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International Taekwon-Do Federation

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International Taekwon-Do Federation
Hangul
국제 태권도 연맹
Hanja
國際跆拳道聯盟
Revised RomanizationGukje Taegwondo Yeonmaeng
McCune–ReischauerKukje T'aekwǒndo Yǒnmaeng

The International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) was founded in 1966 by General Choi Hong Hi six years before his exile from South Korea in 1972 and seven years before the WTF. His first visit of good will to North Korea was in 1980, when he introduced Taekwon-Do there. It is one the two major international Taekwon-Do organisations, the other being the public Olympic International Federation called World Taekwondo Federation or WTF. The WTF though only operates competitions and has nothing to do with curriculum. For that, the WTF only recognizes the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters). General Choi was the primary figure in the development of Taekwon-Do during the 20th century and headed meetings with the senior Taekwon-Do masters to unify a large number of the Korean martial arts schools under the name Taekwon-Do. He is also responsible for providing Taekwon-Do with its name which was agreed upon on April 11, 1955. He is acknowledged by practitioners of ITF Taekwon-Do as the founder and father of Taekwon-Do.

The original headquarters of the ITF from its inception in 1966 until it relocated to Canada in 1972 was in Seoul, Korea. It then moved from Canada to its former headquarters in Vienna, Austria in 1985. Shortly before General Choi's death, he flew to North Korea to be able to die in his homeland. During this period, internal debate concerning the rightful successor to General Choi became so serious as to cause a serious fracture of the ITF. There are now three major groups claiming to be the rightful ITF (see below).

Recent history

This recent history is very politically charged and one must be careful when approaching it. When General Choi Hong Hi died on June 15 2002, there was a political split between the different masters within the International Taekwon-Do Federation. The rest of this article mainly refers to the ITF as led by Master Choi.

General Choi Hong Hi, Founder of Taekwon-Do, had been elected unanimously as President for another term and stated that after two years he would retire. The congress members unanimously elected then-Master Choi, Jung Hwa to replace Gen. Choi after his retirement at the end of the two-year initial term. This vote was in accordance with the legal procedures for the organization and was done with the approval of the ITF's Legal Consultant. Master Choi, Jung Hwa informed the North Koreans that they would be welcome as a member country in the ITF after he became President, but that they would exercise no undue influence on the organization, which had been devised as a non-political body. After this Master Choi was "expelled" from the ITF during an Extraordinary Congress. The meeting did not meet the ITF's constitutional requirements (not meeting the required number of member countries in attendance and not being requested by the members). As such, its decisions were not binding.

However it is important to note that though Master Choi and his followers use the fact that the congress was unconstitutional, they neglect to address why the ITF felt the need to hold an Extaordinary Congress to expel what was then the President-Elect. Regardless of the reasons, however (and it seems to be due to the urgings of the North Koreans), it is evident that the meeting that was called did not meet the ITF's own requirements.

Another "special" congress was held in North Korea, after the death of Choi Hong Hi, to introduce Mr. Chang Ung, a North Korean government official, IOC Member and basketball coach, Mr. Chang Ung, presented himself as per General Choi's last words, which were witnessed by over a dozen Grand Masters and Masters. Mr. Chang Ung was accepted as President by some present and rejected by others. This group has come to be known on online bulletin boards as ITF North Korea. Many ITF members who originally broke from Master Choi, despite the claim of the non-constitutional nature of his "expulsion," now balked at following Chang Ung.

  • The ITF-C (Master Choi Jung Hwa) claims legitimacy because its president was elected at the 2001 Rimini Congress - the last unified congress before the death of General Choi. General Choi later attempted to overturn that result, although the attempt allegedly failed to meet the requirements of the ITF Constitution. Master Choi moved the ITF headquarters back to Canada while General Choi was still alive and holding the office of President.
  • The ITF-NK (Professor Chang Ung) claims legitimacy as the chosen successors of General Choi, which was later affirmed at the ITF World Congress in Greece during the 2003 World Championships. This congress was arranged due to Master Tran Quan sending emails to all ITF National Associations around the world with a message from the Polish ITF saying that anyone who supports Prof. Chang Ung will not be allowed to participate in their ITF World Champs, Poland.
  • The ITF-V (Master Trân Triêu Quân) claims legitimacy through the ITF constitution, which would invalidate the claims of the ITF-NK, but would also invalidate its own claims. The current president was elected at the 14th ITF Congress Meeting, held in Warsaw, Poland on June 13, 2003. In the recent court case that was held in the Austrian higher Court, the decission was that Prof. Chang Ung is the legitimate ITF President and that Tran Quan should stop advertising that he is the legitimate ITF President. This was the recent court case 2007.

The issue of "who is official" is still in process in the Austrian Courts as to which organisation is the legal and democratically elected ITF in Vienna. However, the ITF under Master Tran has been the registered ITF in Vienna since December, 2003. The Tran Quan group has been removed from the Police Registration and, instead, Prof. Chang Ung has again been registered to the Austrian Police in December 2006 as the real Representatives of ITF. Choi Jung Hwa claims the trademarks and licensing rights to the ITF in Canada belong exclusively to President Choi Jung Hwa.

A recent court ruling stripped Choi Jung Hwa of the trademarks he claimed right of in Canada, awarding them to the Vienna group. Further Choi was ordered by the court to pay the court costs of the Vienna group, some $21,630.21. The Honourable Mr. Justice O'Reilly Matter considered with personal appearance The Court's decision is with regard to Judicial Review (s.18) Result: "THIS COURT'S JUDGMENT IS that: The registered marks (No. 500,055, 500,361, 522,294 and 522,295) are invalid and should be struck from the register, with costs to the applicants". The full case transcript of the court proceedings is available here. (Source: Canadian Federal Court)

The rights to the ITF in other countries are believed to be owned by the former NGB's under the old unified regime. In the UK that is believed to be Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha.

However, the IOC recognizes the North Korean ITF and has entertained talks with the WTF. This started when Mr. Chang Ung, President of one of the ITF, had the ITF recognized by GAISF, the President of which was Dr. Un Yong Kim, also the President of the WTF. There are currently ongoing talks between the ITF-NK under Mr. Chang Ung and the WTF to merge the two Taekwon-Dos, which was General Choi's strongest hope for reunification between North and South Korea. The talks were recently given increased energy with the direct involvement of the IOC President, with the presidents of both the ITF-NK & WTF at a meeting held at IOC Headquarters.

ITF Returns to South Korea

As a result of continued efforts by ITF Canada (Choi Jung Hwa) to return the ITF to its homeland, the Federation has established a local organisation in South Korea. In 2003 5th Degree Black Belt Mike Morningstar became the first instructor officially sent by the ITF to teach Taekwon-Do in South Korea since 1972. In 2004 the KITF hosted the ITF's World Championship and Junior World Championship in Daegu. As a result of this trailblazing, both the Vienna and DPRK groups have been able to establish branches in South Korea as well. As none of the Kukkiwon schools train to Choi Hong Hi's pattern (TUL) system it should be interesting to see the growth of these over the years. The Oh Do Kwan practiced the Chang Hun tuls in the military and approximately 60% of civilian schools did as well.

All three groups now have representation in South Korea. There was a group affiliated to the ITF-NK that visited North Korea in May of 2006, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the ITF.

It is important to note, however, that the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), the International Federation for Taekwondo under the International Olympic Committee, has been in talks with the ITF President, Chang Ung of North Korea. Expect soon that the North Korean Taekwondo group will apply for Member National Association (MNA) status with the WTF. North Korean Taekwon-Do practitioners are already learning the Kukkiwon curriculum.

Patterns

Patterns or forms ("tuls" in Korean, equivalent to the kata in karate) originally called Hyung, are considered by many to be one of the most important aspects of training in Taekwon-Do. The patterns practised by members of the ITF are originally the patterns of the OH DO KWAN and rather different from those performed by Kukkiwon, especially the Taegeuk Poomsae, and form one of the major differences between the two styles.

The majority of the patterns (excepting Ul-Ji and Tong-Il) start with a defensive move, which emphasizes Taekwondo's defensive nature. All of the patterns start and end at the same location. This ensures that the practitioners' stances are the correct length, width, and in the proper direction.

There are 24 patterns (틀) in the official ITF syllabus, developed by General Choi with assistance form associates such as Nam Tae Hi, Kim Bok Man, Han Cha Kyo, CK Choi and Park Jung Tae. General Choi also developed the Confucious based Korean Patriotic philosophy of each pattern. The names of these patterns typically refer to a patriotic instance or person of Korean history, with the exception of the controversial Juche Tul. They are as follows (with Hangul/Hanja names), and with related articles:

Originally there was another pattern called Kodang, but this has been replaced by Juche in the current official syllabus of the ITF. As Juche is an important element of North Korean ideology, this change is sometimes controversial. In some studios, Juche is taught in addition to Ko-Dang, rather than replacing it, because the instructor feels that both are important.

It is also interesting to note that Oh Do Kwan representative HYUN, Jong Myung was one of the eight people from various kwans who created the Palgwe and Dan Poomsae (patterns) for the Korea Taekwondo Association in 1965, and was also on that same committee when the Palgwe Poomsae was replaced with the Taegeuk Poomsae, and some Dan Poomsae was revised in 1971–72, for the Kukkiwon.

Ranks

The ITF has a unique ranking system. It consists of five solid color belts (kups - also commonly called gups), five intermediate colour belts (indicated by a stripe around both hanging ends of the belt or a stripe around the middle of the entire belt), and nine degrees of Black.

  • 10th kup (white)
  • 9th kup (white with yellow stripe)
  • 8th kup (yellow)
  • 7th kup (yellow with green stripe)
  • 6th kup (green)
  • 5th kup (green with blue stripe)
  • 4th kup (blue)
  • 3rd kup (blue with red stripe)
  • 2nd kup (red)
  • 1st kup (red with a black stripe)

The nine degrees (dans) of Black are organized into skill levels:

  • 1st-3rd dan (Novice) with the title of Assistant Instructor (Boo-sabum)
  • 4th-6th dan (Expert) with the title of Instructor (Sabum)
  • 7th-8th dan (Master) with the title of Master (Sahyun)
  • 9th dan (Grand Master) with the title of Grand Master (Saseong)

The reason for nine black belt degrees, according to General Choi, is that the number nine is not only the highest of the single-digit numbers, but also is the number of three multiplied by three. In the Orient, three is the most esteemed of all numbers. The Chinese character for 3 is three horizontal lines, one above the other. The bottom line represents earth; the middle line represents mortals; the upper line represents heaven.

Each colour has a specific philosophical meaning. They are as follows:

  • White - signifies innocence and ignorance toward Taekwon-Do, as that of the beginning student who has no previous knowledge of Taekwon-Do;
  • Yellow - signifies the earth, from which a plant sprouts and takes root as the Taekwon-Do foundation is laid;
  • Green - signifies the plant's growth, as the Taekwon-Do skill begins to develop;
  • Blue - signifies Heaven, towards which the plant matures into a towering tree as training in Taekwon-Do progress;
  • Red - signifies danger, cautioning the student to exercise control and warning the opponent to stay away;
  • Black - Opposite of white, therefore signifying the maturity and proficiency in Taekwon-Do. It also indicates the wearer's imperviousness to darkness and fear.

Up to 6th dan, all ranks require the student to perform a test of all skills and knowledge up to their rank to be promoted. Ranks above 6th dan may be awarded with consent of the promotion committee with no physical test required; due to the nature of and responsibilities of a master no longer being centered on the physical development of students. However, if the recipient desires, a demonstration may be performed. 9th degree (being the highest) can only be awarded when the special committee examines and reaches a unanimous consent. There are minimum times that practitioners must remain at a black belt degree before being promoted to the next grade: 1st degree: minimum 18 months as 1st degree before promotion to 2nd degree; 2nd degree: minimum 2 years; 3rd degree: minimum 3 years; 4th degree: minimum 4 years; and so on.

References

See also

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