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General Choi Hong Hi

The Military Years

While in Japan the Second World War broke out and like all of his fellow countrymen at the time, General Choi was forced to join the Japanese Army. General Choi was posted to Pyongyang, North Korea and was soon after accused of being the planner of the Korean Independence Movement. The General was sent to a Japanese prison during his eight month pretrial examination. General Choi practiced his art in Prison and gained attention/respect of both prisoners and Jailers, not long after he was teaching them both.

Luckily the liberation in August 1945 spared Choi from his given seven year prison sentence and he was set free to the outside world. Soon after leaving prison, General Choi was commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the new South Korean Army.

During his time in the Korean Army, the General made huge steps in both developing his military career and most importantly Taekwon-do (A list of achievements arranged by year is provided below):

1945 - 1947 ~	• Transferred to Tae Jon in charge of the Second Infantry Regiment. Started spreading the art to Korean and American soldiers.
1947 ~	• Promoted to captain and then major.
1948 ~	• Posted to Seoul as the head of logistics.
	• Became Taekwon-Do instructor for the American Military Police School in Seoul.
	• Late 1948, Choi became a Lieutenant Colonel.
1949 ~	• Promoted to full colonel.
	• Visited the United States for the first time and attended the Fort Riley Ground General School.
1952 ~	• Appointed as Chief of Staff of the First Corps.
	• Briefed General MacArthur during visits to Kang Nung.
	• General Choi was also in command of the 5th Infantry Division.
1953 ~	• Became the author of the first authoritative book on military intelligence in Korea.
	• Organized and activated the crack 29th Infantry Division at Cheju Island.
	• Spearheaded Taekwon-Do in the military and established the Oh Do Kwan (Gym of My Way).
1954 ~	• Developing the Taek Kyon and Karate techniques into a modern system of Taekwon-Do, with the help of Mr. Nam Tae Hi, his right hand man.
	• Promoted to major general.
1955 ~	• General Choi made Taekwon-Do become a formally recognized art in Korea.
	• On the 11th of April, the board summoned by Gen. Choi, decided on the name of Taekwon-Do which had been submitted by him.
1959 ~	• The father of Taekwon-Do and nineteen of his top black belt holders toured the Far East, leading to Taekwon-do spreading beyond it's national boundaries. Many of these black belt holders went on to spread the art to the world.
	• General Choi became president of his newly formed Korea Taekwon-Do Association.
	• Also became deputy commander of the 2nd Army in Tae Gu.
	• General Choi Hong Hi published his first Korean text on Taekwon-Do which became the model for the 1965 edition.
1960 ~	• In the year of 1960, the General attended the Modern Weapons Familiarization Course in Texas. Visited Jhoon Rhees Karate Club in San Antonio, convinced the students to use the name Taekwon-Do instead of Karate. This marked the beginning of Taekwon-Do in the United States of America.
	• Became Director of Intelligence of the Korean Army.
	• Assumed command of the Combat Armed Command with direction of the infantry, artillery, armored, signal and aviation schools.
1961 ~	• Commanded one of the largest training centers in Korea.
	• Commanded 6th Army Corps.
	• Made Taekwon-Do a compulsory subject for the entire armed and police forces in south Korea.
	• Taekwon-Do was even introduced to the greatest military academy in the world - West Point due to the great work of General Choi working with U.S. soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division which was under his operational control.
1962 ~	• General Choi was appointed as Ambassador to Malaysia.
1963 ~	• Taekwon-Do Association of Malaysia was formed and reached national acceptance.
	• Taekwon-Do was taught to the Armed Forces of Vietnam under Major Nam Tae Hi.
1964 ~	• Taekwon-Do Association was formed in Singapore.
1965 ~	• Ambassador Choi, retired two star general.
	• Was appointed by the Government of the Republic of Korea to lead a goodwill mission to West Germany, Italy, Turkey, United-Arab Republic, Malaysia, and Singapore. For the first time in Korean history, declared Taekwon-Do as the national martial art of Korea.

Important:

The timetables used in this article are cut down versions of general Choi's accomplishments. Because this is a Brief Summary of General Choi's life history, I have only noted what I regard to be the most fundamental years in the creation of Taekwon-do. General Choi did in fact tour different places around the world nearly every year promoting Taekwon-do in some shape or form after 1965.

Next Page: The Creation of ITF (International Tae kwon-Do Federation)

Table of Contents

Page 1: Growing Up in Turbulent Times
Page 2: The Military Years
Page 3: The creation of ITF
Page 4: Final Words

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General Choi Hong Hi The Military Years

Important:

General Choi Hong Hi

The Military Years