Belt colors

[puunui]

I have probably painted a target on my back now. Let's get over what belt color is associated with what guep.

Funny thing is, I actually did find the answer, in the 1992 and 1999 Taekwondo Handbook published by the WTF, which lays out the belt colors and the associated guep rank. Back in 1992 and 1999, the WTF still had its offices at the Kukkiwon, and for all intents and purposes, everything was united under Dr. Kim, who was president of both. So what the WTF had written about it, was the Kukkiwon color belt system at that time, since there was no dispute then that Kukkiwon was the sole authority and word on promotions, belts and that area of responsibility for Taekwondo. The belt system was also mentioned in the 1986 and 1988 versions of the Handbook, and I have a 1972 KTA pamphlet that also talks about color belts. It's all over the place.

But you are right, let's get over it.

 

[puunui]

Folks: Must every Taekwondo thread be turned into the old and tired Gen Choi, ITF, WTF, Kukkiwon, founders and related Kwan issues -- complete with dissections, citations, bibliograhy, etc? Can't we simply agree that Taekwondo geup belt colors vary among all sects of the martial art/sport all over the world and that shouldn't be a big deal?

Some people are really interested in making sure no one forgets General Choi. Maybe at one time a majority knew his name through his books, but today the majority of Taekwondo students out there probably don't know who he is.

 

[Archtkd]

but[/B] you don't seem to see the trees because of the forest. You say you want to study these threads in an effort to learn something, but when someone tries to teach, even providing citations, you don't want to hear it.

What I see is someone correcting something that has been said for years, said so many times that many believe it as the truth. Since he provides numereous citations and his distractors seem unable to, I know who I believe.

Really? Trees? Forest? Did you read what I wrote? My angst does not arise from the belt issue, but the backward idea that every thread in the Taekwondo board should be turned into a supposed scholarly wrestling march over historical stuff that has been discussed in other threads for a zillionth time.

 

[terrylamar]

Really? Trees? Forest? Did you read what I wrote? My angst does not arise from the belt issue, but the backward idea that every thread in the Taekwondo board should be turned into a supposed scholarly wrestling march over historical stuff that has been discussed in other threads for a zillionth time.

And yet, the same posters bring it up over and over, getting it wrong time after time. As I said, if you repeat a lie over and over, some start to believe it as the truth. So the lie needs to be corrected each and every time. The subject at hand is related to the OP post on the belt system.

Who are you railing against, the posters getting it wrong or the poster correcting them.?

 

[puunui]

As I said, if you repeat a lie over and over, some start to believe it as the truth. So the lie needs to be corrected each and every time.

Exactly.

 

[mastercole]

Then General Choi changed his mind when he lost control and decided that he didn't want the KTA, WTF, or Kukkiwon using "his" name, even though he was the one who forced the name change through in the first place, a name the majority of the pioneers did not want. In fact, the pioneers were so upset at the name change that he was forced out of the KTA.

Here is what the Modern History book says about the name change and General Choi:

*

After much discussion and argument back and forth over the issue, CHOI Hong Hi changed the name of the art
from Taesoodo to Taekwondo, which led to great hostility from LEE Chong Woo and LEE Nam Suk. CHOI Hong
Hi attempted to establish his authoritarian dictator style but he could not continue to lead because no one
would follow him. After one year, CHOI Hong Hi was forced to resign the KTA presidency by LEE Chong Woo
and UHM Woon Kyu. CHOI Hong Hi begged LEE Chong Woo to allow him to remain as President for six more
months, but LEE Chong Woo said no.

LEE Chong Woo comments on the issue: "CHOI Hong Hi was like an authoritarian dictator so UHM Woon Kyu
and I had to kick him out. One morning we went to visit him at his house in Hannamdong (near Yong San) to
ask him to resign, but CHOI Hong Hi begged us to allow him to remain as KTA President for six more months.
We told him he would have to choose between three things: 'Money', 'Position' or 'Honor'. We told him that if
he chose Honor and resigned, we would help him make his own International Taekwon-Do Federation, but we
wanted him to resign immediately and get out of the Korea Taekwondo Association."

CHOI Hong Hi finally resigned as KTA President because he could not overcome the hostility of the Kwan heads
(Kwan Jang) in Taekwondo. In March 1966, the ITF was created at the Choson Hotel with nine participating
countries such as West Germany, USA, Turkey, Italy, etc. But because he had too much desire and because of
his authoritarian ways, he was forever labeled the "permanent troublemaker" in Taekwondo.

*



It used to be. I don't know about now. Everything seems to be changing at the moment. Green was originally a Moo Duk Kwan guep color belt, because of the Midnight Blue belt. The Moo Duk Kwan used green in place of blue.

That is the thing to remember. Taekwondo had/has Kwans, or roots to various Kwan. For roots, ITF is from Oh Do Kwan and kept many of Oh Do Kwan's customs. Oh Do Kwan today however follows the Kukkiwon, but some Kukkiwon schools with Oh Do Kwan roots might use some things from Oh Do Kwan, like Choi's Tenets, even forms, ect.

I adopted the green belt in my school so my belt system matched the Olympic rings.

 

[puunui]

I adopted the green belt in my school so my belt system matched the Olympic rings.

The fact that the belt colors of Taekwondo (white, yellow, green, blue, red, black) match the colors of the Olympic rings, at least before the WTF put out their proposed system, does speak volumes. So does the fact that the WTF new proposed color belt scheme does not match the Olympic ring colors. The pioneers did everything with the Olympic Games in mind, and the non-pioneers do everything to take us away from that. Or at least that is how it seems to be working out.