Choi Jung Hwa
founder - trainer
🌍 Korean🥊 ITF President, son of General Choi Hong Hi, authentic ITF biomechanics, original 24 Tul🎂 01-05-1951
Choi Jung Hwa (born May 1951, Jeju Island, South Korea) is the only son of General Choi Hong Hi and the president of one of the principal branches of the International Taekwon-Do Federation. He is the living custodian of his father's original vision - and one of the most quietly principled figures in the martial arts world.
He grew up entirely inside the world his father was building. His earliest training memories are from the years when General Choi served as Korean ambassador to Malaysia. There were no dojangs yet, so at age seven he trained on the lawn of the embassy compound. During his youth he was taught not only by his father but trained alongside the original Korean masters who passed through their home.
At the 12th ITF Congress in Rimini, Italy in 2001 he was democratically elected as the official successor and new ITF president. Out of respect for his father, he proposed that General Choi remain as figurehead president for the first two years to retire with dignity. Shortly afterwards a deep conflict emerged: Choi Jung Hwa resisted the growing attempts by the North Korean government to politically control the ITF. This led to a break in early 2002. After General Choi's death in June 2002 the ITF fractured definitively into several organisations. Choi Jung Hwa remained at the helm of the independent, traditional ITF branch, with its administrative headquarters in the United Kingdom.
At the 50th anniversary of Taekwon-Do in Atlantic City in April 2005 he was promoted to 9th Dan Grandmaster by the official promotion committee. His response is characteristic of the man: although he carries the rank with pride, he consistently declines to be addressed as Grandmaster in seminars and daily life. He maintains that he is far from done learning, and that his father - General Choi - was the only true and ultimate Grandmaster of the art. He prefers simply President Choi or Master Choi.
Under his leadership his ITF branch remains strictly faithful to the original biomechanics, physics and 24 patterns (Tul) as his father documented them in the 15-volume encyclopaedia - without modern or political adaptation. Several Dutch schools and federations, including ITF Royal Dutch, are directly affiliated with his organisation because of this commitment to authentic tradition.
He grew up entirely inside the world his father was building. His earliest training memories are from the years when General Choi served as Korean ambassador to Malaysia. There were no dojangs yet, so at age seven he trained on the lawn of the embassy compound. During his youth he was taught not only by his father but trained alongside the original Korean masters who passed through their home.
At the 12th ITF Congress in Rimini, Italy in 2001 he was democratically elected as the official successor and new ITF president. Out of respect for his father, he proposed that General Choi remain as figurehead president for the first two years to retire with dignity. Shortly afterwards a deep conflict emerged: Choi Jung Hwa resisted the growing attempts by the North Korean government to politically control the ITF. This led to a break in early 2002. After General Choi's death in June 2002 the ITF fractured definitively into several organisations. Choi Jung Hwa remained at the helm of the independent, traditional ITF branch, with its administrative headquarters in the United Kingdom.
At the 50th anniversary of Taekwon-Do in Atlantic City in April 2005 he was promoted to 9th Dan Grandmaster by the official promotion committee. His response is characteristic of the man: although he carries the rank with pride, he consistently declines to be addressed as Grandmaster in seminars and daily life. He maintains that he is far from done learning, and that his father - General Choi - was the only true and ultimate Grandmaster of the art. He prefers simply President Choi or Master Choi.
Under his leadership his ITF branch remains strictly faithful to the original biomechanics, physics and 24 patterns (Tul) as his father documented them in the 15-volume encyclopaedia - without modern or political adaptation. Several Dutch schools and federations, including ITF Royal Dutch, are directly affiliated with his organisation because of this commitment to authentic tradition.