Question: Kukkiwon?

[StuartA]

The Kukkiwon is the building and is also a private institution/corporation. It derives it's authority to issue dan rank and instructor certification through the Kwan Unification Act which unified the methodology of instruction of Taekwondo as well as the standardization of techniques/poomsae. Each Kwan Jang, or head of school, signed a proclamation making/recognizing the Kukkiwon as the official organ for certifying rank.

Miles

Great bit of info... any more details about this act? Dates, who was involved etc etc. Who was excluded as well!

Stuart

 

[GlassJaw]

With 1981 being the official formation of the WTF! The question now is why.. if prior to the Olympics?

TKD in the Olympics did not happen overnight.

Before WTF was the regulating body for Olympic TKD, its goals included organizing TKD into an Olympics-suitable sport, getting TKD accepted by the IOC, and positioning itself (WTF, that is) to be selected as the regulating body for the event. The process took decades and experienced much modification and re-envisioning along the way.

The political, financial, and even emotional investment by all the major players ensured that none of them came through it without significant changes and compromises. Even outside of the issues of getting TKD into the Olympics, IOC, WTF, and KKW have each weathered major re-organization, financial crisis, and apparent corruption of directors (which is hardly unusual for organizations of that size). Their current activities and directions for the future as they express them now are not the same as they were in the 70s.

And they are still defining their relationships and functions. It has ever been so and probably always will be.

For instance, I've gathered from threads on this forum that WTF was for a time handling its own certification of blackbelts (separate from the certification handled by KKW). I know neither the reasons for doing it nor the reasons for discontinuing, but it serves as an example of the changes and compromises that have occurred along the way.

I can hazard some wild guesses, though, for why WTF might have started certifying blackbelts:
1) Maybe IOC was uncomfortable with KKW, a private organization, having any direct control over athlete eligibility or would not want to recognize WTF if its ability to function was dependent on KKW's continued stability.
2) Maybe WTF felt that certification for sanctioned sport TKD seemed to be distinct enough of a product that it should be separated from simple blackbelt registration and perhaps wanted to head toward a sport-only certification, which would not fit in well with KKW's practices.
3) Maybe KKW preferred that WTF become largely self-funded through direct collection of fees or wished to ensure KKW's continued authority over TKD by guarding the fundamentals against the potential influence from foreign regulators.

Likewise, I can see several reason why it might have ended:
1) Maybe IOC was successfully satisfied that KKW handling the certifications would not give KKW any material influence over the sport, or perhaps they demanded a different financial model for funding WTF.
2) Maybe WTF determined that the advantages of the process were greatly outweighed by the disadvantages by making the administration unnecessarily complicated and creating reduplication of effort, and the issues that prompted it may be better addressed through other means.
3) Maybe KKW was losing too much in fee revenues or found satisfactory alternative compromises that would not yield unwanted effects to their brand.

I don't know. At its best, differences are worked out by intelligent and knowledgeable persons with a true passion for the betterment of TKD. At its worst, progress is derailed by political motivations, greed, or unreasonable resistance to compromise.

The only zero-sum game is the one where we all lose.

Dan

 

[StuartA]

TKD in the Olympics did not happen overnight.

Before WTF was the regulating body for Olympic TKD, its goals included organizing TKD into an Olympics-suitable sport, getting TKD accepted by the IOC, and positioning itself (WTF, that is) to be selected as the regulating body for the event. The process took decades and experienced much modification and re-envisioning along the way.

Doh! (on my part). Of course.. makes perfect sense and dunno why I didnt consider that side of things.

Cheers,

Stuart

 

[Steel Tiger]

The Kukkiwon is the building and is also a private institution/corporation. It derives it's authority to issue dan rank and instructor certification through the Kwan Unification Act which unified the methodology of instruction of Taekwondo as well as the standardization of techniques/poomsae. Each Kwan Jang, or head of school, signed a proclamation making/recognizing the Kukkiwon as the official organ for certifying rank.

Miles

Thanks for that. Its just what I was looking for.

 

[Miles]

Great bit of info... any more details about this act? Dates, who was involved etc etc. Who was excluded as well!

Stuart

Here's the information re: Kwan Unification taken from "The Modern History of Taekwondo" which was translated from Korean into English through the efforts of my senior Glenn U. and his students. The entire translation can be found here http://tkd.stanford.edu/documents/tkd_history.pdf and other places around the internet.

<<Chapter 5, Section 1: The Formation of the Kwan Driving Committee​

The real efforts towards Kwan Unification began in 1977. The Korea Taekwondo Association had several
meetings in 1976 and 1978 to unify the Kwans, and it was decided that the ten Kwans would be united by the
end of July, 1978.
KIM Chul Hui stated: "Let's unify all the Kwan in order to be one." However, other members objected to the
suggestion, stating that unification at the present time was premature. However, it was decided which Kwan
would participate with the unification and the list was submitted to KIM Un Yong.
In addition, the Kwan Unification Committee (Choo Jin Eui Won Hwe) was created on February 23, 1977
composed of five members. The Committee members agreed in principle to give up the concept of Kwan in
order to unify. In addition, the Chong Bon Kwan was created to eliminate all of the negative aspects of
Taekwondo. The following people were members of the Chong Bon Kwan:
KIM Un Yong (Chong Bon Kwan Jang)
LEE Chong Woo, UHM Woon Kyu (Bu Kwan Jang)
LEE Nam Suk (Samu Chong Jang)
LEE Byung Ro, KANG Won Sik (Kam Sa)
LEE Chong Woo, UHM Woon Kyu, LEE Nam Suk, KANG Won Sik,
KWAK Byung Oh (Se Chik Shim Eui Won Hwe)
KIM Un Yong and LEE Chong Woo initiated the efforts to unify the Kwans right after the creation of the Chong
Bon Kwan, but little was done. An office was set up at Eulchiro 6 Ga in Seoul, but the Committee did nothing,
since everyone thought that Kwan Unification was impossible.
After six months, the Chong Bon Kwan did recommend some Taekwondoin for dan promotion, and also
expanded the Committee's focus nationwide. However, the Chong Bon Kwan's efforts were not going well, and
it was difficult for the Committee to gather positive suggestions and ideas on this difficult subject.
In July 1978, the Chong Bon Kwan announced that unification would take place in the southern provinces and
rural areas first, to be followed by unification in the urban areas of Seoul and Kyungki Do. The Chong Bon
Kwan also announced that Kwan Unification is not a problem. In addition, all Kwan Jang (Kwan Presidents)
would be informed beforehand so that they could minimize the complications involved in unification. The Chong
Bon Kwan's actions confirmed that the unification efforts would go forward.​

Chapter 5, Section 2: A Final Realization of Taekwondo&#8217;s Deep Rooted Enmity​

August 7, 1978 can be considered a historical date for Taekwondo, because it was on this day that the Kwans
finally compromised and closed the Kwan system, with a Proclamation signed finalizing Kwan Unification. The
following people signed the Proclamation on behalf of their Kwan:
Kwan #1: CHUN Jung Woong (Song Moo Kwan)
Kwan #2: LEE Kyo Yoon (Han Moo Kwan)
Kwan #3: LEE Nam Suk (Chang Moo Kwan)
Kwan #4: CHOI Nam Do (Moo Duk Kwan)
Kwan #5: KWAK Byung Oh (Oh Do Kwan)
Kwan #6: LEE Kum Hong (Kang Duk Won)
Kwan #7: LEE Yong Woo (Jung Do Kwan)
Kwan #8: LEE Chong Woo (Jidokwan)
Kwan #9: UHM Woon Kyu (Chung Do Kwan)
Kwan #10: KIM In Suk (Kwan Ri Kwan)
LEE Byung Ro and KANG Won Sik (both members of the Chong Bon Kwan) signed the Proclamation as well.>>​

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Great info and thanks for the link!! Totally off topic, Miles, but I recall reading that Stanford actually has a taekwondo degreed course of study. Is this true? If so, I'd love to hear more about it, perhaps in a separate thread.

Daniel

 

[igillman]

I couldn't find anything on Stanfords website and I even checked under "Pediatrics" Some Korean colleges offer degrees in Tae Kwon Do.

 

[Windsinger]

I couldn't find anything on Stanfords website and I even checked under "Pediatrics" Some Korean colleges offer degrees in Tae Kwon Do.

I don't know about anyone else here, but I think that would be so cool to have degree in TKD. I can just see my business cards now: David Loewen, TKDD.

Yes, I'm tired, at work, and bored, so I amuse myself easily.

 

[terryl965]

I don't know about anyone else here, but I think that would be so cool to have degree in TKD. I can just see my business cards now: David Loewen, TKDD.

Yes, I'm tired, at work, and bored, so I amuse myself easily.

Well you amuse us as well.

 

[Windsinger]

Well you amuse us as well.

:bow:
I try my best.