WTF vs ITF vs WIF, does club affiliation matter???

[karatekid1975]

I agree with Koreantiger. I've been researching different schools and their requirements (WTF). Most of them have the Taeguks, and the WTF style rules for sparring, and step sparring (although they are different from school to school). Some are sport. Some have the freedom to teach self defense how ever they like. I'm kinda likin this idea. If I ever open my own school under the WTF, I will have the freedom to teach self defense in what is known as a martial sport style. My students will have the best of both worlds

[Blue]

How about this one..

 

http://www.songmookwan.com/songsite/songhist.html

 

I haven't seen much about these schools. It's looks interesting though as the NATF is based not far from my home and GM Ro is head instructor and also teaches Hapkido.

[KickChick]

OK ... now Blue is getting into the "schools" of TKD or "kwans" ... which there are a few also.

 

Our school style is based in Traditional Chung Do Kwan

[Blue]

I haven't studied this a whole lot KC - care to provide a little more info ? I have no idea what " kwan " my current school is. It's a WTF school that teaches Palgwe and Tae-geuk forms.

[Blue]

Well i just copies this from my schools website:

 

Our basics are derived from song moo kwan, ji do kwan and chung do

 

kwan.

 

I think i need to read up a bit on this stuff. Yikes.

[Dekan]

head spinning.......

[ZeRo]

we are with the ITF under the UKTA which is run by GM Rhee, one of Gen. Chois' best students.

[KickChick]

Prepare yourself... this will be lengthy!!!

 

"At the end of WWII, when Japan was driven from Korea, the restriction to practice martial art was lifted and several martial arts training schools were soon opened and several different styles of martial arts began to develop. A style or school of martial arts was called a "kwan". In 1955 a meeting of all the masters from the various kwans was convened in order to unify them under a common name.

 

These kwans taught what is now known as “Tae Kwon Do”. General Choi Hong Hi actually submitted the name Tae Soo Do and it was agreed upon only to be changed 2 years later (1957) to Tae Kwon Do. There were various other types of martial arts called "Kong Soo" or "Tae Soo". In 1965, all of these various systems united into one organization, called the "Korean Tae Kwon Do Association".

 

Although the kwans were similar in many ways, there were small differences. There was no unified way to bow, punch, kick or compete. The purpose of merging these various styles was for the mutual benefit of all the kwans in order to grow. Although most of the kwans merged under this common name, there were a few who did not. The Kukkiwan in Seoul, Korea displayed 6 kwan symbols as the original kwans to emerge after WWII, and 3 sub groups. So altogether there were 9 original kwans....

 

(1) Song-Moo-Kwan, was formed after World War Two, and founded by Grand Master Byung Jick Ro. Grand Master Ro studied Soobak and Tae Kyon, in Korea as a youth. During the Japanese occupation he earned a black belt in Shotokan Karate. After the war he returned to Korea and combined the fighting styles of shotokan (powerful hand techniques) and Tae Kyon (flowing kicks) and called it Song Moo Kwan. Song Moo Kwan stands for Pine Tree School.

 

(2) Han-Moo-Kwan, was a sub kwan of Ji Do Kwan. Han Moo Kwan was said to dominate the tournaments through the use of the roundhouse kick. The roundhouse kick is still the dominant kick today in modern Olympic Taekwondo tournaments.

 

(3) Chang-Moo-Kwan, was founded the following year after Yun Moo Kwan (in 1946) and was the fifth original kwan. Chang Moo Kwan was originally called the YMCA Kwon Bup. Chang Moo Kwan was founded by Grandmaster Yoon Byung In. Grandmaster Yoon studied Shotokan Karate. The trade mark technique in Chan Moo Kwan was the full roundhouse kick (without retract).

 

(4) Moo-Duk-Kwan, was founded by Grandmaster Hwang Kee later in 1945 also in Seoul. Moo Duk Kwan stands for "a brotherhood and school of stopping inner and outer conflict and developing virtue according to the way of the worthy hand." Some have shortened this to "Art of the knife hand." Moo Duk Kwan's signature technique was the roundhouse kick. The style used was originally called Hwa Soo Do. But later Grandmaster Kee decided to incorporate Tang Soo Do into the Hwa Soo Do. Now Moo Duk Kwan calls their art Soo Bak Do. It is said that Ji Do Kwan/Moo Duk Kwan became the largest of the kwans in Korea during the late 1950's. In fact, Grandmaster Hwang Kee estimated that in 1960, these two kwans constituted 70 per cent of the Taekwondo/Tang Soo Do/ Kong Soo Do/Tae Soo Do population. Modern Tang Soo Do is heavily indebted to Grandmaster Kee.

 

(5) O-Do-Kwan, wasfounded by General Choi and stands for “Gym of My Way”. Oh Do Kwan opened between 1953-54 during the Korean War. Oh Do Kwan was considered a sub kwan of the Chung Do Kwan. Oh Do Kwan was mostly known for its side and jumping side kick, possibly influenced by Chung Do Kwan.

 

(6) Kang-Du-Kwan, ( Kang Duk Won) was a sub-kwan of the Chang Moo Kwan

 

(7) Jung-Do-kwan, was a sub-kwan of the Chung Do Kwan.

 

( Ji-Do-Kwan, was founded by Grandmaster Chun who disappeared during the Korean War. Yun Moo Kwan also opened in Seoul later in 1945 after Chung Do Kwan. The name was converted to Ji Do Kwan between 1953-54 after the Korean War. The name Yun Moo Kwan came from a judo school. The style was originally called Kong Soo Do. Grandmaster Chun learned Han Moo Kwan (Korean martial arts) Karate while living in Japan. The Yun Moo Kwan/Ji Do Kwan emblem is a figure eight inside a curly design. The signature technique was a front kick punch and other sources say the Ji Do Kwan signature was the roundhouse. Ji Do Kwan practitioners were also known for their emphasis in sparring possibly due to the fact that the original Ji Do Kwan in Seoul was right next to a boxing gym.

 

(9) Chung-Do-Kwan was founded by Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee, this was the first school in Korea and was opened in 1945 in Yong Chun, Seoul. The style was called Tang Soo Do (Okinawan discipline of Karate). Their trademark technique was the sidekick and the jumping sidekick. Later, in the 1960's the back sidekick and jumping back sidekick were also signature techniques."

 

(taken from research done on a TKD article)

[Blue]

That's great info KC, thanks.

 

I did a little reading on this as well last night. Wow. I understood from being in class the part about the kwans being unified in the 50's, but i guess i didn't understand exactly what that meant. It's really kind of confusing. I think it's fairly interesting that for the unification effort that was made, it didn't really unify the kwans at all ! Tae-Kwon-Do is, for lack of a better analogy, a quilt of many different parts of cloth.

 

I called the school that GM Ro started here and he still teaches many of the classes. I'm going to drop by and check it out.

 

Regards

[niel0092]

Blue, let us know how it goes with GM Ro. I'm particularly interested as he's in our area.