The creation, history and evolution of the Korean Kwan by the founder, Brigadier General, Grandmaster and genius, Choi, Hong Hi who created the Odo Kwan and the Korean Fighting Tigers that Korean soldiers under his command that trained at the Odo Kwan and were feared on the battle field by both American soldiers and the Chinese enemy. Odo Kwan Black belts were the first military special forces and became the basis of the United States special forces and Seal Teams. Brigadier General Choi was ordered by the Korean President to unite the Korean Kwans after World War II so that Korea would have a National martial art and Olympic sport in competition with Japan who was working to get Judo accepted as an Olympic sport and the country with far more wealth and resources to use to reach their goal. The author describes the Japanese style of Karate Brigadier General Choi taught as a Korean martial art at the Chung Do Kwan under Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee and then at the Odo Kwan under Brigadier General Choi, Hong Hi and Colonel Nam tae Lee. The Odo Kwan, in collaboration with Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee, Founder of both Tang Soo Do and the Chung Do Kwan, one of Korea's first post World War II martial arts. Both Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee and Brigadier General Choi would have General Choi lose his Ambassadorship position to Malaysia in response to him creating the first international Taekwondo organization that was required so that Korea's Taekwondo could become an Olympic sport. The author describes how Brigadier General Choi and Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee would be perceived as a threat to the inexperienced Korean independent government that wanted to gain control of the international Taekwondo organization that would have allowed Taekwondo to become an Olympic sport. The author describes the Odo Kwan's journey from its start at the Chung Do Kwan, through the post World War II and Korean civil war and the Korean government's desire to convert Korea's version of Japanese Karate Do named Tang Soo Do to a uniquely Korean martial art named Taekwondo and receive the Korean governments support and funding with full resistance from many of the other kwans who wanted to be the leader of the effort to make Taekwondo an Olympic sport. The author includes Grandmaster Choi, Hong Hi's upbringing in Japan that would later be used by the Korean government officials to get Brigadier General Choi fired from his Ambassadorship to Malaysia and replace him with other government officials who would allow the Korean government to have full control of the international acceptance of Taekwondo that would allow Taekwondo to become an Olympic sport. Realizing he had enemies in the Korean government after several decades of working to unite the Korean martial arts community and create the first international Taekwondo organization to get Taekwondo into the Olympics and then forced to immigrate to Canada to avoid his enemies in the new, young and independent Korean government since 1870 that was searching to destroy anyone they would call a Japanese sympathizer. The author describes the evolution of the Odo Kwan Tang Soo Do to become the Odo Kwan Taekwondo as a political entity and its contribution to the development of Odo Kwan's Taekwondo and the creation of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) and the creation of Korean government's World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) that replaced the ITF and WTF's Taekwondo's journey from the dirt floors of the first Korean martial arts Kwans after World War II to the beautiful Kukkiwon, Taekwondo's official training center as an Olympic sport.
About the Author: The author has been training in martial arts since he joined his first Tae Kwon Do class after graduating from college the first time and began publishing magazine articles around 1990. Len believes that the value in his writing is his unique interpretation of the many classical oral traditions that Korean martial arts is defined by using his his scientific, psychological and philosophical background. Len began teaching martial arts after earning a Cho Dan (1st/lesser level) Black Belt in the highly contentious styles of Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do and Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do. As a Journalist, in 1984, Len began writing and publishing martial arts related articles, editorials and books extensively on Korean martial arts, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Eastern thought and meditation including the World of Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do Times, Black Belt and Mudo Dojang and others. Len's martial arts related articles illustrated the lost history of Korean martial arts and so Len's articles and books have been translated and republished in countries around the world because of the small amount of historical information that had been previously unavailable prior to his publications. Len has published more than 40 books on Korean martial arts. Len's books are not how-to punch and kick but are about the more academic aspects of the traditional Korean-based styles of Tang Soo Do, Soo Bahk, Tae Kwon Do and Kong Soo Do and the many Kwans and the Kwan founders that resurrected Korean martial arts after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945 that were responsible for the Post war Korean martial arts community that became popular for Western countries after the Korean war and how Tang Soo Do was transformed into Taekwondo as Korea's national martial arts and Olympic sport. One of Len's books for helping parents choose an optimum style for their child based on the child's physical and psychological factors received the Good Housekeeping magazine's Seal of Approval when it was published over 20 years ago. Len currently has more than 25 years of martial arts experience as a student and Instructor, training and teaching in three different styles. Len has also studied Shotokan Karate and the Chinese Wing Chun fighting style extensively. Academically, Len has earned degrees in Physics and Mathematics simultaneously, and graduate degrees and a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering and a graduate degree in Education.