Korean Tae Soo Do Representative Championships??

[Blues-man]

I found information in a book written by ITF pioneer Choi Chang Keun ( http://www.taekwondopioneers.com/index.html ), that states the following:

The Korean Tae Soo Do Association held the First Korean Representative Championship in June. Tae Kwon Do Instructor Choi Chang Keun won the Heavyweight Championship. Other Divisacion Champion names are not available.

The Korean Tae Soo Do Association held Korean Tae Soo Do Representative Championships to select 12 representatives to travel to Japan and compete with Japanese Karate Representatives. Six Champions and six Runner-ups were scheduled to go to Japan but five Champions and six Runner-ups from Tang Soo Do and Kong Soo Do went to Japan without the Korean Heavy-Weight Champion, Choi Chang Keun. Instructor Choi was from the Tae Kwon Do Organization Oh Do Kwan. The Korean Tae Soo Do Association was controlled by Tang Soo Do and Kong Soo Do Masters.

And there's a picture of the Tae Soo Do team.

I also found this:

http://www.pipeline.com/~tkd-pix/tkd.htm

[...]Eventually, his hard work was rewarded, and he was chosen to go with three other young men to Japan to an international martial arts contest. This was the day they had waited for, and each young man felt that the honor of the Korean nation rested on him.

It was the early 1960's, and in those days competitions among martial artists were dangerous and could be deadly. Men occasionally were killed in karate competition, and injury was certainly a common risk. The young Korean men came to the tournament and were treated coldly by their hosts, but their instructions had been precise. They were to behave well. There must be no hint of a bad attitude.

The Japanese fighters had fallen into the trap that takes down so many. They had no respect for the small team from Korea, and they had never bothered to study Korean fighting theory. Japanese karate styles in those days emphasized close-in fighting. The punch was everything. Fighters tended to move in straight lines back and forth as they attacked, parried, counter attacked. Many Japanese styles in 1962 did not even use the roundhouse kick, and the back kick was completely unknown except as a technique to stomp the shin or instep. Conversely, tae kwon do fighters, with much more fluid hip motion, kicked high with roundhouse kicks, spun off to the side rather than straight back, and flipped their hips in quick turns the other way to shoot out high, powerful back kicks. Whereas martial arts contests had been back-and-forth contests, the Koreans turned the fighting ring into a battlefield, in which attacks could come from anywhere.

All four Korean men did very well, and Billy Hong made it as far as the semi-finals. He had been careful to behave well, and his incredible ability to sidestep, to come around with a turning kick faster than his Japanese opponent could come in and punch, had amazed onlookers. Within a day or two, the Koreans had knocked apart the claims that kicks had to be slower than punches and that spinning and turning kicks lost power as they traveled.

In the semi final match, Hong's opponent rushed straight towards him, and Billy Hong jumped into the air, jerked his hips over, and shot his leg into the man's face. It was a jump back kick that he'd used to smash roofing tiles and bricks. It hit like a piece of concrete on the end of a battering ram.

The kick threw the man over and knocked him to the ground. It had smashed his upper palate and knocked his teeth out in a hail of blood and debris. He went into shock and started having convulsions. Billy Hong, thinking he might just be lynched by the crowd, remembered his orders and knelt down by his opponent. He was terrified, but he calmly said, "You'll be all right, friend. You'll be all right." and patted the man's back. Second to his fear of being lynched was his fear that the judges would think he had a bad attitude and disqualify him.

The wounded man was taken to a hospital, and Hong's next scheduled opponent is said to have simply bowed out of the final rounds. "You win," he told the young Korean. And Billy Hong, barely twenty years old, had taken first place in a Japanese martial arts competition.


I'm wondering if anyone have more information about that Championship between TKD and Karate.

[Cuchulain]

There is a bit about it in Hwang Kee's Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan manual

I will type it up.

In January 1961, as a goodwill exchange program, the Moo Duk Kwan team, under the name of the Korean Soo Bahk Do Association, was invited by the All Japan Karate Federation for the Goodwill Martial Arts Championship. This was the first time in history that any Korean martial arts team competed in a foreign country. It was also meaningful for the Kwang Jan Nim and the Moo duk Kwan disciple to be recognised internationally for the first time. In May 1961, the Goodwill International Martial Contest and Demonstration was held at Sam Il Dang Hall in Seoul, Korea. China, Japan and Korea sent teams to this event, which was sponsored by the Korean Soo Bahk Do association and Ji Do Kwan. After this event, the Asian Martial Art Federation was formed and Kwang Jang Nim Hwang Kee became the first president of that organisation. The participating countries were Korea, Japan and China. Through this activity, very significant progess was made towards improving human relationships through martial arts at an international level.

There is a pic of one of the fights (one fighter executes a front kick to the body of his opponent who is throwing a lead punch) and the caption;

Competition between Korea and Japan in full contact "Bang Ku Dae Ryun" (sparring with full protective gear) during the international meet in Seoul.

I don't know if that is helpful at all.

[Cuchulain]

I have also heard of stories (indirectly) from a coach of the Korean team, who said something about the Japanese struggling with the Korean kicks. He said the Japanese coaches would yell "watch the side kicks!"

[Blues-man]

I have also heard of stories (indirectly) from a coach of the Korean team, who said something about the Japanese struggling with the Korean kicks. He said the Japanese coaches would yell "watch the side kicks!"

Thanks for answering so fast!
Great info.

[Airman Kai]

I have also heard of stories (indirectly) from a coach of the Korean team, who said something about the Japanese struggling with the Korean kicks. He said the Japanese coaches would yell "watch the side kicks!"

Huh.

I would submit, then, if it pleases the court, that the "article" described the tournament as potentially deadly, but I've hardly ever known sidekicks to be so.

Incongruous, says I.

That, and I am hesitant to trust any TKDer's account of history.

[MaverickZ]

Huh.

I would submit, then, if it pleases the court, that the "article" described the tournament as potentially deadly, but I've hardly ever known sidekicks to be so.

Incongruous, says I.

That, and I am hesitant to trust any TKDer's account of history.

You were doing good until the last line's idioticity.

[Bigzilla]

Huh.

I would submit, then, if it pleases the court, that the "article" described the tournament as potentially deadly, but I've hardly ever known sidekicks to be so.

Incongruous, says I.

That, and I am hesitant to trust any TKDer's account of history.

In those days, side kicks and front kicks were more popular than any other. As Taekwondo developed, round kick became the most popular. However, the most recent deaths in the Olympic Taekwondo field have been the result of back hook kick, back kick and side kick, these being kicks that produce the most thrust. None by round kick.

Of course Airman, you may want to consult with a MMA specialist on the above history. That way you will keep all this in line -and- on the level of everything else you know.

Bigzilla

[DerAuslander]

There is a bit about it in Hwang Kee's Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan manual

Different tournament.

[DerAuslander]

Huh.

I would submit, then, if it pleases the court, that the "article" described the tournament as potentially deadly, but I've hardly ever known sidekicks to be so.

Incongruous, says I.

That, and I am hesitant to trust any TKDer's account of history.

No one cares.