ITF

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Recorded May 13, 2026

Foundational federation milestone — the International Taekwon-Do Federation was founded on 22 March 1966 by General Choi Hong Hi in Seoul, South Korea, establishing the original international authority for the ITF style of taekwondo. The 1966 ITF founding predates the 1973 World Taekwondo (formerly WTF) founding by 7 years and represents the original codification of taekwondo's international rule-making structure. Every ITF-style rule on the 24 canonical patterns (originally including Ko-Dang, replaced by Juche in 1986), sparring format, sine-wave technique, ranking system, and uniform standards descends from this 1966 Seoul founding. The federation later relocated through Choi Hong Hi's exile (Vienna, Austria) and post-2002 factional splits.

Recorded May 10, 2026

Most consequential pattern-syllabus rule decision in ITF history. In 1986, General Choi Hong Hi retired one of the 24 ITF patterns — Ko-Dang (or Go-Dang) — and replaced it with the Juche pattern. The 1986 retirement-and-replacement was a federation-level rule decision modifying the canonical 24-pattern curriculum that ITF schools and competitions worldwide enforce. The Juche replacement reflected Choi Hong Hi's increasing alignment with the DPRK during the late 1980s (Juche being North Korea's official state ideology), which would later prove consequential during the 2002 succession crisis when DPRK officials claimed authority over the post-Choi ITF.

Recorded May 10, 2026

Most consequential modern governance crisis for ITF taekwondo. Following General Choi Hong Hi's death in June 2002, DPRK officials introduced Chang Ung as the new ITF president during a memorial service in Pyongyang according to "General Choi's Last Will". The 2002 succession was contested by other ITF factions and directly triggered the post-2002 ITF factional split into ITF-Vienna (which Choi Hong Hi had relocated to from his earlier exile), ITF-Pyongyang (DPRK-aligned), ITF-Benelux, and the later Toronto-based faction (relocated by Choi Jung Hwa). Every modern ITF-style taekwondo rule on patterns, sparring, sine-wave technique, and ranking now operates under the post-2002 factional framework, with each faction maintaining its own variant of the federation's rule-making authority.

Recorded May 10, 2026