Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

Ji Han-Jae was greatly responsible for the spread of Hapkidô, both
through his own efforts and through the students whom he introduced to
the art, including Han Bong-Soo, Choi Seo-Oh, Myung Kwang-Shik, and
Myung Jae-nam. Choi Seo-Oh brought Hapkidô to the United States in
1964, and Bong-Soo Han popularized the art by providing the choreography
for the Billy Jack movies in the 1970s. Myung Kwang-Shik founded
the World Hapkidô Federation and introduced the use of forms into Hapkidô.
Myung Jae-nam linked his style of Hapkidô with Japanese aikidô and
formed the International Hapkidô Federation in 1983. Ji also supported
the spread of Hapkidô in his role as bodyguard for President Park. Ji used
his influence to have the Korean Presidential Security Forces train in Hapkidô
beginning in 1962, a practice they maintained through the 1990s. Ji
also convinced the Dae Woo company to hire Hapkidô black belts as security
consultants. Ji himself formed the Korea Hapkidô Association.
After the beginning of the Korean War, the Republic of Korea (ROK)
became ever more nationalistic. There was increasing pressure to develop a
Korean form of karate, rather than continue to practice in the Japanese
way. A series of national associations formed and disbanded as the Koreans
argued over the shape of the new national art. The Korea Kongsudô
Association was founded in 1951, followed by the Korean Tangsudô Association
in 1953. These eventually merged to form the Subakdo Association
in 1959. The Subakdô Association was opposed by the Korea Taekwondo
Association (KTA), also founded in 1959. Hwang Ki was the head of the
Subakdô Association, while General Choi Hong-Hi was the head of the
KTA. General Choi had the most political power and the KTA quickly grew
in power.
General Choi’s efforts ran into difficulties following the 1961 military
coup d’état in the ROK. The coup ousted the Second Republic and placed
General Park Chung Hee in control of Korea. President Park quickly
moved to remove his political rivals from power. He appointed General
Choi, who had supported the coup, as ambassador to Malaysia in 1962,
and for three years General Choi was removed from Korean politics. While
he was gone, the KTA changed its name to the Korea Taesudo Association.
The KTA also became an affiliate of the Korean Amateur Sports Association
(KASA) in 1962 and a member of the Korean Athletic Association in
1964. Many black belts joined the KTA after the government began to support
the establishment of national standards. Hwang Ki of the Subakdo Association
was the most obvious opponent of growing KTA consolidation,
and the KTA often harassed Hwang and his supporters.
During his time in Malaysia, General Choi developed a new set of
purely Korean forms to replace the Japanese forms still taught in taekwondo.
Upon his return to Korea in 1965, he again took control of the
Korea 297