TAE KWON DO????? What?

[tessone]

I don't think that's an apt analogy. Not only do China and the US have political differences, but there are also significant cultural differences and a tremendous geographic divide, not to mention no unity of purpose or origin.

 

TKD, on the other hand, is one art. Lots of things are taught different, and sometimes the intent might be different, but the major issues are political, and seem to have sprung from a feud between two people.

 

I'm honestly curious to hear the opinions of TKD practitioners on the boards from both sides.

 

 

[koreantiger81]

Yeah. It's just a name. Anything that uses a fist and a foot can be called Tae kwon do since Tae=foot Kwon=fist Do=way of life.

 

Yes, I know there are different systems of tae kwon do that have branched off from the I.T.F and the W.T.F. Some have modified the forms from the W.T.F and the I.T.F, and some systems have incorporated new forms into their system. My complaints are against some ecclectic tae kwon do organizations which incorporate new forms and include only one or two I.T.F/W.T.F forms into their system, and label themselves as Tae Kwon do. Might as well call their system Karate. Furthermore, ecclectic tae kwon do organizations are not big enough, thus there is no one regulating them. They can add more belts and are free to charge whatever belt test fees they want. Some charge excessive high rates for black belt tests compared to the I.T.F and W.T.F. I guess the W.t.F and the I.t.F don't have copyright rights on their name. My concern is, it just seems too easy for anyone to use and perhaps abuse, the name TAE KWON DO.

 

 

 

[ This Message was edited by: koreantiger81 on 2002-05-23 01:51 ]

[tessone]

This is something the World Kuk Sool Won Federation has dealt with, too. Back when the world headquarters was still in San Francisco, some black belt (maybe a master, I can't remember for sure) started a school and wanted to change some things, etc. The organization sued him, but the courts ruled that since Kuk Sool Won just translates to "National Martial Arts Association" in Korean, the name is too general and it can't be used as a service mark. So the other guy got to call what he was doing Kuk Sool as well.

 

Of course, that's been a while, and the nice TM appears next to Kuk Sool Won everywhere, so maybe things have changed. But I'd suspect "The Way of the Fist and Hand" (or in more direct language, "Fist/Hand Martial Arts") is too general, so one particular organization can't get their hands on "Tae Kwan Do" as a trademark.

 

 

[iron-palm]

i presume that you all know that general choi basically created Tae Kwon do even though i was bassed on Tae Kyon

 

and if the higest ranking world master moved away from the w.t.f style and kta and developed the i.t.f then that should tell you something.

 

(like w.t.f isnt very good)

[tessone]

...or else there were political considerations at play. Not everything is as simple as "WTF sucks".