Choi Kwang-Do
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Template:Koreanname noimage Choi Kwang-Do is a martial art created by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi. Grandmaster Choi was a chief instructor for the International Taekwondo Federation in the 1960s. After receiving damage caused by the Taekwondo training methods Grandmaster Choi formulated a style of martial arts based on bio-mechanic principles.
Choi Kwang-Do breaks with classic techniques in that all movements follow the body's natural movement pattern, performed as one sequential movement. Thus power is increased and risk of injury is reduced. Martial arts competitions are viewed as counter productive to health and self-defense. Training is geared towards practical responses with maximum power in realistic situations.
Choi Kwang-Do is a martial art created by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi. Grandmaster Choi was a chief instructor for the International Taekwondo Federation in the 1960s. After receiving medical treatment for damage caused by the Taekwondo training methods Grandmaster Choi formulated a style of martial arts based on bio-mechanic principles.
Choi Kwang-Do breaks with classic techniques in that all movements follow the body's natural movement pattern, performed as one sequential movement. Thus power is increased and risk of injury is reduced. Martial arts competitions are viewed as counter productive to health and self-defense. Training is geared towards practical responses with maximum power in realistic situations.
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Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi
Also formally known as dojunim (founder), Kwang Jo Choi was born March 2, 1942 in Daegu, Korea. He began his formal study of martial arts at age 12 under the famous Master Instructor, Dong Ju Li. Driven by the need to survive in the war torn streets of South Korea and an innate desire for perfection, Kwang Jo Choi soon became one of Master Li's star pupils.
After his tenure in the Korean Army, Kwang Jo Choi began his study of Taekwondo(Korean hand and foot fighting art) under its founder, General Choi Hong Hi. Through Kwang Jo Choi's talent and dedicated training, he was awarded the prestigious title of Chief Instructor under General Choi's International Taekwondo Federation before he was 25 years old.
In addition to teaching self-defense to the Korean Army and National Police, Kwang Jo Choi was personally selected by General Choi to serve as an elite member of a group of experts chosen to spread Taekwondo throughout the world. Through his mission, Kwang Jo Choi became one of Taekwondo's most prominent ambassadors and was directly responsible for its spread throughout Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and eventually, the United States.
Motivated by his continuing dedication to the advancement of the martial arts and his desire for self-improvement, Grandmaster Choi searched for ways to improve on techniques and teaching methods of his predecessors. It was during his first years in Hong Kong, where he settled twenty years ago, that Grandmaster Kwang Choi began consolidating his revolutionary martial arts theories and concepts.
For some time, Grandmaster Choi had felt that many of the traditional techniques were too stylized and rigid for practical self-defense. He discovered that many of these same techniques could actually harm the body and, over the long term, is detrimental to one's health and longevity. In fact, Grandmaster Choi had completely injured his body due to the lock out movements found in traditional martial art techniques, which forced him to move to North America in order to seek medical treatment. It was during this recuperating period that Grandmaster Choi created new techniques that would later form the initial foundation for Choi Kwang-Do.
Grandmaster Choi also witnessed too much importance being placed on sports competition with the winning of trophies taking precedence over the ideals of personal and human development. The Instructor-Student relationship, which is crucial to development of a student in the martial arts, was quickly fading into a coach-athlete relationship where the only goal was to win.
Based on these observations, coupled with years of research and practical experience, Grandmaster Choi pioneered one of the most revolutionary changes in recent martial arts history by announcing the introduction of an entirely new martial arts form - Choi Kwang-Do.
Named after its founder, Choi Kwang-Do was officially introduced on March 2, 1987. Grandmaster Choi has since founded his own world organization, Choi Kwang-Do Martial Art International, and spends his time teaching, training Instructors and giving seminars at his many branches throughout the world. In addition, he is currently involved in producing videos and written literature from his headquarters in the Atlanta, Georgia area. The culmination of this work so far has been the release of a massive book about his art, a la the Encyclopedia of Taekwondo. Choi Kwang-Do has schools in the US, UK, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Canada, France, Greece, India, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, and Spain, though perhaps ironically not in South Korea.
Ranking system
Traditional martial arts such as Taekwondo have less belts than Choi Kwang-Do. For example, there are 18 belt ranks until a black belt is achieved. The belt colors are broken down into junior (or solid) and senior (or striped). Junior is a solid color belt, and senior is the same color with a large single black stripe down the middle. Black belt progression is more complex than simply training for several years; instead, there are colored stripes placed at the end of the black belt that must be achieved before progressing in Dan.
Color belts
- White/ White Senior
- Yellow/ Yellow Senior
- Gold/ Gold Senior
- Orange/ Orange Senior
- Green/ Green Senior
- Blue/ Blue Senior
- Purple/ Purple Senior
- Red/ Red Senior
- Brown/ Brown Senior
Black belts
Note that before one recieves any stripe they start with none and must advance from there. For example, within Sam Dan there are four ranks, with three stripes.
- Il Dan (Through Yellow, Gold, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple, Red, Brown stripes)
- Ee Dan (Through Gold, Green, Blue, Red, Brown stripes)
- Sam Dan (Through Gold, Blue, Brown stripes)
- Sa Dan
- Oh Dan
- Yook Dan
- Chil Dan
- Pal Dan
- Koo Dan
There is no teaching syllabus currently for 4th- 9th degrees, and promotion is based off of internal factors such as teaching status (if person is student, instructor, etc.) 4th Degree black belts are titled 'International Instructors', therefore before one is really eligable for this testing they must have gone on some international tours. Fifth degree black belts are titled 'Master', eighth degree black belts are titled 'Grandmaster'. Currently there are only two grandmasters: Grandmaster Woo, who earned the title in Taekwondo, and Grandmaster Choi.
Conversion
Due to Choi Kwang-Do being a rather new art, and with Grandmaster Choi himself a former student of Taekwondo, there is a system of 'conversion', in which higher ranked students can transfer their rank over. They must train intensly for at least six months, learning all the curriculum they must know to have the equivalent belt rank in Choi Kwang-Do. It is notable that Master Pereira (commonly known as 'Master P') chose NOT to do this: he removed his fifth degree black belt and put on a CKD white belt upon viewing Grandmaster Choi demonstrating his new art. Master P is now second-in-command of Choi Kwang-Do.
Hybrid styles
Choi Kwang-Do has suffered a glut of break-away styles (much as many may consider CKD itself a break-away of Taekwondo). Some of these come from a falling out between instructors and the Headquarters, most famously being Roger Koo. Others, such as Shim Shin Do, are outright forgeries and are considered scams by those that discover the truth. Despite several of these break-aways venomously attacking Grandmaster Choi and Choi Kwang-Do itself, none have achieved a success comparable to CKD, and some, such as Koo Self Defense, seem to now preoccupy themselves with mud-slinging at their former art.
- Koo Self Defense Formed by Roger Koo, formerly ranked along with Grandmaster Choi and Master P as the big three. Half of his website is now devoted to attacking CKD
- Hup Kwon Do Founded by James Lim. Claims it is to CKD what CKD is to Taekwondo
- Shim Shin Do Founded by Sergio Barriga, it is a near clone of CKD, with some syllabus reworking
- Ho Shin Do Founded by Tommy Cho
- Modern Defense Martial Art Founded by Bob Lowery and Eric Hennings
- Pil Sung Do Founded by Larry Key. Of special note is the use of 'Pil Sung', the motto of CKD.
- Dynamic Self Defense Created by a group of disenfranchised UK instructors.
- Soo Yang Do Founded by Bruce Wood.
Most of these are, in fact, Choi Kwang-Do under different names. A few such as KSD have formulated new theories and techniques. It should also be noted that while Choi Kwang-Do still has a friendly relationship with Taekwondo, and Grandmaster Choi still entertains many important masters of Taekwondo, none of the hybrid styles have maintained any real relationship (outside of a bitter one) with CKD. Some, such as Pil Sung Do, even make no real reference as to WHY they decided to leave CKD.
See also
External links
- Official website (http://www.choikwangdo.com/)