Where We Stand On - World Taekwondo Federation

WHERE WE STAND ON ..... WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION

As we have written before in this series, in the Republic of Korea there is a clear distinction between the military arts and martial sports. This applies very emphatically to Taekwondo.

The traditional military art of TaeKwonDo is under the governance of the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA). The KTA is comprised of nine kwons, or styles of Taekwondo, of which seven are active kwons. Of the two inactive kwons, one was founded by a man who later became a traitor to his country, and the other became more of an organized crime family whose leader relocated to the United States.

When the federal government in Korea decided to create a new national sport, and to have that sport accepted as an Olympic event, much as the Japanese did with Kodokan Judo, the KTA was tasked to create this new sport from the military art. The KTA did so, within the time constraints established by the government, but few were satisfied with the results.

Sport Taekwondo is known in Korea as “Kukki Taekwondo” or “National Taekwondo”. It is the national sport of the Republic of Korea.

Kukki Taekwondo, the proper title for what is taught and practiced under the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is an amateur sport. It is not a martial art.

There are actually two International Governing Bodies for sport Taekwondo: International Taekwondo Federation for North Korea and World Taekwondo Federation for South Korea.

The World Taekwondo Federation is a member of the International Olympic Committee and the International Governing Body (IGB) of that organization for Kukki Taekwondo. The International Olympic Committee makes no pretense of being a martial art organization.

The Headquarters of the WTF is at “KukKiWon” in Seoul. “KukKiWon” is the Taekwondo sport complex of the Korean Amateur Sports Association (KASA). The President of the WTF was chosen, not for his expertise in the military art of Taekwondo (he is of relatively low rank and not qualified to be an instructor), but because he was President of the KASA and had a sports background.

KukKiWon is also the current campus of the World Taekwondo Academy, the world’s premier sport Taekwondo training facility, operated by our dear friend and professional associate, the Dean of KukKiWon, Grandmaster Ho Jae Kim. ChungTongKwan Yudo has no hesitation in recommending this Academy to any sport Taekwondo athlete who would like the best training available in the world of Taekwondo, or indeed to any coach who would like to obtain the finest training available in the sport of Taekwondo.

At the end of the day, we wish health, wealth, happiness, and God’s peace upon those who find satisfaction in the practice of this international and Olympic sport. At the same time, however, it remains a fact that sport Taekwondo is a sport and, while derived from a traditional Korean military art, it remains a sport and is not a military art.

The military art kwons of the Korea Taekwondo Association do not recognize KukKiWon rank certificates for purposes of either rank recognition or promotion. Neither does the Korea Taekwondo Association itself. This is as one would expect, given the extremely limited education of the sport practitioners.

The same is also true of the instructor certification issued by sport Taekwondo. These are in fact coaching certificates, and there are no coaches in the traditional arts. Indeed, the education, training, and experience, requirements of the WTF for Taekwondo coaches, remains much less than the requirements of the KTA for an instructor license, a Master license, or a Grandmaster license.

As a traditional Korean military art, ChungTongKwan Yudo accepts the existing standards of the Korean military art community in this matter. We wish these athletes well, and extend our fraternal friendship, but do it from the other side of the street.