General Choi Hong Hi

Choi Hong-hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) was a South Korean Army general, defector to North Korea, and martial artist who was an important figure in the history of the Korean martial art of Taekwondo, albeit controversial due to his attempt to introduce the martial art in North Korea, and his eventual defection to the North in 1979.

Choi is regarded by many as the "Founder of Taekwon-Do"—most often by organisations belonging to the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), the first international federation for Taekwondo, which he founded before the World Taekwondo Federation split off in 1973 for political reasons.International Taekwon-Do Federation
(Headquarters Korea which is officially recognised by Korean Government on 24 June 2009).International Taekwon-Do Federation
(under Choi Jung Hwa, based in the United Kingdom). Retrieved on 15 January 2008; updated version retrieved on 9 October 2010.
(formerly under Trân Triêu Quân; now under acting President Pablo Trajtenberg, based in Italy). Retrieved on 15 January 2008; updated version retrieved on 9 October 2010.International Taekwon-Do Federation
(under Chang Ung, based in Austria). Retrieved on 28 January 2008; updated version retrieved on 9 October 2010.
Retrieved on 15 January 2008. Others, such as the World Taekwondo Federation, now just World Taekwondo (WT), portray Choi as either an unimportant or a dishonorable figure in taekwondo history, whether by omitting him from their versions of taekwondo historyPresent Day Taekwondo (WT)
Retrieved on 29 January 2008. or through explicit statements,Son, D. S. (1959)
Letter in ''Seoul Shinmoon'' newspaper (16 June 1959)
Retrieved on 20 September 2007. due to the aforementioned controversy.

Early life

Choi was born on 9 November 1918 in Hwa Dae, Myŏngch'ŏn county, in what is now North Korea, which was then under Japanese rule.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 Tae Kwon Do Federation. At the time, the place was named Meigawa-gun (Myongchon-kun), Kankyo-hokudo (Hamgyong-Pukto), Chosen, as part of the Empire of Japan. Choi originally claimed that his father sent him to study calligraphy under Han Il Dong, who was also "a master of Taekkyeon, the ancient Korean art of foot fighting" (Park, 1993, p. 241). He later recanted this story and said that he never studied taekkyeon and that it had nothing to contribute to taekwondo. Choi travelled to Japan, where he studied English, mathematics, and karate.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. In Kyoto, he met a fellow Korean with the surname Kim, who was a karate instructor and taught Choi this martial art. Choi also learned Shotokan karate under Funakoshi Gichin. Just before he had left Korea, Choi apparently had a disagreement with a wrestler named Hu, and the possibility of a future confrontation inspired him to train; 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). Choi attained the rank of 1st ''dan'' in karate in 1939, and then 2nd ''dan'' soon after.

Military career

Choi was 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. Following the war, in January 1946, Choi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Korean army. From 1946 to 1951, Choi received promotions to first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and then brigadier general. Choi was promoted to major general in 1954.

Taekwondo

Choi combined elements of Taekkyon and Oh Do Kwan Karate and Tang Soo Do to develop a style of the martial art known as " Taekwondo"; his organization spelt it Taekwon-Do, (태권도; 跆拳道), which means "foot, fist, art" or "the way of hand and foot" and it was so named on 11 April 1955.Kim, S. J. (2007)
History of Taekwondo
Retrieved on 18 September 2007. 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. During the 1960s, Choi and Nam Tae-hi in promoting their martial art around the world, though these would be only the first of many such endeavors.

ITF taekwondo organizations credit Choi with starting the spread of taekwondo internationally by stationing Korean taekwondo instructors around the world, and have consistently claimed that ITF-style taekwondo is the only authentic style of taekwondo, most notably in early sections of its textbooks.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. 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 after the South Korean government objected to his introduction of the sport into North Korea, and the South Korea government formed the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in 1973 (renamed to WT in 2018). In 1979 he traveled and defected to North Korea where he was welcomed by the government and supported in his project of spreading Taekwondo to the world. He was remembered as the founder and champion of taekwondo.

Death

Choi died of cancer on 15 June 2002 in Pyongyang, North Korea, where he received a state funeral in the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery. On his funeral committee were:

* Choe Thae-bok
* Kim Jung-rin
* Kim Yong-sun
* Kim Yong-dae
* Ryu Mi-yong
* Ryom Sun-gil
* Kim Kyong-ho
* Sung Sang-sop
* Pak Sun-hui
* An Kyong-ho
* Kang Ryon-hak
* Chang Ung
* Hwang Pong-yong
* Kim Yu-ho

Choi is listed in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame with various titles: "Father of Taekwon-Do," "Founder and First President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation," and "Founder of Oh Do Kwan."Taekwondo Hall of Fame
Retrieved on 12 January 2008. Choi is survived by his wife, Choi Joon-hee; his son, Choi Jung-hwa; two daughters, Sunny and Meeyun; and several grandchildren.

See also

* List of taekwondo grandmasters

Explanatory notes

a. The spelling of "taekwondo" varies widely in English usage. The WT 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.

b. 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).

References

External links

Obituary: General Choi Hong-hi Biography
in ''Moosin Magazine'', 19 January 2015.


in ''The Guardian'', 9 August 2002.


in ''The Daily Telegraph'', 26 June 2002.


at the Taekwondo Hall of Fame, including a photograph of Choi's grave.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Hong-hi
1918 births
2002 deaths
20th-century philanthropists
International Olympic Committee members
Korean generals
Martial arts school founders
Martial arts writers
People from Myongchon County
South Korean emigrants to North Korea
South Korean male karateka
South Korean male taekwondo practitioners