The five original Korean Kwans ("schools") were:
- Chung Do Kwan
- Moo Duk Kwan (the art of Tang Soo Do)
- Yun Moo Kwan
- Chang Moo Kwan
- Chi Do Kwan
These were founded in 1945 and 1946. Three more Kwans were founded in the early
1950's:
- Ji Do Kwan
- Song Moo Kwan
- Oh Do Kwan.
After fifty years of occupation by Japan (which ended in 1945) and after the
division of the nation and the Korean War, Korean nationalism spurred the creation
of a national art in 1955, combining the styles of the numerous kwans active within
the country (with the exception of Moo Duk Kwan, which remained separate - therefore
Tang Soo Do is still a separate art from TKD today). Gen. Hong Hi Choi was primarily
responsible for the creation of this new national art, which was named Tae Kwon
Do to link it with Tae-Kyon (a native art). Earlier unification efforts had been
called Kong Soo Do, Tae Soo Do, etc. Many masters had learned Japanese arts during
the occupation, or had learned Chinese arts in Manchuria. Only a few had been
lucky enough to be trained by the few native martial artists who remained active
when the Japanese banned all martial arts in Korea. Choi himself had taken Tae-Kyon
(a Korean art) as a child, but had earned his 2nd dan in Shotokan Karate while
a student in Japan.
Primarily a kicking art. There is often a greater emphasis on the sport aspect
of the Art. Tae-Kwon-Do stylists tend to fight at an extended range, and keep
opponents away with their feet. It is a hard/soft, external, fairly linear style.
It is known for being very powerful.
Training tends to emphasize sparring, but has forms, and basics are important
as well. There is a lot of competition work in many dojongs.
The World Taekwondo Federation is the governing body recognized by the International
Olympic Committee, and as a result WTF schools usually emphasize Olympic-style
full contact sparring. The WTF is represented in the U.S. by the U.S. Taekwondo
Union (USTU).
The International Taekwondo Federation is an older organization founded by
Hong Hi Choi and based out of Canada. It tends to emphasize a combination of self-defense
and sparring, and uses forms slightly older than those used by the WTF.
The American Taekwondo Association is a smaller organization similar in some
ways to the ITF. It is somewhat more insular than the ITF and WTF, and is somewhat
unique in that it has copyrighted the forms of its organization so that they cannot
be used in competition by non-members.
There are numerous other federations and organizations, many claiming to be
national (AAU TKD has perhaps the best claim here) or international (although
few are), but these three have the most members. All of these federations, however,
use similar techniques (kicks, strikes, blocks, movement, etc.), as indeed does
Tang Soo Do (another Korean art, founded by the Moo Duk Kwan, that remained independent
during the unification/foundation of Tae Kwon Do).
A - C