True, what most koreans visualize when they hear the word "taekwondo" would be the hangul or hanja characters. But organizations do specify their preference. For example, the Kukkiwon and WTF have put out policy statements that taekwondo is to be spelled as one word, no hyphens.
Whatever the organization or more precisely, the school, decides, is how it should be spelled. If a school tells me that they wish for their students to spell it without spaces or hyphens, then it's correct for them. If they spell it with spaces, then that's correct for them.
I would say that there is a proper or generally accepted way of spelling wrestling in hangul. I believe I have a book or two on it at home.
T'was but one example of how an English word is spelled phonetically. I've seen things spelled both ways, depending on the region, or even personal preference.
By the way, were you born in the US? If not how old were you when you came? I get the feeling you were either born here (less likely) or came to the US when you were still young.
You are correct. Born in the USA, raised in a Korean household, and schooled in Korean by the various Korean parents of the community.
I am not familiar with him but I did google his name. Is he located in Indiana? If so, there is a GM Steve Travis affiliated with the Chung Do Kwan (so am I), who looks to be a student of GM Sell. They have a webpage
http://natkda.com/default.aspx which shows students who have kukkiwon certification and they practice the taeguek poomsae. So I would think that he would spell it according to his organization's stated policy, which is as one word.
That is, indeed, Grand Master Travis. He used the spelling with the spaces, so I simply decided that I should use them as well, while training in his school. It's spelled that way on the patch as well:
http://natkda.com/TaeKwonDoInfo.aspx
Since then, that's the way I spell it. If I ever trained in a dojang of another system that uses the spelling without the spaces, then I'd spell it that way while training in that school.
The Chung Do Kwan Jang, GM UHM Woon Kyu, was president of the Kukkiwon from 2004-2009. I am also a regional director for the Chung Do Kwan.
Good to hear that. Martialtalk benefits from the knowledge that the various directors / advanced yudansha / yudanja can provide.
I wasn't talking about the order of the name, but rather the joining of the two words that make up his first name into one word. President Choue's last name is Choue, not Won. His name is Chungwon CHOUE (first name first) or CHOUE Chungwon (last name first).
I wasn't referring to the order, either. Again, I am pointing out that it's perfectly normal to spell first names with either one or two words, when using English. In Korean, of course, there's no debate about it, that each of the three syllables in the name has its own "word." It simply makes more sense to me, since it makes things easier to read.
Say a person choose to spell their korean first name as one word as opposed to two. Do you think it is appropriate to spell it as two?
If they want their first names spelled as one word in English, then that's how it should be spelled. If they want their first names spelled as two words in English, then it should be spelled as two.
In this case, it does make a difference, since some Koreans use one syllable in the first name as their actual first name in English and use the other syllable as the middle name, whereas some Koreans will give their two syllables in their Korean first name as their first name, and not use a middle name in English.
Again, it's a matter of how people wish to name themselves. Their choice.
Similarly, if the organization that your instructor comes from (Kukkiwon/WTF) has a policy of spelling taekwondo as one word, is it still ok to spell it as tae kwon do?
If the owner and chief instructor of the dojang wanted to spell it that way, then yes. His dojang, his rules. If I became closer to his rank through many years of training, then maybe I'd bring it up in a conversation, asking him why he chose to spell it that way, as opposed to the "official" spelling. Until then, I simply choose to respect his way. It does not affect the training in any way, shape or form.
If I trained in your school, then I would use the spelling without the spaces. Plain and simple. Your dojang, your rules.
What kind of equipment is the Olympic karate movement requiring? I ask because the olympic taekwondo world is very concerned about taekwondo losing its olympic status next year.
They were discussing using chest protectors (for both genders) and face shields, as well as a few other things to accommodate such equipment. I'll have to dig up my old notes on this, since I wrote things down back in 2008.
I like the fact that you are honest about such things. Sometimes when I tell people what I can feel about them, they get really angry. I think a big part of certain portions of the martial arts journey involve developing and sharpening intuition and other incisive abilities. 
