Holywood Tae Kwon Do

Taekwondo is an ancient, striking martial art which hails from Korea. The art teaches philosophy and history, but also teaches self-defense, encourages fitness and teaches blocks, strikes and kicks to a high level as well as being an official Olympic sport - for both men and women. In 1959 the Korean Tae Kwon-Do Association was founded with Choi Hong Hi as a Vice-President. The next year he was elected President. At this time Tae Kwon-Do was introduced to the world, when General Choi and 19 senior black belts made a tour of Asia.

Tae Kwon-do was introduced into the United States of America in 1960 after General Choi made a visit to Jhoon Rhee's karate school in San Antonio and convinced him to change the name to Tae Kwon-Do. On 22 March 1966, the International Tae Kwon-do Federation [ITF] was founded. At the beginning its members were Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, The Federal Republic of Germany, USA, Turkey, Italy and Egypt.