The Moo Duk Kwan was founded by the late Grandmaster Hwang Kee in 1945. After the Korea war nine major Kwans were formed. In 1955, the President of Korea asked that all the Kwan’s unite under the name of Taekwondo. At this time Hwang Kee resisted. In 1960 he renamed the art Soo Bahk Do. In the 60’s Moo Duk Kwan grew to become 70% of the practitioners in Korea.
In 1961 President Park, directed the Kwans to unify under the banner of the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA). In 1965 the leaders of the Kwans met and the Unification Declaration Ceremony was conducted. At this time General Choi was the President of the KTA. Prior to the final meeting and signing of the agreement, the Board of Directors of the Moo Duk Kwan decided to unify under the KTA. The agreement was made and later Grandmaster Hwang Kee backed out. A large number of the MooDukKwan Masters honored the unification and the Korea Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan was formed with it’s first President being Kang, Ik Lee. The subsequent presidents would be Chong Soo Hong, In Seok Kim, Choi Nam Do, Jae Kyu Chon and Jong Hwan Lee, (Current President).
During the mid-1970s, the Korea Taekwondo Association was trying fervently to abolish the old concept of the Kwans in order to unify Taekwondo as Korea’s National Sport. Final efforts towards Kwan unification heated up in 1977 and after several meetings, the Korea Taekwondo Association decided that the original Kwans would be eliminated by the end of the following year. August 7, 1978, can be considered a historical date for Taekwondo because it was on this day that the Kwan-jangs (presidents) ultimately compromised and closed the Kwan system with a signed proclamation, finalizing the official Kwan unification. Many senior masters continued to identify themselves by their Kwan and would form fraternal organizations to continue their Kwan tradition. Once such group was the “Moo Duk Hwoi” (pronounced “hae”), organized by Chong Soo Hong and comprised of senior Moo Duk Kwan masters in Korea and around the World.
Today, the Korea Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Association is the predecessor of the Moodukhwoi. It is the same organization with its history, lineage, and purpose. Its primary purpose is to unify, preserve and promote the Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan philosophy, history and culture Worldwide.
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