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Tae Kwon Do: 1965
General Choi Hong Hi wrote this 304 page book which was the fiorst book ever on Tae kwon Do. In it you will see one of his top students Jong Soo Park performing many of the techniques. You will learn all the patterns of the art and as well breaking self defense and accurate account of the history of Tae Kown Do plus o much more you will be amazed. The book has not been released sense its initial and only edition in 1965.
305 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Choi Hong Hi
20 books9 followersGeneral Choi Hong Hi, also known as General Choi, was a South Korean army general and martial artist who is a controversial figure in the history of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. Choi is regarded by many as the 'Founder of Taekwondo' - most often by International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) organizations.
Choi is listed in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame with various titles: "Father of Taekwon-Do," "Founder and First President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation," and "Founder of Oh Do Kwan." Choi is survived by his wife, Choi Joon Hee; his son, Choi Jung Hwa; two daughters, Sunny and Meeyun; and several grandchildren.
~ Wikipedia
Choi is listed in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame with various titles: "Father of Taekwon-Do," "Founder and First President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation," and "Founder of Oh Do Kwan." Choi is survived by his wife, Choi Joon Hee; his son, Choi Jung Hwa; two daughters, Sunny and Meeyun; and several grandchildren.
~ Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 23, 2013
The first English language text on Taekwon-Do, written by the art's founder Gen. Choi, Hong Hi. This book was published when Taekwon-Do was still in its infancy (it was formally founded in 1955 and this text was published in 1965; an even earlier Korean language book was published by Gen. Choi in 1959). As such it includes things such as the original karate kata that were taught early on in Korea, as well as the later Taekwon-Do tul that Gen. Choi developed. An interesting note is that only 20 of the tul appear here as they were still in development at the time. The last four tul would not make an appearance in print until Gen. Choi's 1972 textbook was published.
There are some interesting differences in the tul when they are compared to the versions published in later books, having undergone some technical changes over the years. Additionally, there are only four aspects to the Theories of Power listed instead of five ("Mass" was added later and there is no explicit mention of the vertical dropping of weight into techniques), the list of the Tenets of Taekwon-Do is slightly different than that most people are familiar with (Modesty, Persereverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit as opposed to the later list of Courtesy, Integrity, Self-Control, Perseverance, and Indomitable Spirit), and the execution of some techniques are somewhat different than later versions.
It is interesting to see pictures of people such as Grand Master Park, Jong Soo and Grand Master Han, Cha Kyo in their younger years demonstrating techniques in the pictures Gen. Choi took for the book.
There are some interesting differences in the tul when they are compared to the versions published in later books, having undergone some technical changes over the years. Additionally, there are only four aspects to the Theories of Power listed instead of five ("Mass" was added later and there is no explicit mention of the vertical dropping of weight into techniques), the list of the Tenets of Taekwon-Do is slightly different than that most people are familiar with (Modesty, Persereverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit as opposed to the later list of Courtesy, Integrity, Self-Control, Perseverance, and Indomitable Spirit), and the execution of some techniques are somewhat different than later versions.
It is interesting to see pictures of people such as Grand Master Park, Jong Soo and Grand Master Han, Cha Kyo in their younger years demonstrating techniques in the pictures Gen. Choi took for the book.
May 7, 2017
A master text?
Written by founding master,a have to read. The work is a nice technical work with many pictures of the art of taekwondo as taught back in sixties.there is a very marked resemblance to shotokan karate,or yoshinkan karate texts of the same period. Fascinating to see how tkd has developed
Written by founding master,a have to read. The work is a nice technical work with many pictures of the art of taekwondo as taught back in sixties.there is a very marked resemblance to shotokan karate,or yoshinkan karate texts of the same period. Fascinating to see how tkd has developed
November 21, 2023
No longer required by World Taekwondo as reading due to Korean politics, it is still one of the best martial arts books of its Era, spreading the ideas on Taekwondo's founder. A must read for any serious practitioner.
September 25, 2018
Ok
Good information but horrible format for the Kindle. Hopefully they will fix the next version for it and offer an update.
Good information but horrible format for the Kindle. Hopefully they will fix the next version for it and offer an update.
July 26, 2012
This book is an oddity that nobody without an interest in this strange martial art would flip through more than a few pages of. I could as easily have given it one star – or five for that matter.
It's a sprawling compendium of knowledge, bearing in mind that these 700-odd pages are the shorter book. There's a full version that runs to a dozen or more breezeblock-sized volumes. Note also that the book I've been wading through is a later version than the original 1965 volume, which Goodreads' database didn't flag up.
On the plus side, the book contains a vast wealth of information, more than any but the most fanatical student of the art of hand and foot could ever want. The explanations are fine, the photographs leave a great deal to be desired by today's standards but remember that the hundreds of pictures were probably all shot on rolls or Tri-X and hand printed one by painstaking one.
On the minus side, the English is pretty damn ponderous and in places the grammar is excruciating. The General wasn't averse to making his feelings plain, including barbed points about impostors, meaning the other Taekwon-do that bears precious little resemblance to this one.
For dan grade students, this may well be what you need to while away the long winter evenings between training sessions at the dojang. There's a great deal of detail that's worth looking into. For colour belt students, this book contains far more than you might need.
It's a sprawling compendium of knowledge, bearing in mind that these 700-odd pages are the shorter book. There's a full version that runs to a dozen or more breezeblock-sized volumes. Note also that the book I've been wading through is a later version than the original 1965 volume, which Goodreads' database didn't flag up.
On the plus side, the book contains a vast wealth of information, more than any but the most fanatical student of the art of hand and foot could ever want. The explanations are fine, the photographs leave a great deal to be desired by today's standards but remember that the hundreds of pictures were probably all shot on rolls or Tri-X and hand printed one by painstaking one.
On the minus side, the English is pretty damn ponderous and in places the grammar is excruciating. The General wasn't averse to making his feelings plain, including barbed points about impostors, meaning the other Taekwon-do that bears precious little resemblance to this one.
For dan grade students, this may well be what you need to while away the long winter evenings between training sessions at the dojang. There's a great deal of detail that's worth looking into. For colour belt students, this book contains far more than you might need.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews