TKD can it survive the next

[YoungMan]

I really do think Taekwondo will lose its Olympic berth as the IOC makes room for other events. If and when that happens, I see a couple of things.
First, if Mr. Uhm retires as well, the Kukkiwon will most likely implode since no other figure in Korea really has his credibility. World TKD will then fragment and decentralize, and the kwans will reassert themselves. Similar to what happened after Saddam Hussein died-all the factions that were suppressed under his regime reasserted themselves.
If that happens, I doubt seriously that any past influences will come back. TKD as firmly established as a Korean martial art by now. What you will see are Kwan-based schools freer to choose their own path, with natural selection deciding the victors. For Chung Do Kwan, for example, that might mean no longer having to suppress its principles in favor of Olympic sparring. It will still be Taekwondo however. It might very well no longer be centralized in Korea though.
I could even see some organizations giving a new name to what they do.

 

[WMKS Shogun]

It has always surprised me that even though the kwan era has ended (not saying that there may not be a second one coming, especially if the WTF loses its Olympic sport status) that more people seem to want to lump TKD as one art with a single style. As I learned about the different branches of TKD (ITF/Ch'ang-Hon, WTF/Kukkiwon, ATA/SongAhm, ITA, etc.), why it has not just moved the way that karate did: different styles. Think about it, karate has many styles, and most accepted as being legitimate. Shotokan, Goju ryu, Isshin ryu, Wado ryu, Uechi ryu, Shorin ryu, etc. We have all heard them names. Why not either bring back the kwan names to show differences or come up with a new name? Just my few thoughts on that.
Regardless of name, I think Tae Kwon Do will survive, be practiced, tested, made fun of, 'prove' to be effective/ineffective, people will join, quit, come back, and the world will keep on turning.