| Oh Do Kwan Taekwondo | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Choi Hong Hi and Nam Tae Hi |
| Ancestor arts | Tang Soo Do, Kong Soo Do |
| Oh Do Kwan | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 오도관 |
| Hanja | 吾道館[1] |
| Revised Romanization | Odogwan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Odogwan |
Oh Do Kwan founded in 1955, was the 6th Kwan to open in Korea.
Contents |
The word Oh (吾) can be translated both as 'mine' and 'our', which makes the meaning of Oh Do Kwan 'the school of my (or our) way'.
General Choi Hong Hi founded the Oh Do Kwan along with Nam Tae Hi in 1953 as part of the Republic of Korea Army's Physical Training Program. Oh Do Kwan was originally called Dae Han Taekwon-Do Oh Do Kwan Jung Ang Bon Kwan in Seoul. Oh Do Kwan was used to train the South Korean army and the Korean Police throughout South Korea, and in the teaching of Taekwondo throughout some universities of Korea. The first people to instruct the army in "Tang Soo Do" (one of the names Taekwon-Do was called in the early 1950s, before the new name Taekwondo was submitted on April 11, 1955) were Nam Tae Hi, Woo Jong Lim, Ko Jae Chun, Kim Suk Kyu, Baek Joon Ki, Kwak Keun Sik, Kim Bong Sik, Han Cha Kyo and Kim Bok Man, almost all of whom were originally Chung Do Kwan members.
Originally Oh Do Kwan was made up of mostly Chung Do Kwan members brought in by senior Chung Do Kwan members Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Kyo. Choi Hong Hi was the political power in the kwan, and Nam Tae Hi was the head instructor. Yet, because of their work to develop Oh Do Kwan under the leadership and command of General Choi, they were almost all expelled from Chung Do Kwan.
The first documented patterns to be unique to Oh Do Kwan are called Chang Hun and were designed by General Choi, Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Kyo and originally practiced at the Oh Do Kwan. These patterns were spread throughout the world by General Choi upon his creation of the International Taekwon-Do Federation in 1966. However, no other Kwan's of Taekwondo practiced the Chang Hun patterns, they had their own patterns. Some were universal to all Kwans, like the Pyong Ahn Hyung. But all Kwan had some patterns that were unique to their Kwan.
Today the Oh Do Kwan still exist in Korea for over three decades as a social friendship club and has an annual celebration every year in Seoul. Oh Do Kwan was dissolved as a martial art system in the mid-1970s. Oh Do Kwan along with the eight other Kwan's moved to form the Kukkiwon in 1972. As all the other Kwans have issued Dan certificates and instructor certificates, so has Oh Do Kwan. However, these certification only serve as membership in the fraternity. Oh Do Kwan endorses and follows the Kukkiwon curriculum. Oh Do Kwan's current president is Myung Hak Han.