Todayy, the eno

ormous po
opularity o
of Taekwon-Do has

created im a whilstt at times imitation is the sinc

mitators, and cerest

form of fla
attery, in the
t case of
o Taekwo
on-Do this is definite
ely not

true. To imitate witthout full knowledge

k e of the orriginal is

dangerou
us. It is so
omewhat akin
a owing a child to pla
to allo ay with

n, then givving him a real gun and expe

a toy gun ecting the child

to undersstand the difference

e without g
giving him
m the know
wledge

of the fun
nction and
d effect of a real gun
n.

In most instan
nces of im
mitation, th
he imitatorr simply mimics
m

the origin
nal withou
ut any cha
ange. Usu
ually, this does
d not cause

any harm d the one who imita

m provided ates does not chang
ge the

original ((in this ca kwon-Do) by unpro

ase Taek oven additional

technique
es, interrpretations
s, philossophy, te
erminolog
gy or

systems and meth

hods.

It is when un
nauthorize es to the original art of
ed change

Taekwon at these iimitators create a highly

n-Do take place tha

dangerou
us and eroding
e influence upon th
he conce
ept of

Taekwon
n-Do.

Dang
gerous, because
b it gives to the students of
o the

imitators a sense astery of techniqu

e of ma ues which
h are

complete
ely unfoun
nded in the
e knowled
dge of the true marttial art

of Taekw
won-Do.

Intern
national T
Taekwon-Do Fedeeration
 
 
 

 

Dang
gerous, because a student may bec
come a te
eacher

and all u
unknowing
gly impartts his falsse techniq
ques to others,
o

thus com
mpounding e. This will lead
g the errorr of false kknowledge

to an e
erosion of
o confidence, byy serious
s students, in

n-Do as a proven martial

Taekwon m art.

Conffusion ha
as recently arisen
n by the
e use of
o the

terminolo
ogy "TAE
EKWON-D
DO, THE
E KORE
EAN ART
T OF

SELF-DE
EFENSE,"" I emphas
size the w
word Korea
an.

Toda
ay, in South Korea
a, it is be
ecoming the practtice to

indiscriminately ap
pply the word
w won-Do to
Taekw o a bastardized

imitation of the rea

al original Korean m
martial art.

General Choi Hon

ng Hi has been cre
eating, dev
veloping the
t art

of Taekw nce early 1946, in w

won-Do sin what is now
w known as the

orea. It is true that General Choi was

South Ko s born in Korea

and at the time of developin

d ng and intrroducing Taekwon-
T Do he

resided tthere. It is also tru

ue that th
he basis of
o Taekwon-Do

goes ba
ack to th
he ancient past of Korea
a, but to
o call

Taekwon ely Korean is som

n-Do pure mewhat lik
ke one co
ountry

claiming to have in
ntroduced fire.

The true Ta
aekwon-Do
o of Ge
eneral Ch
hoi know
ws no

boundaries of countries; it is
s a univerrsal art of self-defense. It

is also a
an art for which the
e author o
of this en
ncyclopediia has

devoted his life, not y of the original

n only to retain tthe purity

Intern
national T
Taekwon-Do Fedeeration
 
 
 

 

Taekwon
n-Do intro
oduced by
y him in 1955, bu
ut to cons
stantly

search fo
or ways of
o improv
ving the o
original techniques.. Only

after exh of of imp

haustive research and proo provemen
nt and

effectiven
ness is a change
e to the original approved
d and

incorpora
ated within
n the overrall art of T
Taekwon--Do.

Thesse volume
es are pro
oof of Ge
eneral Ch
hoi's tenac
city of

dedicatio
on to kee n-Do free from
eping the original Taekwon

unproved ns, and with the cooperattion of alll true

d imitation

Taekwon
n-Do stude
ents, no matter
m at grade, weed out those
wha

who seekk to destro

oy his teac
chings.

A. FRA
ANKS
 
   

Intern
national T
Taekwon-Do Fedeeration