An art growing with its country
Taekwon-Do took shape in twentieth-century Korea. Its pioneers lived through Japanese colonial rule, liberation in 1945, the division of the peninsula and the Korean War of 1950–1953. They opened schools, taught soldiers and civilians, and sought their own direction for a Korean martial art.
Many brought experience of karate to this work. Among them was Choi Hong Hi, who had studied Shotokan in Japan. Back in Korea, he began teaching in the military. He would later work with other instructors to develop Taekwon-Do’s techniques, terminology and teaching principles. His childhood and early training are explored in the founder’s biography.
The new art gradually acquired its own character. Kicking techniques developed, and patterns appeared with Korean names and historical meanings. Training cultivated discipline, self-control and respect alongside precise movement.
The first kwans and their students
Schools known as kwans appeared in Korea during the 1940s. Students gathered around a master, then opened their own training halls and passed on the programme. Early schools included Chung Do Kwan, Song Moo Kwan and Moo Duk Kwan. Much of their technical foundation came from Japanese karate; some schools also drew on Chinese martial arts.
Chung Do Kwan, founded by Lee Won Kuk, became particularly important to the future ITF. Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Kyo trained there before working with Choi in the 29th Division. Through them, the civilian school’s knowledge entered a military programme and later reached new training halls in Korea and abroad.
The kwans retained their own leaders, students and teaching traditions. Cooperation grew through personal contacts, shared training and the search for arrangements under which different schools could work together.
From an army unit to a school
Choi began teaching soldiers in 1946. In 1953, he formed the 29th Infantry Division on Jeju Island, known for its clenched-fist emblem. Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Kyo taught the classes, while the military command provided regular training and opportunities to prepare new instructors.
In 1954, the demonstration team performed before President Syngman Rhee. Nam Tae Hi’s skill drew attention to the programme and helped spread it through the army. Choi and Nam developed Oh Do Kwan, which became one of the main centres of the future ITF system.
Military instructors later taught civilians, children and students abroad. The halls and audiences changed, but regular classes, instructor training and shared demonstrations remained at the heart of their work.
Korean culture in a new martial art
The revival of national culture inspired the masters. They named patterns after figures from Korean history and ideas of independence and unity. A student learned movements while also discovering the culture of the country where the art had emerged.
Choi brought these ambitions together in the name he proposed for the new art. Its adoption in 1955 opened the next stage: schools gradually acquired a shared name, and their instructors reached a wider circle of students.