BackITF Call to Action

Dear Grandmasters, Masters, Instructors, Black belts, and all Taekwon-Do students,

It has recently come to the Taekwon-Do community’s attention that the North Korean ITF group, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, has publicly stated that they are changing the name of our last pattern, Tong-Il, and rewriting Taekwon-Do history. This is a travesty and an injustice that must be brought to light. My brothers and sisters in Taekwon-Do, I am writing to you to let you know that history is repeating itself. The so-called North Korean ITF is again attempting to usurp, change, and steal Taekwon-Do from the legacy of its founder, our beloved General Choi Hong Hi.

Taekwon-Do was and is a gift to mankind. There are 3 undeniable facts about Taekwon-Do: it is for the whole world, it will always be part of Korea’s history and culture, and it can never be separated from the Choi family. General Choi created Taekwon-Do for many reasons, one of his deepest reasons was for the eventual reunification of his country, that has been artificially divided since the end of World War II. General Choi believed that by giving Taekwon-Do to both halves of his separated country that Taekwon-Do could be a unifying factor in the eventual reunification of one Korea. Our pattern, the 24th tul, Tong-Il, is devoted to that cause. The founder of Taekwon-Do was a lifelong patriot of the Korean people. He is Korean. He loved his country and through Taekwon-Do, he fought for the eventual goal that as he knew it, it could be once again, one homogeneous race. The reunification of the Korean people was the most important dream, hope, and desire of General Choi. He devoted his entire life to this goal for his country. Tong-Il is the last pattern specifically placed, as a hope, that this dream would eventually come to pass. In 1987, General Choi had to battle for the authenticity of Taekwon-Do. In General Choi’s memoirs, Volume II, page 461, titled “Unalterable name of Taekwon-Do”, General Choi tells of how the North Koreans tried to usurp the history and creation of Taekwon-Do in the past.  He wrote:

“One of the reasons why I had to assert the independence of Taekwon-Do from political power seriously again was due to the shock that I had when I saw a documentary film on Taekwon-Do produced by the North Korean government. As a matter of fact, I did not know there was a film like that in North Korea. I happened to see it when, along with my wife and the family of my son... The Minister of Cultural Affairs asked me if I had seen the film that he had produced, and thus I learned there was a documentary film on Taekwon-Do… My wife was completely upset after watching it and insisted that I should go back to Toronto and drop every project related to North Korea. To my surprise, the film began with the explanation:  Taekwon-Do is a traditional martial art passed down from the kingdom of Koguryu. It was developed by the great father, President Kim-Il Sung, and the great leader, Jung-Il Kim, after the liberation of Korea from Japan in 1945 and today is well known throughout the world. At the end of the film, they mentioned my name briefly as the major contributor to the distribution of Taekwon-Do. Many thoughts came accross my mind,all night long I stayed up and the next morning I rounded up the staff of the North Korean Taekwon-Do association and delivered a strong complaint about the distorted facts reported in the documentary film, as well as asking who was responsible for what had happened.  I warned them that I would never come to North Korea again if they did not recall and burn the prints immediately."

North Korea is now attempting once again to distort the facts and change the history of our beloved art by usurping the name of our last pattern, Tong-Il, and changing it to reflect their ideology. General Choi’s greatest dream was for the reunification of his country, this cannot be erased from our past, our present, or our future. It is unacceptable for this piece of history, this core element, and General Choi’s passion for it to be removed by the so-called North Korean ITF. We, as the community of Taekwon-Do, must know that this is taking place. We must protect our legacy, our history, and our identity. We cannot let history repeat itself. General Choi warned us, and we are now seeing that his prophetic words were true. This is a grave injustice that is being perpetrated upon General Choi’s legacy. We must bring this truth to light. This change is just the tip of the iceberg. Expect more changes if there is no resistance by Taekwon-Do people worldwide.

Taekwon,
Master William Howard
Technical Committee Chairman ITF