Are you talking about Global Taekwondo Federation? If not, then I am not familiar with the GTF. However, as general rule of thumb, most of the TKD federations that are out there are just splinter groups who were tired of dealing with Korea's WTF and KKW or tired of dealing with the ITF.

thanks a lot ---- yeah it's global taekwondo
are there differences in their contest rules or is it just administrative

I believe it is more administrative. GTF, I believe is a splinter of ITF. So their sparring rules are pretty much same. I am not too familiar with either, so I couldn't give you a detailed analysis on it.

My dojang and instructors have been most influenced by Han Moo Kwan.

I'm interested in the other kwans in general. I'd also like to hear critcism on my own choice in studying Han Moo Kwan TKD as one of the arts I am currently involved in.

Shironinja,

Here is something I picked up on your kwan. Please let me know if you already know this.

"Lee Kyo Yoon founded the Han Moo Kwan in August 1956 and it was the leader of the new schools in the mid 1950's. Even now, Lee Kyo Yoon denies that the Han Moo Kwan was a split from the Ji Do Kwan. After the Chosun Yun Moo Kwan's Chun Sang Sup was kidnapped to North Korea during the Korean War, everything was in chaos, so Lee Chong Woo opened the Ji Do Kwan, and he himself opened the Han Moo Kwan. Therefore Han Moo Kwan's root is not Ji Do Kwan, but rather from the Chosun Yun Moo Kwan. This is Lee Kyo Yoon's claim.

Lee Kyo Yoon says: "In November 1950, I came back to Seoul and taught Tang Soo Do (Taekwondo). But the Choson Yun Moo Kwan's Lee Jae Hwang said the building I was using was a Yudo place, so he insisted that I leave. After thinking for a long time, I went to visit Vice President Lee Sang Mook of the Korean Amateur Sports Gymnasium (Han Kuk Che Yuk Kwan, Han Che for short) and he allowed me to start a Taekwondo club and teach."

Back then, the Han Kuk Che Yuk Kwan taught boxing, Judo, wrestling, weight lifting and fencing as a universal gym. With the permission of Lee Sang Mook, Lee Kyo Yoon taught Taekwondo (Tang Soo Do) temporarily and secured 200 members. However, conflicts with Lee Chong Woo became amplified and with Lee Sang Mook's suggestion, he temporarily stopped teaching Taekwondo. Then he went to Chang Sin Dong of Jong Ro Gu, Seoul at the backyard of Kang Moon High School to open his own school. This led to the founding of the Han Moo Kwan. The period of the Chang Sin Dong was a hardship. He called his tent with a straw mat for a floor, a dojang. Despite this hard life, his school reputation grew and finally in 1969, he could open his central dojang in Wang Sip Ni, Seoul." - Portions of The Modern History of TaeKwonDo, by Won Sik Kang and Kyong Myong Lee

What about sun do kwan? What is that like?

Sun Do Kwan? I know it was not part of the original kwans that made up TKD. It sounds more like a modern school name. Do you have any references on it or websites?

Oddly enough this is the only link I can find. Weird.

www.distantwave.com/instructor1.html

Originally posted by gooking
Oddly enough this is the only link I can find. Weird.

www.distantwave.com/instructor1.html

I saw that same site. It seems to me that it is a kwan that the particular school who hosts that site put together. It was never around during the original kwan period.

I see.

but I know of a family who used to go to my church that teaches sun do kwan, and they seemed pretty good. In the tournaments they always beat the other schools in forms and sparring (I know the other schools are probably bullshido anyways). I think they can handle themselves in fights well, but I get the feeling they aren't representing sun do kwan in general.

So does sun do kwan teach the sport aspects of the art or the fighting aspects, just so I can judge it a little easier.

I have no idea what Sun Do Kwan teaches. Again, they seem like a school that the owner came up with the name. From the site they seem to be from Chung Do Kwan originally so I would recommend researching the Chung Do Kwan. I believe we have a something on the board about it. Other than that just go to the school and check it out.

I do TKD Moo Sul Kwan (I've heard roomers that it is a splinter from other Kawns but no proof).

TKD did have it's own identy for a couple thousand years but Japan occupied it and tryed to destory TKD identy. Small history brief (some one asked about the age of TKD):
Three kingdom period, Koguyro (37 BC - 670 AD), Paekche (19 BC - 668 BC), Silla (57 bc - 936 BC). Then the Koryo Dynasty (919 - 1392), YI Dynasty (1392 - 1909). Japan Occupation Period (1909 - 1945).
Some one pointed out that a style of TKD looks simmlar to Karate, this would be beacuse when Japan occupied Korea, it tryed to destroy Korea's national identy, TKD had to go underground. That is also why when Korea became it's own country again, it needed it's identy back so it need to unify, for better or worse it addopted a national sport(this is where TKD went from an Art of war to an Art of sport) .

There are probley so many schools out there beacuse of the Japan Occupation Period and the North spliting from the South.

Originally posted by Teryan
I do TKD Moo Sul Kwan (I've heard roomers that it is a splinter from other Kawns but no proof).

Mul Sul Kwan was an off shoot of the the Chung Do Kwan. They are now known as the ATA.


TKD did have it's own identy for a couple thousand years but Japan occupied it and tryed to destory TKD identy. Small history brief (some one asked about the age of TKD):
Three kingdom period, Koguyro (37 BC - 670 AD), Paekche (19 BC - 668 BC), Silla (57 bc - 936 BC). Then the Koryo Dynasty (919 - 1392), YI Dynasty (1392 - 1909). Japan Occupation Period (1909 - 1945). Some one pointed out that a style of TKD looks simmlar to Karate, this would be beacuse when Japan occupied Korea, it tryed to destroy Korea's national identy, TKD had to go underground. That is also why when Korea became it's own country again, it needed it's identy back so it need to unify, for better or worse it addopted a national sport(this is where TKD went from an Art of war to an Art of sport) .

There are probley so many schools out there beacuse of the Japan Occupation Period and the North spliting from the South.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! You too have been initiated into the group of millions who have fallen prey to the biggest TDK myth around.

Let me school you on somethings here.

1) TKD is Korean Karate. The founders of TKD studied both Shotokan and Shudokan karate. The one close exception is Hwang Ki who studied chuan'fa, and some taiji. However, the forms that he placed in his system were based on Okinawin forms.

2) Korea may have had a martial history in its past but it would have no relation to TKD. Korean society adapted a Confuciusism as a way of religon. This in return brought a heavy declination of martial arts practice as people tended to look down on it and thought only the uneducated and thugs would practice such things. So you see they started the elimination of their own martial history long before the Japanese did anything. Koreans disbanded much of their military leaving them vulnerable to attacks. Keep in mind that Japan tried twice to occupy them and failed.

3) You are partially correct on the last statement. After the Japanese were removed from Korea, the Koreans did feel the need to find its identity again. The 5 major kwans got together and began the discussion of a formation of what became TKD....(Way too much history to go into full exlpaination)

You see the 2000 year TKD history is crap. It was put together to give it some identity that was distinctively Korean. The bottom line is TKD stemed from Karate. However, what TKD is today is beyond that which we would consider karate (for better or for worse...that opinoin is for the individual.)

Read some of the articles on the individual kwans that I have posted here. If you need more information just let me know.

Can I get a source?

TKD is NOT thousands of years old. it is at most 60.

Originally posted by Teryan
Can I get a source?

Go to http://www.koreanma.homestead.com/index.html click on the links to History Essays. I cover 3 of the kwans' histories there, with sources. I will find another link that has a history of all the kwans and the indepth look into TKD. Check the other TKD topics in this section as well.