Evolution of TKD

Tevek

I mean the "Olympic style" of competiton changed things even more from where TKD was in the 70s/80's.

I'm old enough to remember the days when TKD was trying hard to get everyone on the same page so that they could try and make TKD an Olympic sport.

I can remember my own dojang and the various struggles to conform to the model--some of it was very different than the way we frist trained.

NOT "BETTER" OR "WORSE"---JUST "DIFFERENT."

I see, interesting.

How did it change it?

Trevek

Several of things that stand out.

-Don't recall which kwan he was from, but there was a lot of pressure to stop doing the old kata and only teach the "olympic" style.

At the time, in open tournament, we all competed in the same divsions with Korean verisons of Bassi-dai, etc.
Which looked pretty much like the japanese versions.

Then whole "new" sets of kata were created, then those were replaced by still other poosme.
Specific names I don't recall--but the old kata were phased out then their replacements were also phased out.

-The sparring was changed to fit the olympic model

-The techniques themselves, used to be hard to tell TKD from shotokan or various forms of Shorin, the stances tended to be lower and long, etc, it "looked" and "felt" like japanese karate.

Its also worth pointing out that the older kwans made few bones about where there training came from.
I was also around for major push of TKD being a "2000 year old native korean art."
People had been making that claim since the Kwans merged in the late 50's, but its was not the "offical" story until the late 70's early 80's.

I can remmember the days when no-one was really making that claim, to when it became the "party line" to today when the story is being spun again into a "shared art" kinda thing with China, Japan, Okinawa, and Korea ALL teaching pretty much the same art.

Please understand, I am NOT bagging on TKD, the Japanese did similar things to the Okinawan karate, and the Okinawans adapted their art from various Chinese sources etc.

Could be esily argued that many teachers of "American free style karate" are doing the same today.

These questions are part of my art and close to my heart. Most times they come up I don't contribute. Partly because I type so slowly. I have a better than average knowledge of Martial arts history. That has come over time and I have had to do alot of digging to get even close to the bottom. I have come to a pretty good understanding of who knew what and whom. Who studied under who. Who gave who what rank when and why.
There is layer apon layer and story apon story. Some things rarely get talked about. What it comes down to for me is , things change. I take pleasure in working to understand how individuals, arts and nations get from point A to point B. It is interesting to me to look for cause and effect and see the impact that an individual, community, political administration can have on history.
A short while back I was watching a documentary in Funikoshi. Though technically what I practice is called Tae Kwon do and our instructor was a TKD official at the 88 olympics in Seoul, I move and train in a way that looks very Japanese to most. It took me a while to understand why that is. While understanding all of it the best I can is pleasurable (in the same way a Rubics cube might be for others) it really doesnt matter much. Everyone, (even the old guys) were living life, trying to get by, often under very difficult curcumstances. We, like them are living at a certain point in time facing, different and similar questions and orienting ourselves in history. Lets do what we can to respect the folks that came before us and contributed to the foundations we can safely stand and build on.

That's interesting, but was this part of the break from ITF chang hon, after the General left Korea, or was it something specifically done with the olympics in mind?

Honestly don't know.

I could make a case for both, one after the other.

I would guess that things started in the wake of the various kwans mergeing in the late 50/early 60's.

If I had to guess, I would say the Olympic movement was the real driver.

But that is just a guess.

And I make it from both what went down then, and comparing it to what is being done/said/argued/altered etc with karate trying to get become and Olympic sport.

Its like watching a replay of the same arguements, same conjecturs, same rebuttals, same bitterness, same goals and same means I saw back in the late 70's/early 80's with TKD.

Tim please do not get him started because he really can. History of TKD 101.