Choi Kwang-Do is a martial art derived from taekwondo created by
Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi. Choi was a chief instructor for the International
Taekwondo Federation from 1964 to 1978. His new style, Choi Kwang-Do, was
officially inaugurated by him on March 2, 1987. With the goal of creating a
safer and more effective martial art, Choi said that he formulated his new
style based on bio-mechanical principles.
Choi Kwang-Do adherents say that all movements in their style follow the
body's natural movement pattern, and are performed as one sequential
movement. Their theory is that power is thereby increased and risk of injury
is reduced. In Choi Kwang-do, martial arts competitions are viewed as
counter-productive for health and self-defense purposes. Training is geared
towards the stated goal of practical responses with maximum power in
realistic situations.
Also known as dojunim (founder), Kwang Jo Choi was born March 2, 1942 in
Taegu City, Korea. He began his formal study of martial arts at age twelve
in the art of kwon bup, under the famous Master Instructor, Dong Ju Li.
Driven by the need to survive in the war torn streets of South Korea, Kwang
Jo Choi soon became one of Master Li's star pupils.
After his tenure in the Korean Army, Kwang Jo Choi began his study of
Taekwondo (Korean hand and foot fighting art) under its founder, General
Choi Hong Hi. Through Kwang Jo Choi's talent and dedicated training, he was
awarded the prestigious title of Chief Instructor under General Choi's
International Taekwondo Federation before he was twenty five years old. Due
to his excellent Tae Kwon Do technique, Kwang Jo Choi was named the "Model
of Tae Kwon Do" by General Choi Hong Hi.
In addition to teaching self-defense to the Korean Army and National
Police, Kwang Jo Choi was personally selected by General Choi to serve as an
elite member of a group of experts chosen to spread Taekwondo throughout the
world. Through his mission, Kwang Jo Choi became one of Taekwondo's most
prominent ambassadors and was directly responsible for its spread throughout
Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and eventually, the United
States.
Motivated by his dedication to the advancement of the martial arts, Choi
searched for ways to improve on techniques and teaching methods of his
predecessors. It was during his first years in Hong Kong, where he settled
twenty years ago, that Choi began consolidating his martial arts theories
and concepts.
For some time, Choi had felt that many of the traditional techniques he
had learned were too stylized and rigid for practical self-defense. He
discovered that many of these same techniques could actually harm the body
and he thought, over the long term, they were detrimental to health and
longevity. In fact, Grandmaster Choi had completely injured his body due to
the lock out movements in his previous training, which forced him to move to
North America in order to seek medical treatment. It was during this
recuperation period that Choi created new techniques that would later form
the initial foundation for Choi Kwang-Do.
Choi witnessed what he felt was too much importance being placed on
sports competition, with the winning of trophies taking precedence over the
ideals of personal and human development. The classical Instructor-Student
relationship, which is crucial to development of a student in the martial
arts, was quickly fading into a coach-athlete relationship where the only
goal was to win, he believed.
Named after its founder, Choi Kwang-Do was officially introduced on March
2, 1987. Choi has since founded his own world organization, Choi Kwang-Do
Martial Art International, and spends his time teaching, training
Instructors and giving seminars at his many branches throughout the world.
In addition, he is currently involved in producing videos and written
literature from his headquarters in the Atlanta, Georgia area. The
culmination of this work so far has been the release of a book about his
art, the release of a video tape series and DVD series on the art, training
and curriculum.
Choi Kwang-Do has schools in many countries, though none in South Korea.
Note that before one receives any stripe they start with none and must
advance from there. For example, within Sam Dan there are four ranks, with
three stripes.
- Il Dan (Through Yellow, Gold, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Red,
Brown stripes) (Eligbile to become Head/ Chief Instructor)
- Ee Dan (Through Gold, Green, Blue, Red, Brown stripes) (Eligible to
become Asst. Examiner)
- Sam Dan (Through Gold, Blue, Brown stripes) (Eligible to become
Examiner)
- Sa Dan (Eligible to become International Instructor)
- Oh Dan (Master)
- Yook Dan
- Chil Dan
- Pal Dan (Grandmaster)
- Koo Dan (The highest Degree attainable in CKD)
4th Degree black belts are titled 'International Instructors'. Fifth
degree black belts are titled 'Master', eighth degree black belts are titled
'Grandmaster'. Currently there are only two grandmasters: Grandmaster Woo,
who has been Grandmaster Choi's student for 30 years, and Grandmaster Choi,
who is the founder and 9th Degree Black Belt.
A - C
Korea