as the Kukkiwon often overlooks them in their official history writings is just one small part of what I have written about this subject. Even in my three latest blog posts (General Choi Hong Hee, Hwang Kee and Lee Won Kuk) I explain their martial arts training prior to Taekwondo being made.

Lee Won Kuk the original Taekwondo Pioneer?

Lee Won Kuk

The headline might seem strange if you are reading this as a Kukkiwon Taekwondo student. In mainstream dogma Taekwondo is thousands of years old with little to no foreign (non Korean) influences. Taekwondo according to Kukkiwon Textbook is a hybrid of native Korean martial arts wich has been fused together and developed through science in later years.

I do not support this view of history, BUT I do understand why that view was developed and spread through the world. I have read up on newer Korean history and have an idea of how difficult the world of the "true" pioneers of Taekwondo was.

Lately I have been doing my own small contribution to set things straight. Our beloved martial art Taekwondo was developed largely out of foreign martial arts but with small influences (directly or indirectly) from native Korean arts. Those who has actually studied Taekwondo history will agree that modern Taekwondo was developed in the period 1940s untill today. In the main stream history the 1940s and the founding of the various "Kwan" (martial arts schools) marks the beginning of the "modern" Taekwondo.

Hwang Kee and his innovations

In my last post I explored one of Taekwondo`s great pioneers; Choi Hong Hi and his theory of power. This time I turn my attention to another of the great pioneers of Taekwondo namely Hwang Kee.

In the "Kukkiwon-deriative" Taekwondo-world Hwang Kee is almost unknown. In most texts he is sometimes mentioned in the history chapter as the man who founded Moo Duk Kwan in 1945 and that is just about it. I for one find Kukkiwons treatment of Taekwondo history perplexing at times. The official story in their Kukkiwon textbook almost leads people to believe that Taekwondo is thousands of years old and focuses a lot on the three kingdoms era untill the beginning of 1900s. The period from 1910 and onwards is not explained indepth just mentioning the schools that were founded in the 1940s onward that were going to be united and found Taekwondo.

Moo Duk Kwan was one of those schools and an important root of the present Kukkiwon system. I therefore find their treatment of history perplexing as they only spend about one or two sentences on a man that should be devoted a chapter (as should all the founders of the 9 original Kwan). This is post is just my small contribution on setting the record straight and honoring those that should be honored.

Choi Hong Hi`s Theory of Power

(I must appologise but for some strange reason this whole post gets messed up each time I try to post it. I have tried to clean it up but it is still "scrambled" in that some of the paragraphs are a little out of place. I managed to rewrite some of them and now the post does make sense eventhough it looks a little messy. Sorry for the inconvinience)

Choi Hong Hi does not really need an introduction on a Taekwondo blog, but I will give him one nonetheless.

Choi Hong Hi (often known as "General Choi") founded along with Nam Tae Hi one of the most influential Kwan during the 1950s the Oh Do Kwan. This was the millitary Dojang and since all able bodied men had to do service in the army all were exposed to Oh Do Kwan methods. Choi Hong Hi and his pioneers made the earliest attempts (that I am aware of) of making their original Karate art into something new. One of the things they did was to make the Chang Hon form in the period 1950s-1970s.

Honoring the Pioneers of Korean Martial Arts

In the near future I will try to write a series of posts focusing on honoring the pioneers of Korean Martial Arts, their history, innovations and more. Many Taekwondoin choses to overlook the part of Korean Martial Arts history from 1940s onward and focus exclusivly on the period from three kingdoms era to the beginning of the 1900s.

I think this is really disrespectfull of the pioneers as most of the modern Korean Martial Arts true history starts in this often overlooked period (1940s onward). I want to honor the pioneers of Taekwondo by writing about them and their contributions to our art.

I will not do this in any particular order though and will start with the man who got me into Taekwondo (as opposed to any other martial art); Choi Hong Hi.