Choi Jung Hwa

Choi Jung Hwa (born 22 May 1951) is the only son of General Choi Hong Hi, who is sometimes regarded as the founder of taekwondo.^[1]

Choi Jung Hwa studied Taekwon-Do since the age of 7, not only under his father, but also under many high ranking and pioneering Taekwon-Do Masters during their visits and stays with General Choi. His earliest recollections of training are around the time General Choi was appointed as Korea’s Ambassador to Malaysia.

Those early days were spent training on the lawn of the Embassy compound, as there were no dojangs established at that point. He grew up in an environment surrounded by Taekwon-Do due to General Choi’s hectic schedule and diligent work in spreading Taekwondo globally. Constantly surrounded by visiting high-ranking instructors, Choi Jung Hwa trained with many instructors during this period.

He served many years on the ITF Executive Board and, later on, President Choi Jung Hwa would assist General Choi on many of his International Seminars throughout the world, and later would be appointed by the ITF to conduct these International courses on General Choi’s behalf.

All those who have had the privilege and opportunity to meet and train with President Choi have been immediately struck by his dynamic personality, charisma and awesome Taekwon-Do abilities. Choi Jung Hwa has been a regular and popular visitor to our shores since the mid-1990s, impressing with his power and dynamic ability, as well as his great communication and motivational skills. All Australian instructors who came across him were very impressed by him and still speak highly of him, even those now in non-ITF bodies.

Administratively, President Choi held the post as Secretary General of the ITF for several years until elected as General Choi’s successor to the Presidency by the ITF members in 2001.

Choi Jung Hwa was promoted to 9th Degree Black Belt in 2004 and to the rank of Grandmaster, is the only son of the Founder of Taekwon-Do General Choi Hong Hi. He currently serves in the position of President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, with its administrative headquarters in London, England.

Choi Jung Hwa was democratically elected as the President on the International Taekwon-Do Federation at the 2001 ITF Congress, to serve the next 6-year term as President. He humbly offered that General Choi should remain ITF President for the first 2 years of that term as to give him the opportunity to retire with dignity in 2003.

Unfortunately, General Choi Hong Hi died less than 12 months later. Such is his humility that he refuses to go by the earned title of Grandmaster, feeling that General Choi was the only true Grandmaster of Taekwon-Do, instead preferring to be referred to as simply President Choi, or Master Choi Jung Hwa.

Choi Jung Hwa still works extensively promoting Taekwon-Do around the world and is accredited with introducing and developing Taekwon-Do in many Eastern European countries such as Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Romania, the former USSR and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

The Choi Jung Hwa led ITF historically returned to South Korea for it’s 2004 ITF World Championships. ITF has now commenced re-establishing itself in South Korea, Choi Jung Hwa’s country of birth. “As an organization, we must become sensitive to the changes around us and be able to cope, without compromising the principles – that is, to maintain this purity of technique and philosophy that General Choi handed down to us…..Don’t forget the standards include moral as well as technical.”

His focus today is on the emphasis of the ‘Do’ in Taekwon-Do, much of which seems to have been lost in the pursuit of commercialism and sports recognition. “ I hope that people delve more diligently into the moral culture and morality because that is what Taekwon-Do stands for” he says. “ We only want to pursue our martial arts goal and will continue to contribute for the benefit of society, not for a handful of athletes, or for the glory of one country.”

“Let us not forget the legacy, nor the indelible impression that he has left in the lives of all who are dedicated to the essence of the beloved art of his invention. I know my father would commend us all if we continued with the same vigour and zest which personified his life, the promotion of Taekwon-Do worldwide.” said Choi.

^[2]

In 1971 Choi Jung Hwa emigrated to Canada. In 1983 Choi was convicted in Canada on charges that he conspired to assassinate the President of South Korea Chun Doo-Hwan. He was sentenced in Canada, and was barred from South Korea (this has since been rescinded). He was convicted in absentia, and travelled as a Taekwon-Do instructor in the then “Eastern Bloc” nations; mainly Yugoslavia and in the DPRK as well. It wasn’t until several years later that he returned to Canada to finish his prison term.^[3][4][5]

After his father's death he formed his own International Taekwondo Federation. Prior to forming his own Taekwondo organization he was a Vice Secretary of his father's ITF organization.

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