TKD's Future

[Kodanjaclay]

Now that the Hon. Master Choi is deceased, and there is a major divide in the ITF, what do you think will happen? Will TKD finally be consolidated? Or will the various ITF's wreak havoc?

 

[celtic bhoy]

I believe TKD will end in the same vain as Karate.

By that I mean Taekwon Do will become a more generic name for various styles, just the same as karate.

I feel too much political damage has been done already.

 

[Disco]

The generic term TKD will be replaced with the Kwan/Style name. The term TKD will still be used, but as an adjunct to the Kwan name. There is a movement, be it ever so small, to return to the original concepts of TKD before the "Sports" mentality took over. In my opinion, this has to happen due to all the political and criminal actions that have transpired. People in general are starting to realize that the "Olympic Gold" mindset is a total waste of time and many of the schools have become nothing more than a baby sitting service. It will take some futher time for the transformation to happen, but it will happen. The world around us has changed thus changing us (America). We will not remove all of the baby sitters, but there will be many more schools becoming available for real training.

 

[MichiganTKD]

I agree to a point. However, I would take it even further. The information that I have is that not only might what we know as Tae Kwon Do begin to revert back to its roots (i.e. self defense/physical fitness), but it might also also undergo a name change. Keep in mind, with Choi gone, as well as the Olympic movement all but dead (2004 will likely be the last time TKD is in the Olympics), the two major modern forces of Tae Kwon Do are gone. Therefore, it stands to reason that as Tae Kwon Do charts a new path and evolves away from what we used to know, a name change might be in order. Perhaps new forms as well.
Realize also, that the Kwan leaders are all very old men now and mortal. As they go, it is very likely that the Kwan concept might change/end as well as the younger generation plots a new course. This is theoretical of course.

 

[Kodanjaclay]

I'm curious. Why do you think the Olympic movement is all but dead? Granted USTU had some problems, but the USOC is directly overseeing them. Kukkiwon/WTF had sme problems, but Kim is gone. It would seem that the sport itself, is cleaning up its act.

Choi had little to say after he left Korea. He had no more pull there. That is why he was sanctioned by the DPRK, which we all know is led by a mad man. To give you an idea, Juche, Oneness, is the name of one of Kim, Il Jang's policies. Did I mention it was responsible for several thousand, if not more, deaths?

 

[MichiganTKD]

I'm basing that on what our Grandmaster, who is 9th Dan WTF, has told us. He has said repeatedly that Tae Kwon Do will no longer be in the Olympics after 2004. I would tend to believe it. First, the Olympic movement was Dr. Kim's baby. With him gone due to arrest charges and the USTU in big trouble, it's going to be very hard to take TKD seriously as an Olympic sport. Second, the Olympics are a festival of Western sports. Except for Judo, which is hardly a popular activity anymore, TKD is the only non-Western sport in the Olympics. Doubt me if you will, but I think you will see 2004 as the last time for TKD in the Olympics. There are already indications of this happening in the media.

 

[Kodanjaclay]

Well, your Master has no way of knowing that. It is speculation. This is the year that the sport will be evaluated by the IOC for continued participation. Unless your Master is a part of that board for the IOC, he would not know. And the decision has not yet been made anyhow.

 

[MichiganTKD]

Our Grandmaster is on the Board of the WTF and the World Games. He was a personal guest of the Director of Australian Tae Kwon Do during the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney. I gotta believe he knows more than your average Tae Kwon Do GM. I'm not being flippant, by the way, just stating that he has, shall we say, inside information.
He told us that Dr. Kim would be arrested 2-3 years ago, before ANY magazines started covering it. He also said the Kukkiwon would be moved as a result of that, which has happened. WTF/Kukkiwon headquarters are now located away from the Kukkiwon building in downtown Seoul.

 

[Kodanjaclay]

If that is the case, you need to keep it to yourself. You could get him in hot water.

Incidentally, the IOC has not decided yet. The decision is not to be reached until fall, I'm thinking, when they convene. It will be interesting to see the outcome, and whether or not this will change any of the policies of the ROK organizations. Either way, I don't expect the WTF to be happy. Too many controversies have hit them, and Taekwondo in the last couple of years.

We will see what happens though.

 

[Gaidheal]

I'm going to approach this from the angle of where I'd LIKE it to go, rather than "My opinion on what is happening and where it will therefore end up"

I'd like to see as many organizations as possible 'unified'. Not necessarily in terms of all techniques being identical (more on that in a minute) but in terms of approach, training standards and a common rank system. It would also be to the advantage of the 'sport' aspect of TKD to have one standardized competition sparring style and ruleset, I feel. I'm someone who spars under ITF rules, but I'd be happy to adjust to a WTF/ITF compromise version which would allow us all to compete under the same rules regardless of the history of our schools and umbrella organization(s).

I'd also like to see the common practice of taking effective techniques and training tools from other arts/schools and adopting them as TKD. For example, the self defence aspect in our school is not from any one art; some of it is undoubtedly there because of the Happkido influence early in the development of TKD, others are straight out of so called "reality based" systems/styles like Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do (not a style as such, I know) and so on. We also have some limited throws which look to me like they were taken from Judo, although, of course, what works, works and all real fighting systems will have had the same basic techniques. I'd hope that the mindset that led to these 'becoming TKD' continues and the art as a whole keeps borrowing from every martial artist it comes into contact with, as well as the wealth of recorded techniques from older arts.

Controversially, I also hope we lose the tight association with Korea. Our club has no flags, we do no 'homage' to any symbol our flag at the start of our session and we do not repeat any mantras or vows. We learn the tenets and then simply make them part of the training, no repeating them out loud except at gradings, sometimes, to prove that we actually bothered to learn them. I'd like to see Korean history become something that is there and taught and which you can pay a lot of attention to if you want, but not part of the grading. For example, I find the interpretations of the Tuls to be tedious nationalistic tripe. I accept its place in the history of TKD and Korea (they needed to rebuild nationhood and TKD was born out of martial arts training for Korean soldiers) but WE and many others like us are now part of that history.. the art is evolving and we should continue to become more and more international, rather than a "Korean Martial Art".

Well, that's my thoughts anyway.

John

 

[MichiganTKD]

Good points.

There is a movement to form a closer alliance between the WTF and ITF. With Choi gone, this cooperation is more possible. The question, though, is WHICH ITF should the WTF cooperate with? I see that the WTF is cooperating with the ITF faction under Chang Ung. However, given his close relationship with North Korea, I can't see this as gaining much momentum. Realistically, I doubt that many WTF members would willingly cooperate with someone with his North Korean ties.
I think what will happen is that the WTF will fragment, as is already happening, and the various Instructors will determine their own path. I do hope that tournament competition and the Olympic movement are de-emphasized. As long as the WTF is associated with the Olympics, it will target only an elite level of students-the young, fast, and strong, to the exclusion of the other 99%. I hope the WTF rediscovers its roots and emphasizes Tae Kwon Do as a method of self defense and self improvement.
I do think that the WTF has a greater chance of successfully reorganizing itself and evolving than the ITF. Why? Because the ITF was built around the cult of one man. With him gone, it is much more likely to collapse because there is no longer his direction and personality to guide it. Same with the ATA. With HU Lee gone, there is no longer his guidance, and I think it will not survive.
I agree with you on forms. The ITF forms were based on figures and concepts from Korean history. Most people outside Korea will not care about that. The WTF forms are based more on universal philosophical concepts that are always applicable.

 

[ThuNder_FoOt]

I think that would be great, a union between ITF and WTF. Hopefully if this happens, the art as a whole will shy away from the sports competitions and all the politics involved with it.

 

[Fortis]

On another note, I feel like some schools are just using "Tae Kwon Do" in it's title to attract students/customers because they know that it is the fad right now.

Consistency would be nice. I would hate to see it decay into a thousand different factions.

 

[MichiganTKD]

The same way that Tae Kwon Do schools 20-30 years ago used "Karate" in their name to attract students who had no idea what Tae Kwon Do was. There is a school not too far away from us that does that. Ironically, the Instructor teaches the same style of TKD I do (Chung Do Kwan). However, watching his class and the way he teaches, you'd never know he was Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan.
Anyway, TKD will become factionalized until its problems are resolved and someone down the road is able to pull it together. How long this will take is anyone's guess. I also hope it moves away from the pure Sport mentality. Unfortunately, the younger Instructors who might be able to pull TKD together are from this background, especially in Korea. It might take a non-Korean from a traditional background to do it.

 

[celtic bhoy]

Fortis

In my opinion the faction thing has already started.

There is 3 or 4 ITF's right now, thats without all the splinter groups that have decided to go their own way.

The WTF are having their own problems, albiet only alledged corruption problems.

The main driving force behind present day Tae Kwon-Do has been gaining olympic status. I'm talking about Tae Kwon-Do in general, not every single club.

So naturally it will take some kind of miracle to firstly unite Tae Kwon-Do and secondly re-establish it as a self defence art.

The Korean's can't even agree on it's administration, so how can you expect a westerner to sort it out. It's Korea's art after all.

I believe Tae Kwon-Do will eventually become a generic name for lots of different idea's and style's like karate and Kung Fu. And if recognised by the olympic committee then sport will always be it's main goal.

A case of too many cooks that have definetly spoiled the broth.

 

[Moo D]

If they revert back to their Kwan Styles, i.e Choi's Oh Do Kwan, Lee's Chung Do Kwan, etc.. rather than ITF and WTF, would that not chnage the whole nature of TKD.

The original TKD name dissolved all the kwans and unified under one administration and called themselves Tae Kwon Do as the generic term for all Korean Martial Arts. To revert back to the old kwans, would mean reverting back to the styles before TKD, i.e Tang Soo Do , Kong Soo Do and would mean the end of the name Tae Kwon Do.

What do you think??

 

[Fortis]

I don't know that I would mind Tae Kwon Do becoming the Korean term for martial art. At least then they could get to the business of starting to define different styles within it and getting some direction that way. I just don't like it floundering like it is and I don't really like that it is an Olympic Sport. Having it be an official "sport" on such a large scale sort of cheapens it for me.

 

[MichiganTKD]

I agree to a certain extent. It might take a certain amount of factionalization to allow Instructors to develop Tae Kwon Do (or whatever it becomes) into a new direction. As long as Tae Kwon Do is united behind the concept of Sport and the Olympics, there will be little room to develop alternate directions for it.
What very likely could happen, and something I would not have a problem with, is for the Kwan concept to be reestablished-Oh Do Kwan, Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan. Not only that, but I could also see Tae Kwon Do assuming a different name, or names, and keeping the kwans. For example, a style called __________ Chung Do Kwan-the CDK form of X martial art. I think it could be done.
How do I see this? The Kwan heads are all old men now. I don't mean the Founders, I mean the current Kwan Presidents (Mr. Uhm, the heads of the other Kwans etc.). It is possible that as they retire, their students will take the Kwan name and add it to the new name of whatever identity the new version of Tae Kwon Do assumes. Call me crazy. I definitely see the version remaining Koreanized (emphasis on kicking, Korean-style techniques) but less emphasis on sport and the Olympics.
As Tae Kwon Do evolves and changes, it is also possible that new forms and new uniforms could be adopted. New name, new beginning.

 

[celtic bhoy]

I agree too.

 

[MichiganTKD]

I attended an Organization seminar recently, and this subject was discussed. Additionally, our GM showed up the first day wearing a uniform I had never seen him in. The jacket was darkish tan, with a brown V-neck, and Korean hangul on the lapel and sleeves. The pants were baggy and olive-brown. It looked like a WTF V-neck crossed with traditional Korean clothing. Keep in mind, in 20 years I have only seen him in a pure white V-neck uniform. Maybe he was modeling the future TKD uniform.