Folks have mentioned
to me recently that they have seen some Karate videos on the internet or Karate
on TV /movies and it looks like a lot like our Han Moo Kwan. And yes, it will. Our Han Moo Kwan Club is based on Mr. Kim’s
training at the Han Moo Kwan Gymnasium in Korean before the unification of the
Kwans. Many of the master and founders
of the original Kwans studied Shotokan Karate in Japan which was founded by Gichin
Funakoshi who studied Shorin-Ryu in Okinawa.
A timeline
of the events are listed below as well as a figure showing Mr. Kim’s martial
arts lineage and his Master’s lineage to help understand the timing and the lineage
of our Han Moo Kwan - Sunnyvale Club and why it looks more like some
traditional karate styles practiced. It
is quite different from World Taekwondo (WT) or International Taekwon-do
Federation (ITF) which are the two largest Tae Kwon Do organizations in the
world.
Timeline
1870s - Gichin Funakoshi studied Shorin-Ryu Karate in
Okinawa under Anko Itsou and Anko
Asato
1931 - Yun Moo
Kwan judo school was opened
1936 – Gichin Funakoshi moved to Japan permanently and his
style of Karate was named Shotokan Karate
~ early
1940s - Sang Sup Chun studied Judo and Shotokan Karate
in Japan
1946 - Sang Sup Chun was asked to Teach at Yun Moo Kwan (one
of the original five Korean Kwan) where he taught both Judo and
Karate
~1946 – Kyo Yoon Lee studied Karate under Sang Sup Chun at Yun Moo Kwan
1950 – Koren
War Started, Sang Sup
Chun went missing in the war, and never returned.
1953 –
Korean War Ended
~1953 - Yun Moo-Kwan was renamed and restarted as the Ji Do Kwan
1953 – Kyo Yoon Lee became an instructor of Yun Moo Kwan students
returning from the war at the Hankuk Gymnasium
1954 - Kyo Yoon Lee left Yun Moo Kwan and
founded Han Moo Kwan at the Han Moo Gymnasium
1950s - 1960s – Mr. Ui
Jung Kim studied Han Moo Kwan at the Han Moo Gymnasium
1959 – Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) was established
and formed to
facilitate the unification of the kwans, standardize the art form and promote
it as a national sport, and expand its
influence internationally
1962 – Mr. Kim joined the KTA
1966 – General Hong Hi Choi (founder of Oh Do Kwan, one of the
original nine kwans) broke from the KTA based on disagreements and founded
the ITF.
1969 – Mr. Kim immigrated to the United States
1972 – Mr. Kim and Bob Rainie met by circumstance at a
Texaco gas station Mr. Kim managed
1972 – Kukkiwon was founded which maintains and sets the standard for
the unified Tae Kwon Do.
1973 - Mr. Kim and Bob Rainie founded the Lockheed Tae
Kwon Do Club to teach the Han Moo Kwan art form Mr. Kim learned in
Korea in the 1950s and 1960s.
1973 – World
Taekwondo (WT) was established. WT is the international governing body for
the sport of Taekwondo and follows the Kukkiwon standard.
1974 – By 1974, 40 kwans were consolidated into 9
major kwans
1978 - The kwans
were officially consolidated and officially adopted the Kukkiwon
standard.
Note: The Korean Han
Moo Kwan still exists today functioning as a fraternal organization that
supports the Kukkiwon by promoting traditional roots within the unified system
Late 1970s - An
ambassador of WT traveled to the United States and approached Mr. Kim with a
mandate to have him convert his school to the standards of this new
organization. Mr. Kim politely declined.
1980 –
WT recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
2000 – First appearance of Taekwondo as an Olympic Sport
2001 - Lockheed Tae Kwon Do was renamed to Han Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do
Figure: Mr. Kim’s Masters Lineage*
*Note that the figure does not necessarily
list all the Masters that a Master may have studied under but the most
notables. And for those Masters with
multiple arrows, one should not assume an equal amount of training was received
from each Master.
As you can
see from the timeline and figure, the Han Moo Kwan founder was taught primarily
from masters who studied and trained in Shotokan Karate. And the final consolidation of the Kwans and formation
of the WT (Olympic) organization were established after Mr. Kim immigrated to
the United States. And when approached,
he declined to change the style that was more of a sports style that was being
promoted as part of expanding taekwondo
internationally.
Given the
above, our Han Moo Kwan Club art form’s philosophy and principles are more akin
to traditional Karate styles (that is not for sport) like the Shotokan Karate taught
originally by Gichin Funakoshi and some of the Okinawan Karate styles like
Shorin-Ryu.
I for one,
am very happy Mr. Kim politely declined.
While I started in the Club in my mid-20s, I may have been okay with a
sports style but would definitely not be practicing that style and competing 30+
years later. The traditional style has
allowed me to not only feel I can continue to practice and evolve but has
provided me with a broader perspective on the goals of martial arts beyond the
physical.
Would you
be interested or think you would still be in the Club if it was a sports style?
Regards,
Kelly
“Karate is not a game; it is a
way of life.” ~ Masatoshi Nakayama (1913 –1987), master of Shotokan karate (disciple
of Gichi Funakoshi and Gichin’s son Gigo Funakoshi), helped establish the Japan
Karate Association (JKA) in 1949, and an author of many books on Karate.
References:
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Moo_Kwan, retrieved 13 July 2026
3. A Modern History of Taekwondo [on-line]
