General Choi Hong Hi's biodata

Choi was born on 9th of November 1918 in Hwa Dae, Myŏngch'ŏn county, in what is now the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Choi's father sent him to study calligraphy under Han II Dong, who was also "a master of Taek Kyon, the ancient Korean art of foot fighting". In 1937, Choi travelled to Japan for further study. In Kyoto, he met a fellow Korean with the surname Kim, who was a karate instructor and taught Choi this martial art. Just before he had left Korea, Choi had apparently had a disagreement with a wrestler named Hu, and the possibility of a future confrontation inspired him to train hard; in his own words, "I would imagine that these were the techniques I would use to defend myself against the wrestler, Mr. Hu, if he did attempt to carry out his promise to tear me limb from limb when I eventually returned to Korea. Choi attained the rank of 1st dan in karate in 1939, and then 2nd dan soon after.
Choi had been forced to serve in the Japanese army during World War II, but was implicated in a rebellion and imprisoned, during which time he continued practicing martial arts. Following the war, in January 1946, Choi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Korean army. From 1946 to 1951, Choi received promotions to first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and then brigadier general. Choi was promoted to major general in 1954.
Choi stated he combined elements of taekkyeon and karate to develop a martial art that he called "Taekwon-Do" ( 跆拳道), which literally means "to kick, to punch, the art", and it was so named on 11 April 1955. Choi founded the Oh Do Kwan, and held an honorary 4th dan ranking in the Chung Do Kwan, of which he was later stripped. ITF taekwondo organizations credit Choi with starting the spread of taekwondo internationally by stationing Korean taekwondo instructors around the world, and have consistently claimed that ITF-style taekwondo is the only authentic style of taekwondo, most notably in early sections of its textbooks. He is also the author of the first English Taekwondo syllabus book, entitled "Taekwon-Do" published by Daeha Publication Company in 1965.
In 1971, the South Korean government refused Choi permission to teach taekwondo in North Korea; as a result, Choi went into exile in Canada and the South Korean government formed the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).