Kta

[terryl965]

I was in the market for some real history of the old KTA and what was the driving force behind there initial organization and why did such a great part of this organization go the other way?
I know we all are going to have opinion here and what we have been told but are there really any factual book or docruments that explain this?

 

[exile]

I was in the market for some real history of the old KTA and what was the driving force behind there initial organization and why did such a great part of this organization go the other way?
I know we all are going to have opinion here and what we have been told but are there really any factual book or docruments that explain this?

Terry, see the 1997 Dakin Burdick article in Journal of Asian Martial Arts, details given in the list of references to the manuscript I sent you. It has a lot of stuff about the (various) KTA-titled organizations. The Beck MA site, also in that list of references, has some stuff on the history as well.

 

[terryl965]

Thank you by the way it was a greta article you wrote.

 

[exile]

Thank you by the way it was a greta article you wrote.

My pleasure, Terry, and thanks for the kind words! I'm just looking over the ms. now and see all kinds of horrible typos. Will send you a cleaned-up version once I get them made in the text file.

The history and interrelationships of all the different `KTA' organizations are really confusing, for sure...

 

[terryl965]

My pleasure, Terry, and thanks for the kind words! I'm just looking over the ms. now and see all kinds of horrible typos. Will send you a cleaned-up version once I get them made in the text file.

The history and interrelationships of all the different `KTA' organizations are really confusing, for sure...

I know I have 12 different storys by 8 different people, they just can not seem to agree on anything

 

[rmclain]

I know I have 12 different storys by 8 different people, they just can not seem to agree on anything

Could either of you send a copy to me? [email protected]

R. McLain

 

[terryl965]

Could either of you send a copy to me? [email protected]

R. McLain

Robert do you want the paper that exile sent me or all the different story I have been told over the years

 

[rmclain]

Robert do you want the paper that exile sent me or all the different story I have been told over the years

Send both, if possible. Thanks.

R. McLain

 

[IcemanSK]

This has nothing to do with your thread Terry, but I had to share. My 1st instructor was a Korean. So, he was therefore, KTA. He put that emblem on our gup certificates. Does that make me honorary KTA?:ultracool

 

[exile]

Send both, if possible. Thanks.

R. McLain

I'll be glad to send you a copy of the thing I wrote up in response to Terry's request for input on how ordinary TKDists see the history of their art, rmcl, but I want to send both him and you a `cleaned up' version. You've no idea how many horrific typos and general editing screwups are in it now (as people probably gather by this point, I'm not the most careful editor of my own writing... my intentions are good, but...). Give me a couple of days, guys, and I promise to supply both of you with a version that makes me cringe a bit less...

 

[rmclain]

I'll be glad to send you a copy of the thing I wrote up in response to Terry's request for input on how ordinary TKDists see the history of their art, rmcl, but I want to send both him and you a `cleaned up' version. You've no idea how many horrific typos and general editing screwups are in it now (as people probably gather by this point, I'm not the most careful editor of my own writing... my intentions are good, but...). Give me a couple of days, guys, and I promise to supply both of you with a version that makes me cringe a bit less...

If you want to save some time and send it right away you can. I'm a part-time writer and used to lots of proof-reading and editing. It doesn't bother me.

R. McLain

 

[exile]

If you want to save some time and send it right away you can. I'm a part-time writer and used to lots of proof-reading and editing. It doesn't bother me.

R. McLain

Hi Robert—sorry, I missed your post somewhere along the line. I'm almost done revising it—there were some small changes of content that I wanted to make as well. I'm hoping to have a chance to send it to you guys tonight.

Bear in mind, it's not original research on my part, but a synthesis of what I think are robust arguments based on hard documentation, to explain what the basis is for my particular view of TKD (your interview with Gm. Kim plays an important role in my point of view, as you'll see). More later on tonight...

 

[TKDDAD]

terryl965 - I came across this information I thought might be of use and to do further research into the KTA origins. The link provided has some interesting history of the kwans and the establishment of the KTA.

http://www.martialartsresource.com/anonftp/pub/the_dojang/digests/history.html

Portions of The Modern History of TaeKwonDo
by Won Sik Kang and Kyong Myong Lee.

Kang Won-Sik worked for the Korea TaeKwonDo Association, the Asia
TaeKwonDo Union and also the Kukkiwon. He is currently a Professor in
the TaeKwonDo Department at Yong-in University and the President of
TaeKwonDo Shinmun, a TaeKwonDo newspaper in Korea.

Lee Kyong-Myong worked in the World TaeKwonDo Federation after
teaching TaeKwonDo in Europe for 20+ years. He is a Professor in the
Sports Diplomacy Department of Choong-cheong University and has
published several books on TaeKwonDo.

Published in 1999:
Bokyung Moonhwasa
389-22 Seokyo-dong
Mapo-ku
Seoul Korea
121-210

82-2-325-8833 / 325-7211
FAX 82-2-325-7213

ISBN = 89-358-0124-0
​

 

[exile]

terryl965 - I came across this information I thought might be of use and to do further research into the KTA origins. The link provided has some interesting history of the kwans and the establishment of the KTA.

http://www.martialartsresource.com/anonftp/pub/the_dojang/digests/history.html

​

TKDD, a million thanks—this looks like a real treasure! :asian:​

 

[TraditionalTKD]

My Instructor began Tae Kwon Do practice in Korea in the 50's, before there was a unified style and before the KTA. According to him, the KTA came about for several reasons.
First, the Kwans were ordered to unify and cooperate by the Korean governent in order to receive support. The KTA, in its verious versions, was the result of this cooperation.
Second, the KTA also came about as a result of the Korean National TKD Championships, which my Instructor also participated in and won for several years. These championships were a direct result of the desire by the Kwans to sublimate the fierce competition among Kwans (which manifested itself as street violence) into something more constructive. Instead of fighting in the streets for Kwan superiority, fighters now fought in a ring with rules.
Kwans form
Kwan-Kwan competition
Korea TKD fighting championships
KTA
WTF
Kukkiwon

 

[rmclain]

My Instructor began Tae Kwon Do practice in Korea in the 50's, before there was a unified style and before the KTA. According to him, the KTA came about for several reasons.
First, the Kwans were ordered to unify and cooperate by the Korean governent in order to receive support. The KTA, in its verious versions, was the result of this cooperation.
Second, the KTA also came about as a result of the Korean National TKD Championships, which my Instructor also participated in and won for several years. These championships were a direct result of the desire by the Kwans to sublimate the fierce competition among Kwans (which manifested itself as street violence) into something more constructive. Instead of fighting in the streets for Kwan superiority, fighters now fought in a ring with rules.
Kwans form
Kwan-Kwan competition
Korea TKD fighting championships
KTA
WTF
Kukkiwon

What is your instructor's name?

R. McLain

 

[exile]

What is your instructor's name?

R. McLain

Hey Robert, did you ever get a copy of that ms. I sent you?

 

[TraditionalTKD]

My Instructor's name is GM Tae Zee Park. Came to this country in 1974 after having taught at the Korean Teacher's College, served on the Korean Army TKD Team, captained his university TKD Team, and won the Korean National TKD Championships six times. He started TKD before there was a KTA. We have a photo of him with his university team, with Gen. Choi and Mr. Uhm together. So you know that's going back a few years.
My history of the KTA is as he told it to us. The KTA was a direct result of the unification of the Kwans and the Korean government's desire to sublimate the inter-kwan fighting into something useful. He knows this because he was in the middle of it.

 

[exile]

My history of the KTA is as he told it to us. The KTA was a direct result of the unification of the Kwans and the Korean government's desire to sublimate the inter-kwan fighting into something useful. He knows this because he was in the middle of it.

Now here's the interesting question: why do you think there was `interkwan fighting' in the first place? Karate schools in Japan frequently were involved in challenge fighting, carrying on an old tradition in Japan originating in schools of swordsmanship, but they didn't fight (as far as I know) for institutional supremacy, and the Japanese government didn't put pressure on the dojos to come up with a unified karate for military and educational purposes. Nothing like that happened in China or in any of the Oceanic countries with indigenous MA traditions either. Why Korea?... any ideas? An outgrowth of the military's desires for a technically standardized curriculum and training schedule? But if I understand things correctly, there was a lot of active competition for supremacy going on in Korea from day one, from the moment the Kwan founders returned to Korea after learning their MAs in Shotokan or Shudokan dojos in Japan... what was special in the Korean situation that promoted this sort of constant bickering? In other places, each school just did its thing and ignored the others... what happened in Korea??

 

[TraditionalTKD]

Good question. I would imagine ego had a bit to do with it. However, the fact that various schools were vying for government support probably had something to do with it as well. Keep in mind, this was after WWII and the Korean War, resources were at a premium, and, unlike Japan, nations weren't putting strategies to help rebuild Korea. It truly was like the Old West, with people and organizations settling disputes and grievances the old fashioned way-with their fists (and feet). Add Tae Kwon Do to the mix and it makes for a very interesting situation.