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International Taekwon-Do Federation
Sports organization founded in 1966 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea.[1] The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Korean martial art of taekwon-do.[2][3][4][5]
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The ITF's main functions include coordinating and approving tournaments and seminars, setting standards for teaching (patterns, sparring, destruction), collaborating with affiliated member organizations, and providing services members in regard to rank and certifications.
After Choi's death in 2002, there was controversy around the election of his successor that led to multiple organizations claiming the ITF mantle.
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Patterns
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Patterns, or tul (틀) in Korean, originally called hyeong (형), form an important aspect of training in taekwon-do. They are equivalent to the kata in karate. The majority of the patterns (except Yul-Gok, Ul-Ji and Tong-Il) start with a defensive move, which emphasizes taekwon-do's defensive nature. All of the patterns start and end at the same location. This ensures that the practitioners' stances are the correct length, width, and in the proper direction. Additionally, students are taught to understand the purpose of each movement and recognize how each motion connects to theories of power.[6]
There are 24 patterns in the official ITF syllabus; this is symbolic of the 24 hours in a day. One additional pattern, Ko-Dang (or Go-Dang), was retired/replaced by Juche in 1986 by General Choi Hong Hi. The names of these patterns typically refer either to events in Korean history or to important people in Korean history. Elements of the patterns may also be historical references, such as the number of moves, the diagram, the way the pattern ends, and so on.
Patterns (tul) are performed in accordance with "The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do" in 15 volumes written by General Choi Hong Hi, the latest edition being from 1999 (later editions have been published, but the 1999 editions were the last General Choi Hong Hi was directly involved with). This comprehensive work contains 15 volumes with volumes 8 to 15 dedicated to the 24 patterns and containing descriptions of the pattern movements as well as pictures showing possible applications of some of the movements. There is also the book entitled "The Korean Art of Self Defense" (the 1999 edition, the latest used by ITF under Chang Ung), also known as the Condensed Encyclopedia, written by General Choi Hong Hi. This is a single condensed encyclopedia of approximately 770 pages with a section dedicated to the 24 original patterns.
There are also three fundamental exercises, named Saju Jirugi (Four Direction Punch), Saju Makgi (Four Direction Block) and Saju Tulgi (Four Direction Thrust). Saju Jirugi and Saju Makgi are basic defence exercises taught to beginners of the martial art. Saju Tulgi is less well known and is generally taught to 2nd Kup students just prior to Hwa-Rang. Saju Tulgi is not presented in the Condensed Encyclopedia but is present in the 15 Volume Encyclopedia (see: Volume 10, page 122).[7]
The 24 patterns in taekwon-do ITF are:
The retired patterns in taekwon-do ITF are
- Kodang (고당) (39 movements)
- Woo-Nam (우남) (42 movements)
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Sparring
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The International Taekwon-Do Federation's sparring rules are:
- Hand attacks to the head are allowed.[8]
- The scoring system (by ITF chaired by Prof. Ri Yong Son, based in Vienna)[9] is:
- One (1) point will be awarded for:
- Hand attack directed to the head or body.
- Two (2) points will be awarded for:
- Foot attack directed to the body.
- Three (3) points will be awarded for:
- Kick to the head.
- The competition area is typically a 10×10 meter square in international championships.
Competitors do not wear the hogu (although they are required to wear approved foot and hand protection equipment, as well as head guards). This scoring system varies between the different ITF organisations.
A continuous point system is utilized in ITF competition, where the fighters are allowed to continue after scoring a technique. Full-force blows are not allowed, and knockouts result in a disqualification of the attacker; although these rules vary between ITF organizations. At the end of two minutes (or some other specified time) the competitor with more scoring techniques wins.
Fouls in ITF sparring include heavy contact, attacking a fallen opponent, leg sweeping, holding/grabbing, intentional attack to a target other than allowed (for example below the belt, attacks to the back).[10]
ITF competitions also feature performances of patterns, breaking, and 'special techniques' (where competitors perform prescribed board breaks at great heights).
ITF competition sparring rounds are 2 minutes, and, in national and international levels of competition, they hold two rounds each 2 minutes with a one-minute rest in between. Certain rules are no strikes below the belt, no elbow strikes, brawling, no falling down, no going outside of the ring, hit to the groin and knee strike are not allowed. The ring is a 9 metre by 9 metre (8 × 8 metre optional) ring marked by square mats or tape instead of a traditional style kickboxing rings with ropes. It has no sides allowing the fighter to move out of bounds. Whenever a fighter creates an infraction of the rules the centre referee will issue a warning to the fighter who created the infraction. 3 warnings equals a minus point. If a fighter uses excessive contact, he or she will be given a foul, which is an automatic minus point; three fouls in a bout results in disqualification. ITF taekwon-do is fought in continuous point sparring. Four judges score the fights in each of the corners in the square ring. After the fight, a judge votes for which ever fighter has the most points and a winner is declared. In the case of a draw the fighters go to a one-minute overtime round. If there is another draw the fighters go to a sudden death round where the fighter who scores first is declared the winner.
The official rules for ITF sparring competition are available at the ITF website.[11]
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Ranks
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The ITF ranking system consists of six solid colour belts; white, yellow, green, blue, red, and black.[12]
Coloured belt ranks are called in English grades and in Korean geup (급) (often romanized as gup or kup), whereas black belt ranks are called ranks/dan (단):
The reason for nine black belt degrees is that the number nine is not only the highest of the single-digit numbers, but also is the number of three multiplied by three. In the Orient, three is one of the more esteemed numbers. The Chinese character for 3 is three horizontal lines, one above the other: 三. The bottom line represents earth; the middle line represents mortals; the upper line represents heaven.[13] It was believed that a man who could unite the three realms in himself, would aspire or be reborn into a king; this is shown by the vertical line connecting the realms in the character for king: 王.
Black belt promotion
Up to 7th dan, all ranks require the student to perform a test of all skills and knowledge up to their rank to be promoted. 8th and 9th dan may be awarded with consent of the promotion committee with no physical test required, due to the nature and responsibilities of a master no longer being centered on the physical development. However, if the recipient desires, a demonstration may be performed. Ninth degree (being the highest) can only be awarded when the special committee examines and reaches a unanimous consent.
According to an ITF Encyclopedia 4th degree may grade students up to 2nd degree. A 6th degree International Instructor may grade students up to 3rd degree, while a 7th degree Master may grade students up to 4th degree. An 8th degree Master may grade students up to 6th degree. A 9th degree Grand Master may grade students up to 7th degree. Promotion to 8th degree or above must be done by the ITF's Master Promotion Committee.[14]
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History and schism
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After the South Korean Government abandoned the ITF, the government established the World Taekwondo Federation to continue the mission of taekwondo's globalization.[15] Once Choi Hong Hi was exiled out of South Korea, he established the new headquarters of the ITF in Vienna, Austria and the organization settled there.[16] In the years that followed, many of the founding masters of the ITF and several other instructors left the organization to form their own independent organizations following disagreements with Choi.[17]
Organizational Split of the ITF (2001–present)
By 2001, succession planning became urgent as General Choi Hong Hi neared the end of his life. At the ITF Congress that year, his son, Choi Jung Hwa, was elected to succeed him in 2003, with General Choi remaining president during the interim.
After Choi Jung Hwa asserted that North Korea’s financial sponsorship would not grant it special influence within the ITF, a backlash followed. In 2002, General Choi convened an emergency meeting—excluding Choi Jung Hwa—and rescinded his son's succession. Many senior members viewed the move as unconstitutional. Choi Jung Hwa rejected the decision, relocated the ITF headquarters to Toronto, Canada, and continued as president with support from several grandmasters.
Following General Choi’s death in June 2002, North Korean officials introduced Chang Ung as the new ITF president during a memorial service in Pyongyang. The manner of his appointment was widely seen as illegitimate. According to the ITF constitution, Vice President Russell MacLellan served as interim president, and in 2003, Trần Triệu Quân was elected ITF president at the World Championships in Poland.
This resulted in three separate ITF organizations:
- ITF-C (Choi Jung Hwa), headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
- ITF-Vienna (originally led by Chang Ung, now by Ri Yong Son), headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
- ITF-Weiler (led successively by Trần Triệu Quân, Pablo Trajtenberg, and currently Paul Weiler). After a legal dispute over the Vienna headquarters, Austrian courts ruled in favor of the ITF-Vienna group. The ITF-Weiler group relocated its legal seat to Spain, with its main administrative office now based in Lublin, Poland.[18]
A fourth organization, ITF HQ Korea, was established in 2014 by Oh Chang Jin after splitting from Choi Jung Hwa’s group. It is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.
All four groups claim to preserve General Choi's legacy and teachings, operating independently with their own governance structures, championships, and member nations.
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References
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