Two Locations: Elgin & Buffalo Grove - Come in for a FREE trial class!
STUDENT RESOURCES
THE GENERAL AND FOUNDER
General Choi Hong‑Hi (11/09/1918 – 06/15/2002) is the principal founder of Taekwon‑Do. Born in Hwa Dae Ri, Ham Kyung Buk Do during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Choi grew up in a period when Korean culture and martial traditions were heavily suppressed. As a frail teenager, he studied calligraphy and was introduced to elements of Taek Kyon to strengthen his health and confidence. His early expulsion from a Japanese‑run school for participating in protests revealed the independence and resolve that would define his life.
​As a young man, Choi traveled to Japan to continue his education, where he earned a 2nd Dan black belt in Shotokan Karate and even taught at a local YMCA. During World War II, he was forcibly conscripted into the Japanese army but became involved in a plot to join Korean resistance forces. Betrayed by collaborators, he was imprisoned—yet continued training and even instructing guards. Korea’s liberation in 1945 spared him from execution.​​
​After the war, Choi became instrumental in helping establish the new South Korean government and joined the emerging South Korean army as a 2nd Lieutenant. He began teaching martial arts to soldiers under the name Tang Soo Do, later recruiting skilled Korean martial artists to expand instruction throughout the military. His influence grew rapidly.
In 1953, as a general, he formed the famed 29th Infantry “Fist Division,” whose emblem bore his fist to symbolize strength and martial spirit.
A monument on JeJu Island still commemorates this historic unit.​​
​In 1954, seeking a distinctly Korean identity for the art, Choi used his deep knowledge of Chinese characters and calligraphy to conceive the name Taekwon‑Do, emphasizing powerful leg techniques (Tae), hand techniques (Kwon), and the moral path (Do). Soldiers under his command were instructed to shout “TAE KWON” when saluting, a tradition still practiced by ITF students today.​
​​Choi’s leadership extended beyond the military. He served as Vice President of the short‑lived Taekwon‑Do Association of Korea in 1957 and, in 1959, founded the Korean Taekwon‑Do Association (KTA), serving as its first president. That same year, he authored the first book on Taekwon‑Do and led the first-ever international demonstration team to Vietnam and Taiwan.​
​Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Choi created the first 26 Korean patterns (tuls), laying the technical foundation of modern Taekwon‑Do. In 1962, he introduced Taekwon‑Do to Malaysia while serving as Korea’s first ambassador there. In 1965, he led a Korean government–sponsored global goodwill tour, which helped establish the International Taekwon‑Do Federation (ITF) in 1966—the first worldwide governing body for Taekwon‑Do and the first international organization ever headquartered in Korea.
​
Political tensions in South Korea eventually forced Choi into exile. In 1972, he relocated the ITF headquarters to Toronto, Canada, and later to Vienna, Austria—strategic moves that allowed Taekwon‑Do to spread across political boundaries during the Cold War. Choi dedicated the rest of his life to teaching, traveling, and promoting Taekwon‑Do as a martial art rooted in discipline, moral culture, and global unity.​
​In 1980, he introduced Taekwon‑Do to North Korea, an act intended as reconciliation but viewed as controversial in the South. Despite political challenges, his art continued to flourish. By the time Taekwon‑Do debuted as an Olympic medal sport in Sydney in 2000, it had become one of the most widely practiced martial arts in the world.​
General Choi authored five major books—including the landmark 15‑volume Encyclopedia of Taekwon‑Do—and his works have been translated into at least eight languages. He presided over 17 ITF World Championships and oversaw the development of extensive written and electronic documentation, making Taekwon‑Do one of the most thoroughly recorded martial arts in history.
General Choi Hong‑Hi passed away on June 15, 2002, in Pyongyang, North Korea. He left behind his wife, two daughters, and a son—and a global legacy of more than 50 million practitioners across over 100 countries. His vision of Taekwon‑Do as a disciplined, principled, and internationally unifying martial art continues to shape the world today.
