Where We Stand On - The Organizations That We Recognize

WHERE WE STAND ON ..... THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE RECOGNIZE (AND ARE RECOGNIZED BY)

Contrary to much of what has been written and said outside the Republic of Korea, especially in the United States and Western Europe, the traditional military arts are well-organized and well-managed in Korea. So are the martial sports, by the way, which are managed separately and will not be discussed herein.

The three major traditional Korean military arts are Yudo, Hapkido, and Taekwondo. All of these arts are taught within a “kwon” (Japanese “ryu”), which is a system, style, or school of thought formally recognized by the governing body for that art.

It is improper in the Korean system for a student of an art to say “I study Yudo, Hapkido or Taekwondo”. The name of the kwon is always cited, i.e. “I study HaeMuKwan Hapkido” or “I study ChungTongKwan Yudo”.

This has several advantages. One advantage is that when an instructor or senior practitioner is informed of the kwon that a student studies, and of the student’s current rank, the instructor or senior practitioner knows what the student has been trained to do and may safely teach or practice with that student based upon the student’s level of knowledge and training. Conversely, if a student is not demonstrating proper knowledge and competence in the kwon style for the belt rank held by the student, it may be brought to the attention of kwon officials who will undoubtedly look into the quality of training provided at the school attended by this student.

A spin-off of this system is that it prevents the type of unregulated proliferation in organizations seen in the United States or of the unauthorized “kwons” as seen in Europe. In Taekwondo, for example, there are only nine authorized kwons and only seven of these are active. Should a practitioner show up at a school in Korea claiming to belong to a kwon not recognized by the governing body of that art, they would be laughed out of the school. (This is not true, of course, of those unlicensed, unrecognized, and unscrupulous facilities in Korea, especially in Seoul, whose business consists of renting space to visiting tour groups of foreigners who are told that the rental space is one of their unapproved organization's “schools” in Korea. Unfortunately, even some lower-end licensed schools will occasionally do this, strictly for the fast cash.)

It should go without saying, that the home of the traditional Korean military arts is Korea. It must be said, however, because there appears to be a rather large community out there that does not understand this simple concept.

The best and the brightest of the Korean martial arts community do not pack up and leave Korea to teach in the United States, or Europe, or in some so-called third world country. Korea is one of the most homogeneous societies in the world, and one of the proudest. Indeed, in the United States, the majority of expatriate Koreans teaching what they call a Korean art, are not qualified to teach in Korea. Other expatriate Koreans, including those who are retired and those who have lost the right to issue legitimate rank in Korea, continue to supplement their income by pandering to unknowledgeable Americans. This is the equivalent of a retired or former university president continuing to issue degree certificates after leaving the university. The paper might look nice upon the wall, but it is otherwise worthless.

The governing body for the traditional Korean military art of Yudo, world-wide, is the ROK Yudo Association. The governing body for the traditional Korean military art of Hapkido, world-wide, is the Korea Hapkido Federation. The governing body for the traditional Korean military art of Taekwondo, world-wide, is the Korea Taekwondo Association.

These governing bodies of the traditional Korean military arts, as recognized by the Korean government, form an organization. One purpose of this organization is to set and maintain a uniformly high standard for the teaching and practice of the Korean military arts. This organization is called the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association (KMAIA). The smaller military art organizations have joined this organization over the years, so that the KMAIA is now the standard-setting organization for all of the recognized military arts.

The most recent additions to the KMAIA are the only two recognized international kwons of the traditional Korean military arts: ChungTongKwan Yudo and HaeMuKwan Hapkido, which were accepted to membership in 2002. Admission to membership indicates that these two traditional military art kwons have met the existing standards of management, education, and training, for such arts within the Republic of Korea and have agreed to continue to do so in the future.

As a member of the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association, ChungTongKwan Yudo enjoys fraternal relationships with the other member organizations. Mutual recognition of the ranks and certifications issued by member organizations is one aspect of that fraternal relationship.

At time of writing, the members of the Korean Martial Art Instructors Association (in alphabetical order) are:

Chung Tong Yudo

Hae Mu Hapkido

Korea BongSool Association

Korea ChiMuKwan Association

Korea Hapkido Federation

Korea Kumdo Federation

Korea KumMuSool Federation

Korea KyukTookKi Federation

Korea MooDo Association

Korea ShimKiDo Association

Korea SipPalGi Association

Korea Sirrum Association

Korea SooRim Federation

Korea Taekwondo Association

Korea TaeKyun Association

Korea TangSooDo MuDukKwan Society

Korean Healing Arts Institute

Korean Ki Society

National Hapkido Association

R.O.K. Yudo Association

These - and only these - are the legitimate Korean martial art organizations recognized by the government of the Republic of Korea. These organizations - and their subordinate kwons and subsidiary organizations - are the only military art organizations recognized by ChungTongKwan Yudo.

This is not to say that there are not legitimate cultural or sport organizations in Korea with a martial heritage. There certainly are. There is a well-known organization headquartered in California, with a mailing address in Korea, which maintains two schools in Korea, both run by Korean-Americans. This organization was recognized several years ago by the Department of Education in Korea for its cultural achievement in maintaining a Korean form of Chinese boxing and keeping it from extinction. Among other organizations so honored that year included one that made puppets and one that made traditional women’s formal clothing. We honor this organization, and art, for its cultural heritage, but we do not recognize the kwon certificates, and promotion certificates, that it issues, in arts it does not practice.

ChungTongKwan Yudo also recognizes selected martial sport organizations. Principal among these is, of course, the Korea Judo Association, which co-chartered Chung Tong Yudo along with the ROK Yudo Federation. There may be additional organizations recognized by the International Yudo Federation, the international governing body for ChungTongKwan Yudo or, with permission, by the member bodies of the International Yudo Federation.

In the United States, US Yudo, the national governing body for Yudo, is a member of the United States Ju-Jitsu Federation (the national Ju-Jitsu governing body under the Ju-Jitsu International Federation). US Yudo also sponsors a member club of the United States Judo Association, a sport judo organization, to meet member needs.

The reader should not infer from our “recognition” of martial sport organizations, however, that we are referring to direct homologation of rank and other qualifications. As we have referred to above, and noted at length in other essays of this series, the purpose, philosophy, education, training, and standards, of the traditional military arts and of the martial sports which sprang from them, are separate and distinct from each other. ChungTongKwan Yudo’s “recognition” of martial sports organizations refers to our acknowledgement and acceptance of that organization’s validity as an Olympic, World Game, or international sport organization, i.e. the validity of its status, standing, and authority over its members, programs, and activities.

ChungTongKwan Yudo “recognizes” the World Taekwondo Academy at KukKiWon in Seoul, for example. Their faculty and staff is undoubtedly among the best in the world for the practice of Kukki (or National) Taekwondo, the national sport of Korea. The excellent Instructor Training Course conducted by the World Taekwondo Academy would not be any more appropriate for the training of ChungTongKwan Yudo instructors, however, than the instructor training course mandated by the International Yudo Federation would be appropriate for the training of coaches for the sport of Taekwondo.

At the end of the day, ChungTongKwan Yudo is a traditional Korean military art recognized and accepted by its peers in the Republic of Korea and around the world. Practitioners of this art receive the same high-quality education and instruction as those training in Korea, and are expected to maintain the same high level of knowledge and competency.

As to those who seek to criticize us, and our peers....... look to their own craven motivation. Such as these you will always find among us. Their words are like the droppings of feral dogs.