The original masters of taekwondo is a group of twelve South Korean martial art masters assembled by the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) in the early 1960s to promote the newly established art of taekwondo.Choi, H. H. (1972): Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence. Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.Park, S. H. (1993): "About the author." In H. H. Choi: Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence, 3rd ed. (Vol. 1, pp. 241–274). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.A tribute to the original masters (c. 2007). Retrieved 13 June 2007; link has expired, as at 1 July 2011. retrieved on 7 November 2011.United Confederation of Taekwon-Do: ITF and history Retrieved on 5 January 2010.Early Masters of Tae Kwon Do (DVD). Directed by D. Warrener (2005). Rising Sun Productions.Taekwon-Do Pioneers: Historic footage of the original Taekwon-Do Masters (DVD). Compiled by P. McPhail (c. 2007). PaulM Taekwon-Do. In alphabetical order following Korean naming conventions, they are: Choi Chang-Keun, Choi Kwang-Jo, Han Cha-Kyo, Kim Jong-Chan, Kim Kwan-Il, Kong Young-Il, Park Jong-Soo, Park Jung-Tae, Park Sun-Jae, Rhee Chong-Chul, Rhee Chong-Hyup, and Rhee Ki-Ha.

The group came under the leadership of Choi Hong-hi (1918–2002), inaugural president of the KTA and later founder of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and Nam Tae-hi (1929–2013),World Taekwon-Do Alliance: Grand Master Nam Tae-hi Retrieved on 22 February 2009.Grandmaster Van Binh Nguyen, IX degree Retrieved on 8 January 2010.Burdick, D. (1990): A history of Taekwondo Retrieved on 8 January 2010.Van Binh Self Defense Academy: History of Taekwon-Do Retrieved on 8 January 2010. known as the Father of Vietnamese Taekwondo. Many of these men held senior positions in the ITF under Choi, but several left over time. Most of the men settled in North America, while others settled in Europe or Australia.

The phrase "original masters of taekwondo" is used to describe this group of men, but does not indicate that they were the first (or original) masters in the KTA. The leaders of the nine kwans that unified to form the KTA was a different group of men who, while perhaps senior to some of those listed as "original masters of taekwondo", were practising arts with other names, such as tae soo do, kong soo do, and others. Some of those leaders resisted using the name taekwondo. The men in the present group were among the first to adopt and promote the name taekwondo.

History

Demonstrations and tours The original masters of taekwondo featured in the earliest demonstrations of taekwondo as a Korean martial art outside South Korea. The following table summarises demonstrations or instructional tours for which references are available.

KTA: 1959–1965DatePlace(s)Masters involvedReferences March 1959 Far East: Taiwan · Vietnam C. K. Han Vitale, G. (2009): A history of Taekwon-Do demo's (sic) Totally Tae Kwon Do, 5:41–45.International Taekwon-Do Association Slovenia: ITF history Retrieved on 3 February 2010. February 1964 Singapore K. H. Rhee Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association: Grand Master Rhee Ki-ha, 9th degree black belt Retrieved on 30 January 2010.Derby School of Taekwon-Do: Forty years of Taekwon-Do in the United Kingdom Retrieved on 13 January 2010; link updated on 25 January 2012. 1964 Penang, Malaysia C. K. Choi World Taekwon-Do Alliance: Grand Master C. K. Choi Retrieved on 5 January 2010.Hawkins, P. (2005): An interview with Grandmaster C. K. Choi Totally Tae Kwon Do, 4:6–13.Tae Kwon Do Pioneers: Grand Master C. K. Choi Retrieved on 5 January 2010. 1964 Yugoslavia S. J. Park Tae Kwon Do Times: Anto Nobilo – A mover and shaker (c. 2009). Retrieved 20 May 2010. c. 1964 Brunei · Hong Kong · Indonesia · Malaysia · Singapore C. C. Rhee Rhee Tae Kwon Do: Perth Region – Father of Australian Tae Kwon Do Retrieved on 13 June 2007. c. 1964–1965 Malaysia · Singapore C. H. Rhee Anonymous (2007): "In the words of a master: GM Rhee Ki-ha, 9th Dan," Australasian Taekwondo, 16(3):50–54. c. 1965 Adelaide, Australia C. C. Rhee An interview with World Master Chong-chul Rhee, 8th Dan, the Father of Australian Taekwon-Do Australasian Fighting Arts (March 1985). Retrieved 13 June 2007.Rhee Taekwondo: South Australia – History of Rhee Taekwondo Retrieved on 3 November 2007. c. October 1965 United Arab Republic (now Egypt) · Italy · Malaysia · Singapore · Turkey · West Germany C. K. Han, J. S. Park, Jae-Hwa Kwon Han's Tae Kwon Do: Grandmaster Han Cha-kyo Retrieved on 22 February 2009.Universal Taekwon-Do Federation Madison: Grandmaster Han Cha-kyo Retrieved on 13 January 2010.Grand Master Jong-soo Park: Biography Retrieved on 22 February 2009.Taekwondo Homepage: Geschichte des Taekwondo . Retrieved 5 January 2010.Taekwon-Do in Europe: National Taekwon-Do Goodwillteam 1965 – Grandmaster Kwon Jae-hwa Retrieved on 5 May 2021 1965–1967 Vietnam J. T. Park ITF Phoenix Group: Biography of Master John Tompkins Retrieved on 16 February 2009.Early ITF: 1966–1980DatePlace(s)Masters involvedReferences 1966 Netherlands J. S. Park c. 1966–1967 Hong Kong · Indonesia · Malaysia · Singapore K. J. Choi Clifton, P. (1991): Choi Kwang-Do's Grandmaster Choi answers to Combat Combat Magazine (January 1991). Retrieved 22 January 2010.Choi Kwang Do International: Our Founder, Grandmaster Kwang-jo Choi Retrieved on 13 January 2010. 1967 Japan C. K. Han 1967 United Kingdom K. H. Rhee Grand Master Rhee Ki-ha, 9th Dan Retrieved on 29 July 2007; link has expired, as at 25 January 2010. New version retrieved on 25 January 2010.Cox, S. (c. 2004): The history of Taekwon-Do and its founder Retrieved on 3 February 2010. 1968 Hong Kong C. K. Han 1968 Canada J. S. Park c. 1968–1969 Paris, France K. I. Kim, S. J. Park, K. H. Rhee Hawkins, P. (2004): An interview with Grandmaster Lee Yoo-sun Totally Tae Kwon Do, 5:9–15. March 1970 Toronto, Canada J. T. Park Taking the Wheel: More with Grandmaster Linda Park Tae Kwon Do Times (March 2009). Retrieved 14 February 2009. 1970 Perth, Australia C. C. Rhee Fricke, H. J. (2004): 35 years down memory lane … with Rhee International Tae Kwon Do (1970–1979) Retrieved on 1 January 2005; link has expired, as at 26 July 2007. New version retrieved on 24 July 2009. 1970 Vancouver, Canada C. K. Choi 1970 United States of America K. J. Choi Choi Kwang Do Martial Art International: Grand Master Kwang-jo Choi Retrieved on 22 February 2009. 1971 Singapore C. K. Han 1971 United States of America C. K. Han 1972 Apollo Stadium, Adelaide, Australia C. C. Rhee, C. H. Rhee November–December 1973 Africa · Europe · Far East · Middle East C. K. Choi, Y. I. Kong, J. S. Park, S. J. Park, K. H. Rhee July 1974 Sydney, Australia C. H. Rhee 1974 Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada Y. I. Kong, J. S. Park, K. H. Rhee Anonymous (1974): "International Tae Kwon Do demo held in Canada." Black Belt, 12(12):13–14. 9 March 1975 Kelvin Halls, Glasgow, United Kingdom C. K. Choi, K. I. Kim, Y. I. Kong, J. S. Park, J. T. Park, S. J. Park, K. H. Rhee c. early 1978 Kenya · Malaysia · Pakistan · South Africa K. H. Rhee Pioneers of Taekwon-Do: Grand Master Rhee Ki-ha Retrieved on 13 January 2010. May 1978 Hungary · Poland · Sweden · Yugoslavia C. K. Choi, J. T. Park, K. H. Rhee 1979 Denmark · France · Greenland · Sweden · West Germany K. H. Rhee November 1979 Argentina C. K. Choi, J. C. Kim, J. T. Park, K. H. Rhee Adrogué, M. E. (2008): The persons and events that shaped Taekwondo in Argentina Retrieved on 6 February 2010.Late ITF: 1981–2002DatePlace(s)Masters involvedReferences January 1981 Queensland, Australia C. K. Choi 1981 North Korea J. T. Park October–November 1982 Austria · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Finland · Greenland · Hungary · Poland · United Kingdom · West Germany · Yugoslavia J. T. Park November 1984 New York, United States of America J. T. Park November 1985 Norway J. T. Park 1987 Buenos Aires, Argentina J. T. Park 1990 USSR K. H. Rhee Post-H. H. Choi: 2003–DatePlace(s)Masters involvedReferences 25–27 April 2003 Solvalla Sports Institute, Espoo, Finland K. H. Rhee ITF Taekwon-Do International Instructors' seminar: Conducted by Grand Master Rhee Ki-ha, IX Dan Retrieved on 12 February 2010. 2–4 May 2008 Vancouver, Canada J. C. Kim, J. S. Park Legacy Taekwon-Do: Taekwon-Do Pioneers seminar Retrieved on 10 February 2010. 27–28 September 2008 Beijing, China J. S. Park China International Taekwon-Do Federation: 2008 International ITF Taekwon-Do seminar in China Retrieved on 19 January 2010. 2–3 December 2009 Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia K. H. Rhee Tae Kwon-Do Kidokwan: International Taekwon-Do Instructor training course by legendary pioneer First Grand Master Rhee Ki-ha (2 October 2009). Retrieved 12 February 2010.

Relationship with H. H. Choi Many of the original masters of taekwondo went on to prominent roles in the ITF in the late 1960s and 1970s. As time passed and many of these masters left the ITF, their photographs were removed from Choi's series of taekwondo textbooks and replaced with photographs of current ITF masters.Choi, H. H. (1993): Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence (3rd ed.). Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation. One of the main reasons for their departure was Choi's insistence on initiating relationships with North Korea, during a period in which that country and South Korea were "technically at war" (Gillis, 2003, p. 104; C. K. Choi, 2010, p. 147),Gillis, A. (2003): Tiny master Toro, June–July 2003:100–107. Retrieved 31 January 2010.Choi, C. K. (2010): The Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do & early history (rev. ed.). Vancouver: Choi Chang-keun. or at best, had "no diplomatic relations" (C. K. Choi, 2010, p. 147) or "no diplomatic ties" (World Taekwon-Do Alliance). At least one of the masters reported that it was with regret that he stopped supporting Choi. North and South Korea are still considered to be technically at war.Koreas agree to military hotline CNN (4 June 2004). Retrieved 2 December 2010.

Seven of the masters settled in North America: Chang-keun Choi (Canada, 1970), Kwang-jo Choi (USA, 1970),Choi Kwang Do Brown's Bay: About Grandmaster Kwang-jo Choi Retrieved on 22 January 2010. Cha-kyo Han (USA, 1971), Jong-chan Kim (Canada),Anslow, S. (2004): An interview with Grand Master Kong Young-il, IX degree Retrieved on 8 January 2010. Young-il Kong (USA, c. 1968),Young Brothers Tae Kwon-Do Institute: History Retrieved on 29 January 2010. Jong-soo Park (Canada, 1968), and Jung-tae Park (Canada, 1970).TaeKwonDo Times: Taking the Wheel – More with Grandmaster Linda Park Retrieved on 14 February 2009. The leaders of the group also settled in North America: H. H. Choi moved to Canada and T. H. Nam settled in the USA. Three of the masters settled in Europe: Kwang-il Kim (West Germany, now Germany, c. 1970), Sun-jae Park (Italy, c. 1970), and Ki-ha Rhee (United Kingdom, 1967). Two of the masters settled in Australia: Chong-chul Rhee (c. 1965), and Chong Hyup Rhee (c. 1970).

C. K. Choi, J. C. Kim, Y. I. Kong, J. S. Park, and K. H. Rhee have maintained the strongest links with the ITF. H. H. Choi had personally promoted C. K. Choi to 8th dan (1981), Y. I Kong to 9th dan (1997),World Taekwon-Do Alliance: Grand Master Kong Retrieved on 22 February 2009.Pioneers of Taekwon-Do: Grand Master Kong Young-il Retrieved on 13 January 2010. and K. H. Rhee to 9th dan (1997).

Biographies The following table summarises the status of the twelve original masters of taekwondo.