In 1955, General Choi Hong-Hi, known as the “father of modern
taekwondo,” unveiled the art of taekwondo to the Korean public. General
Choi and several other practitioners took the fighting arts of several
schools, or kwons, and unified them into a single fighting art. Some kwons
(e.g., Tang Soo Do) did not participate in this unification. General Choi
also took several of the kata from Japanese karate, most notably Shôtôkan,
and adopted them into taekwondo. General Choi took the name taek-
wondo, in part, because of the resemblance of the name to t’aek’kyo ̆n.
The Korean conflict brought many United States military personnel
into Korea and exposed them to the art. Some Americans remained in Ko-
rea after the end of the conflict in 1953 and received teaching certification
in taekwondo, later returning to America to teach the art.
Jhoon Rhee formally introduced the art to America in 1956, founding
the first taekwondo academy in San Marcos, Texas. By the 1960s, the art
had spread worldwide, into the Middle East, Taiwan, Canada, and West-
ern Europe. With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, many more Americans
were exposed to the art while stationed in Korea, which helped to account
for a surge in popularity in the 1970s, when returning American service
personnel brought the art with them. Taekwondo continued to expand
worldwide in the 1980s, moving into the newly open societies of Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union. Taekwondo received exposure when
the art was entered as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympics in South
Korea. Today, it is practiced by an estimated 20 million persons worldwide.
Information on the fate of taekwondo in North Korea is sketchy at
best. It is known that North Koreans do practice taekwondo, along with
other Korean martial arts, but given the highly secretive nature of the
Taekwondo 611A scene of ring-
style training of
Miss Kim, ca.- (Courtesy
of Joe Svinth)