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Choi Hong Hi (November 9, 1918 - June 15, 2002) was a South Korean army general founder of Taekwondo. As a retired Major-General, he was his country's first ambassador to Malaysia. He later fled the country and eventually settled in Canada. While he did make several visits to North Korea, he never lived there, returning there permanently only when he was about to pass away. His claim as founder of Taekwondo is disputed by the vast majority of senior Taekwondo masters, although there is no denying that he coined to term "Taekwon-Do" and was at the forefront of the movement to unify the various Kwans. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... For other uses, see Hangul (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: 국어의 로마자 표기법; 國語의 로마字 表記法) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Motto: Broadly bring benefit to humanity [citation needed] Anthem: Aegukga Capital (and largest city) Seoul Korean Government Republic  - President Roh Moo-hyun  - Prime Minister Han Myung-sook Establishment    - Gojoseon October 3, 2333 BCEa   - Republic declared March 1, 1919 (de jure)   - Liberation August 15, 1945   - First Republic August 15, 1948   - [Nations... Taekwondo (also spelled tae kwon do or taekwon-do) is a hard martial art originating in Korea. ...

General Choi was born in what was to be North Korea during the Japanese Colonial Period and died in P'yŏngyang, the North Korean capital. During his adult life, however, Choi lived in Japan, South Korea, and Canada gaining the rank of "Major-General" during his career in the South Korean army. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Pyongyang is the capital city of North Korea, located on the Taedong River, at (39. ...

When written in combination with one’s name, the military title “General” refers to a particular rank, that represented in the US and ROK armies by four stars worn on the collar. Choi, Hong Hi never held this rank; neither in the Army of the Republic of Korea, nor in any other army. The rank of general does refer to a four star general. They are also addressed as general. So in this case the rank & title are the same. However, a one star (brigadier) general, two star (major) general & three star (Lt. general) are all properly referred to as general. So the title to any general, regardless of stars is simply general. That is standard military protocol for the US & ROK Army. Of course, Gen. Choi's rank as a ROK Major General is well known and the appellation "General Choi" was used simply as a short hand reference. Additionally, since Choi held the position of ambassador (a governmental post higher than a military rank) it would be proper to refer to him as "Ambassador Choi," even after he no longer held such a position.

Choi did serve in the Korean army. He was a general officer. As a Brigadier General, Choi served as the Chief of Staff to General Paik Sun Yup, the first Korean officer to achieve four-star rank in that army. General Paik Sun Yup refers to Gen. Choi in his memoirs, Italic textFrom Pusan to PanmunjomItalic text as one of the finest officers he worked with. He was also a Major General, two stars. From the public record, it appears that, as an officer in the army of a nation fighting a terrible war on their own soil, General Choi never held a combat command nor ever performed duties which would have placed him in harm’s way as a soldier. Choi did go on to command an infantry division before retiring, but it was a training division, and stationed on an off-shore island.

As a boy he was educated in Korea under the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula. At that time, many of the traditions of the Korean people were suppressed by the Japanese, including the country's ancient martial arts, which were and still are renowned for the dynamic kicking techniques that are taught in them. Choi Hong Hi claims he was trained in the Korean martial art of Taekyon in secret. However, the Korea Taekkyon Association states these claims were false. It should be noted, however, that Taekkyon developed as both a game and a martial art. Yung Ouyang points out (in "The Elevation of Taekkyon from Folk Game to Martial Art" in Journal of Asian Martial Arts, vol. 6, no. 4) that Taekkyon's origins as a game means that the lack of any sort of lineage records before the recent past is to be completely expected. "Why would anyone want to keep track of who learned from whom how to play a game that was looked down upon anyway? ... Such record keeping is counter-intuitive since if the Japanese had ever gotten hold of such records, the consequences would have been disastrous." Additionally, it was actually the influence of Japanese martial arts on Koreans that can account for the great "concern for lineage and legitimacy. Those who were able to learn formally from masters and had their names in records were probably few in number. The folk nature of taekkyon points to its indigenousness. Obsessiveness with legitimacy through lineage points to something that is foreign and desires exclusivity." As such, the fact that there is no corroboration of Gen. Choi's claim from the Korea Taekkyon Association (as well as Hwang Kee and others) is not surprising. What is surprising is that the organization would even make a claim when there is such a derth of records to begin with. Taekyon, or Taekkyon is a traditional Korean martial art, probably stemming from Subak. ...

When he became older he went to Japan to study at university, there he trained in Shotokan Karate and achieved the rank of black belt within two years of training (there are pictures of Gen. Choi as a student at the main Shotokan dojo when he was a student in Japan which have been published in "Taekwon-Do Times" magazine). He combined aspects of karate with aspects of the ancient Korean martial arts and founded the Oh Do Kwan with NAM, Tae HI as the head instructor. Shotokan (松涛館) is a school of karate, reflecting the style of master Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957), who first brought karate from Okinawa to mainland Japan. ... Korean martial arts, referred to in Korean as Musul (무술 hanja: 武術) or Muye (무예 hanja:武藝), are the various martial arts that originated or were modified in Korea. ... Oh Do Kwan meaning Gym of My Way General Choi Hong Hi, Nam Tae Hee and Han Cha Kyo founded the Oh Do Kwan in the mid 1950s as part of the ROK Armys Physical Training Program. ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Taekwon-Do
• International Taekwondo Federation

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... Pburka 03:51, August 13, 2005 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ... The International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) was founded in 1966 by Major General Choi Hong Hi six years before his exile from South Korea in 1972 and seven years before the WTF. The ITF is basically an extention of the Oh Do Kwan of the late 1960s. ...

External links

• The founder of Taekwondo
• General Choi Hong Hi in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame
• Guardian obituary of General Choi
• TaekwonDo-Legacy Video clips and information pertaining to General Choi.