General Choi Hong Hi left Taekwon-Do as his legacy and in order to preserve it for history, he set it all down in a
16 volume encyclopedia. The encyclopedia, however, can sometimes be open to interpretation or have meaning lost in translation. For that reason, we are so lucky in that we have
First Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha at the head of our association, who was a key figure in its inception, and a fellow Korean, once described by General Choi as his 'best ever student', to help us.
General Choi's first text on Taekwon-Do in Korean was published in
1959, the precursor for the
1965 encyclopedia, then, in
1967, he began the long task of preparing for a new edition of the book with the help of US 4th Degree, Robert Walson. In
1969, he undertook a worldwide tour of twenty-nine countries to visit instructors and collect photographs for it.
Rhee Ki Ha, along with Kong Young II, Park Jong Soo, Pak Sun Jae and Choi Chang Keun, all 7th degree black belts, formed General Choi's hand picked demonstration team in
1973 which toured 13 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East.
5 years later in
1978,
Rhee Ki Ha accompanied General Choi on a tour of Malaysia, Pakistan, Kenya and South Africa. The same year,
Rhee Ki Ha, Choi Chang Keun, Park Jung Tae and Liong Wai Meng formed the ITF Demonstration Team travelling to Sweden, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia.
In
1979, the All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation was formed with
Rhee Ki Ha as President.
Rhee Ki Ha also found time that year to accompany General Choi on a tour of Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, France and Greenland along with Khang Su Jong. Later that year,
Rhee Ki Ha formed part of a demonstration team to Argentina along with Kim Jong Chan, Choi Chang Keun, Park Jung Tae, Lee Jong Moon, Chung Kwang Duk, Kim Suk Jun and Michael Cormack.
After a tour of the USA, Europe and the DPRK to take the final photographs, partly accompanied by Park Jung Tae and Choi Joong Hwa, General Choi invited key instructors Lee Suk Hi,
Rhee Ki Ha, Park Jung Tae and Choi Joong Hwa to Pyongyang to
finalize the publication of the Encyclopedia in 1983.
In
1997,
Rhee Ki Ha was promoted to Grand Master by General Choi. The first person ever to be awarded this title by the founder.
Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha is one of the most honorable men I have ever met. Whilst others bicker about who knows best and put eachother down, he rises above it and never puts down other groups or individuals. He was loyal to General Choi until the end while others left, he was even at his side on his death bed. As far as I am concerned, his word on Taekwon-Do is as good as the Founder's.
References:
"Taekwon-Do" (The Korean Art of Self Defense) also known as The Condensed Encyclopedia. Fifth Edition 1999,
Gen. Choi Hong Hi, The Father of Taekwon-Do
"Taekwon-Do and I", part 2, pages 330-331
United Kingdom Taekwon-Do Association; http://ukta.com/history.php
