Taekwondo - The Korean Karate
General Choi Hong-Hi was born in 1918 in Hwa Dae Ri, Ham Kyung Buk Do, a Province in the northeastern part of Korea near Cheongjin. It is important to note that when General Choi was born, Korea was a unified Nation. However Korea was suffering under a brutal occupation by Imperial Japan. Koreans often refer to this time as the “Dark Period.”
As a child General Choi had been exposed to the traditional Korean kicking art of Taek Kyon. This, along with his training in the art of Shotokan Karate, laid the foundation for his development of the modern art of Taekwondo. It is this background in multiple martial arts that have contributed to many people mistaking Taekwondo (a Korean art) with Karate (a Japanese art) over the years
In developing the art of Taekwondo, General Choi took the vast array of kicking techniques found in Taek Kyon and combined them with what he felt were the best techniques of Karate and evolved both of them into a what he felt superior system of combat and personal development. When creating Taekwondo, he emphasized that the techniques must adhere to scientifically proven principles for maximum physical effectiveness, which was a fundamental shift away from Karate, which doesn't take into consideration the mechanics of the human body or of the principles of physics. In addition, General Choi also emphasized a uniquely Korean ideal of self-reliance, which translated into an utter devotion to personal development on all fronts.
It is this idea of taking the best of everything (decades before Bruce Lee espoused the idea!) regardless of its source, that both set Taekwondo apart from Karate and led to some people mistakenly identifying Taekwondo as Karate.
Although we do not teach Karate, our Taekwondo curriculum is derived from a mix of karate kicks and punches, katas and other integral moves, which have been integrated into Taekwondo curriculum.
If you would like to learn more about the history of Taekwondo and that of its founder, General Choi, you will find a wealth of information at the International Taekwondo Federation's website: www.tkd-itf.org