Totally

Tae Kwon Do
Issue 196 www.totallytkd.com June 2025

Totally TKD News Page 4

− New Martial Arts Book Revolutionises Traditional Training
with Interactive Learning
− Black Belt Success

3rd Masters Academy Open Seminar 2025 Page 7

Fundamental Stretching Page 15
Let Perseverance Prevail Page 19
Martial Movie Madness Page 25
An Interview with Stuart Anslow Page 31
Totally Tae Kwon Do Wants You! Page 42
Concussion and the Martial Artist Page 43
Patricks TKD Funnies Page 54
‘From the Vaults’: General Choi Hong Hi: 10 Years on Page 55
Submission Guidelines Page 62
Sponsorship Packages Page 63

Contributors: Stuart Anslow (cover), Grandmaster Keith Finch, Jon Mackey,

Grandmaster Doug Cook, James De Carlie, David Price, Ms Bradley, Angus Rogers,
- Totally Tae Kwon Do
Patrick McWade and Stuart Anslow.
 Totally
Tae Kwon Do
Editorial
Issue 196 · June 2025
The Global Tae Kwon Do Magazine
Produced and Published by: Hi everyone,
Harrow Martial Arts
in association with
Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy This month it will be 23 years since General Choi
Email: [email protected]
Hong Hi passed away (on 15th June, 2002) and on
Tel: +44 (0)7759 438779 the cover you`ll see we have an article about him,
This PDF may not be distributed at all. Charging a fee for
but, look closer, as it’s a bit misleading, as the article
this PDF (in whole or in part) is strictly prohibited unless is a ‘From the Vaults’ one, written in 2012 and is
by the publisher or by agreement. This includes
distribution by any body, group or individual where a actually subtitled ‘10 years On’. However, I thought it
membership, subscription fee or any other charge is would make interesting reading, to compare the then
required to access or view this PDF and / or its contents.
Such distribution by commercial entities is prohibited. and now!
Commercial entities may not distribute this PDF. Please
contact us if in doubt.
Also in this issue is an interview with yours truly. It
Aside from personal non-commercial printouts of this PDF,
written permission must be gained from Harrow Martial was conducted by Grandmaster Cook a short while
Arts before converting this PDF into any other media. This
PDF and / or any resulting printout may not be passed on
back, but I thought I`d run it this issue, well, just
and nothing may be added to it or removed from it because! I hope you enjoy it.
without prior written permission from Harrow Martial Arts.

Worldwide copyright of all material (including pictures) is

held by the originator of that material unless stated
We also have a report on not only the 3rd Masters
otherwise. The reproduction of any material extracted Academy Open Seminar, that took place earlier this
from within this PDF is strictly prohibited, unless prior
agreement in writing is gained from the copyright holder
year, but it also reports on the 1st and 2nd one as
of that material. Those wishing to make use of any well.
material as presented on the pages of this PDF must also
gain written permission from Harrow Martial Arts.

The views, reports and comments expressed herein are

Plus we have some great articles on Perseverance,
not necessarily those of the editor and publisher. Whilst Stretching and a very in-depth one on Concussion
every care is taken to check their authenticity, Harrow
Martial Arts disclaim any and all liability for any and martial artists, which includes how to recognise
inaccuracies. them, how to avoid them and how to treat them!
The originator, publishers, editor and all contributors are
not responsible in any way for any injury, or any other loss,
which may occur by reading and /or following the I do wonder if those that have seen this months
instructions herein. It is essential that prior to undertaking martial movie madness film, will agree with my
any of the activities described within that the reader take
the advice of a doctor and a suitably qualified and review of it, as its sort of a film of two halves - we
experienced martial arts instructor.
shall see I guess!
The publishers reserve the right to reject any material
tendered at their discretion. The publishers accept no
responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. The Going forwards (for now) future issues will not
submission of manuscripts or materials shall be considered
a warranty that such matter is original and in no way
always come out on the 1st of each month, but will
infringes on the copyright of others. be out ASAP that month, once I have enough good
Harrow Martial Arts make no representations, articles to make an interesting and worthy issue.
endorsements, guarantees or warranties concerning the
products and / or services advertised within this magazine.
That's all from me. Train hard, fight easy and enjoy
Due to the nature of the magazine being still widely
available long past its issue date, customers of adverts are this months issue.
advised to confirm any businesses advertised within this
magazine are still trading before sending off any money,
as Harrow Martial Arts cannot be held liable for any Regards,
adverts, advertisers or consumer issues regarding products
or services advertised within this magazine, which were
correct at the issue date. Stuart
Editor
Copyright Notice
All articles in this magazine are
Copyright © 2025

2 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

 Issue 196 Contents

Totally TKD News Page 4

− New Martial Arts Book Revolutionises Traditional Training
with Interactive Learning
− Black Belt Success

3rd Masters Academy Open Seminar 2025 Page 7

Fundamental Stretching Page 15
Let Perseverance Prevail Page 19
Martial Movie Madness Page 25
An Interview with Stuart Anslow Page 31
Totally Tae Kwon Do Wants You! Page 42
Concussion and the Martial Artist Page 43
Patricks TKD Funnies Page 54
‘From the Vaults’: General Choi Hong Hi: 10 Years on Page 55
Submission Guidelines Page 62
Sponsorship Packages Page 63

Contributors: Stuart Anslow (cover), Grandmaster Keith Finch, Jon Mackey,

Grandmaster Doug Cook, James De Carlie, David Price, Ms Bradley, Angus Rogers,
Patrick McWade and Stuart Anslow.

In association with Hoonlyun magazineTotally Tae Kwon Do - 3

 Totally TKD News
New Martial Arts Book students could connect, ask, and truly
Revolutionises Traditional understand the material."
Based around the fundamental "Peace and
Training with Interactive Learning
Safety" forms created by Anko
Itosu, Recipes Do Not Make Delicious
Martial artist and instructor Angus
Meals walks students through the training
Rogers has launched a groundbreaking
matrix, taking them from White Belt to
new book, Recipes Do Not Make Delicious
Black Belt. The focus is on not just
Meals, which is
performing forms,
already making
but unlocking
waves across
their practical
the martial arts
application in self
community for its
-defence and
innovative
combat. The
approach to
book is forwarded
learning.
b y w o r l d
renowned Martial
In a first for Tang
Arts expert Iain
Soo Do and
Abernethy who
traditional martial
has called the
arts publishing,
book a first of it’s
Rogers' book
kind.
includes QR
codes linked
The book is
directly to
published under
YouTube videos,
the banner of The
offering readers
Tang Soo Do
not just text
Training Initiative,
instruction, plus
a G r o u p
v i d e o
committed to
demonstrations
open training with
a n d t h e
politics-free
opportunity
martial arts
to communicate
education.
directly with the
author. This new
Rogers, who
model allows
teaches at Heads of the Valleys Tang Soo
students and instructors worldwide to ask
Do in Brynmawr, launched the book at The
questions, deepen their understanding,
UK Martial Arts Show in Doncaster, on
and evolve their practice beyond the
May 3rd, the largest martial arts gatherings
printed page.
in Britain. Early sales have been extremely
promising, with close to 150 copies
"Martial arts should be a living, breathing
sold within the first month through
experience," says Rogers. "I wanted to
podcasts, interviews, and direct pre-orders.
give readers more than static information
Recipes Do Not Make Delicious Meals is
— I wanted to create a bridge where
now available for direct order, with shipping
to Europe and the United States.
4 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
For interviews, review copies, or further
i n f o r m a t i o n , c o n t a c t :
[email protected] or visit the
website www.HOVTSD.com

About Angus Rogers:

Angus Rogers is a Fourth dan Black Belt
instructor based in Abergavenny, Wales.
Passionate about bringing modern
accessibility to traditional martial arts, he
teaches at Heads of the Valleys Tang Soo
Do and is committed to helping students
unlock the deeper meaning and real-world
application of their martial arts training.
#martialartsforall

Black Belt Success

Mr Tom Hamilton of Charnwood Tae Kwon-

Do had a very successful 1st degree grading
and has recently received his results.

After a comprehensive assessment at the

hands of Master McNally, founder of ITC,
TCUK and ATKDA, Tom was left tired but
satisfied.

The grading consisted of Line Drills,

Patterns, pre-arranged Sparring, Self
Defence applications and Free Sparring. Mr
Hamilton’s skills shone brightly with his
genuine passion for his art.

Mr Hamilton will make a welcome addition to

the black belt family and is becoming a great
leader for the future of our art.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 5

6 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 3rd Masters Academy Open
Seminar 2025
“Training Without Barriers”

Hosted By Grandmaster Keith E Finch IX Dan

Authentic Taekwondo Association– GB

What was the purpose of Masters learn something new.

Academy?
The First Seminar took place on 28th May, For the first event, we sent out 95 invites to
2022. It was just after lockdown due to the schools and Masters from both ITF and
COVID-19 pandemic. As you know, many WTF. Only four responded.
schools had to shut down because of it,
and we thought it would be great to help
schools get a new kick start. Who were the four people that
supported you from the beginning?
The key point of this event was to bring The main supporters who helped to drive
people together to train free from a long the seminar from the beginning are my
history of politics and restrictions. I was dear friends Grandmaster Ewan Briscoe
hoping students would be more open and from World Song Moo Kwan, Senior
unified, which is why we called the event Master Gordon Slater 8th Dan Chang Hon
“Training Without Barriers”. (ITF - Traditional), Senior Master Russell
Dennis 8th Dan (ITF - Modern), and Master
It didn’t matter if a student had a WT(F) or Bruce Lapthorn.
ITF background; the seminar was meant
for all people with open minds willing to To help with the first event, I invited
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 7
 Master Jon Gladwin teaching at 3rd Master Academy 2025

Legendary ITF Taekwondo Grandmaster Yes. It was sadly short of numbers after
Pioneer Kong Young Il, who was inviting people, though we had booked a
supported by Grandmaster Mark Iles. I also sports centre for two days. Worse, some of
invited Grandmaster Ron Davidson from the people who had tested with PGM Kong
the Authentic Taekwondo Association, and Young Il told him they were coming and
Norway World Champion Grandmaster then pulled out. But the biggest issue was
John Svendsen. that the event was hit by Taekwondo
politics: some groups stopped their
students from attending. It’s a shame
What did you cover in this event? because it was a big opportunity to foster a
We did a range of self defence: Mixed student’s love of the art through meeting a
Martial Arts, Taekwondo sparring, kicking Pioneer, when Taekwondo Pioneers are in
drills and pad work training, street self short supply.
defence, knife defence, and ITF patterns.
The event was great and Pioneer
Grandmaster Kong Young Il taught on the 2nd Masters Academy 2024
floor. He showed that age is no barrier and
he is still a dynamic and strong man at 80 Senior masters and Grandmasters who
years old. participated in the first event wanted to
build numbers and make the Masters
Seminar a truly open training event.
Was there a downside to the first
seminar? This time we brought it back to Crawley

8 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

 2nd Masters Academy leading instrictors and Masters , Grandmasters

and the community centre which I hire I conducted Moo Hak Kwan Hapkido with
weekly for my own academy. We focused my two leading instructors, Master Chris
on ITF and WTF sparring drills, footwork Grey 7th Dan and Master Jon Gladwin 7th
and body armour training, and for the first Dan also in Taekwondo. Senior Master
time we showed Moo Hak Kwan Hapkido Russell Dennis took Mixed Martial Arts and
in the event. ITF kicking drills. Leading ITF Taekwondo
instructor and
The second event Grandmaster Ron
showed a sense of Davidson also
unity and integrity came to support the
between the seminar’s second
different systems, year.
with WTF students
taking part in It was great to see
sparring and students from
training drills by GM T r a d i t i o n a l
Ewan Briscoe. Taekwondo and
Modern Taekwondo
Senior Master backgrounds
Gordon Slater 8th working together to
Dan led ITF learn new Hapkido
patterns. He is a skills that we all
well respected love. It was also
Master, featured in great to sit
Master Stuart Anslow’s The Encylopedia of afterwards with Masters and Grandmasters
Taekwon-Do Patterns (ITF, GTF). to talk about systemic changes, what we
believe, and why we are passionate about

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 9

 Group Photo of the 2nd Masters Academy

the art. masters are. No system is perfect, but

being able to apply the techniques in
The day finished with 60 students enjoying situations that demand them is vital. We
the Korean martial arts of Taekwondo and have shown again that our unifying event
Hapkido. fosters respect for others and different
styles, to build a more peaceful world for
our students.
3rd Masters Academy 2025
A Big Day for Korean Martial Arts Why do you think cross training works?
Over the years I have seen the benefits of
For the third Masters Academy, we both Taekwondo systems with modern
expected over 90 students. We had styles and traditional systems of Chang
teaching representatives from Song Moo Hon Taekwondo (ITF) to WT Taekwondo.
Kwan, Chungdokwan, Jidokwan WT, There are positives and negatives to be
Traditionalist and modern ITF, as well as explored, but both styles originated from
Independent Taekwondo schools, and my ITF.
own Hapkido instruction. Two special
guests on the day were Master Phillip At our seminars, we introduce the sport
Hawkins, the author of the book The side of Taekwondo to the traditional values
TaeKwon-Do Pioneers, and Grandmaster of self defence, and the traditionalists can
Mark Iles. learn the values of the modern sport which
has progressed with sports-science and
One thing we all noticed is that students investment. The additions of Hapkido and
love to learn and are open minded if their MMA demonstrate their important
influences in today’s martial arts world.

3rd Masters academy 2025 group photo

10 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
How did the seminar work this time? behind stretching, and power training on
For the first time, we split into three halls kick bags. These guys and gals got a real
with different instructors and focus areas, workout in Hall Two and all came out
dividing the students by belt grades. We sweating! Master Bruce Lapthorn also
rotated throughout the day, and everyone looked like he had a good training session.
got a chance to learn from Masters in each
hall.

Senior Master Russell Dennis

Hall Three
The largest hall was a fully matted area
where we focused on practical self
defence. Senior Master Russell Dennis 8th
Dan ITF took the floor first to cover MMA,
holds, grabs, keeping the guard up, and
striking the knees and lower legs. As
Patterns with Master Gordon Slater Taekwondo focuses less on ground work,
Hall One unlike martial arts like Jiu Jitsu, Master
This time we had a new spin on patterns. Dennis discussed techniques to prevent
Senior Master Gordon Slater 8th Dan yourself from being taken to the floor. He
taught ITF Patterns for tournaments and also explained some differences between
Master Jenna Lee-Gosling demonstrated WTF and ITF sparring, such as using your
competitive WT Poomsae. They worked hands at head height.
together in true unity and it was brilliant to
see. No matter their origins, students got to My Masters, Jon Gladwin and Christian
experience both styles and receive Grey, and I, took to the mats to teach
instruction in something truly new. Hapkido techniques, showing that Hapkido
is not just about wrist holds but also punch
Hall Two and kicking defence. I did a short
Senior Grandmaster Ewan Briscoe and demonstration with Mr William Dahl 2nd
Master Gilbert Graham taught WT style Dan on how to throw and take down. The
sparring with body armour and kicking senior black belts and masters got to see a
drills. Another focus was how to have a different side of Hapkido.
warrior’s spirit when sparring. Authentic
Taekwondo Association (ITF) instructors Masters and Grandmasters fulfilled their
Mr Jose Carmo 6th Dan and Mr Luke goal of sharing knowledge, and for
Adams 6th Dan taught fitness, the science students to learn techniques or

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 11

 Grandmaster Kong Young Il with Grandmaster Ewan Briscoe

applications to make a
difference in their own
training journey.

Inspiring passion, keeping an

open mind, forming new
friendships and networking
are all positives from the
seminar Training without
Barriers. Passion based on
knowledge will preserve
Taekwondo for the future.

Thank you to the instructors

and all 90 students. It was
amazing, and 2026 will be
even better.

12 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 13
 New Podcasts Every Monday

www.livingmartialarts.com

14 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

 Fundamental Stretching
By Mr Price & Ms Bradley
Of Charnwood Taekwon-Do

Please note, the authors cannot be responsible for any injuries sustained due to
the use of the material in this article.

Stretching exercises are an important part of training as they allow for

increased flexibility and mobility along with reduced risk of injury. It is
an important area of supplementary training to enable the student
primarily to execute techniques more easily and use less energy doing
so.

This guide covers several fundamental stretches in order to aid the execution of kicking. It
is important to remember that while you do not have a qualified instructor present, such
as in the home environment, you do not exceed your limits and cause yourself injury. You
must warm up the areas to be stretched thoroughly beforehand. A steady jog can act as a
great way to prime the muscles for stretching, as long as you are doing so with a good
range of motion and not just “shuffling along”.

Stretches should be held between 20 and 60 seconds depending on sources. During

training we generally hold for about 20, but if longer benefits you then my all means hold
the stretch for longer.

1 . Standing Hamstring Stretch

This exercise involves stepping out to your front

forming a walking stance, then bending the front leg
further until you begin to feel the stretch at the back of
your straight rear leg. Once you’ve held one side for your
decided stretch time then change legs and repeat for the
opposite side.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 15

2 . Hip Flexor/Lung Stretch

This exercises is similar in

execution to the previous one except the
rear leg has its knee resting on the floor, the
lunge out must me long enough that the
rear leg is slightly trailed out behind, this
way the front of the thigh can be stretched
along with challenging the mobility in the
hip.

3 . Crouching Hamstring Stretch

This third stretch actually

challenges the mobility of the hip joints as
well as stretching the hamstring of the
straight front leg. It can be exercised in
sequence with the other stretches and two
slightly different versions are represented.
One sees the knee of the rear leg on the
ground supporting the body, the other the
foot rather than the knee, is providing the
support. This second method is best used if
it causes pain in your knees to kneel.

The two photos here demonstrate the progression from a side lunge position for those
who struggle with flexibility, into the crouching position
which can be an alternative to the kneeling already
described.

16 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

4. Front Splits

From the previous

stretch using the knee support
method a more flexible person
may choose to move from that
posture into the front splits, with
one leg straight out in front and
the other straightened out
behind. This can be a beneficial
stretch to everyone but to the
less flexible or older student can
be quite uncomfortable.

5. Box Splits
This is a classic
stretching position with both legs
extended to the sides and can be
exercised with the arms supporting
the bodyweight if you are unable to
drop right to the floor as is the case
with many of us. Variations such as
twisting the bodyweight and
reaching towards one foot or the
other can give additional benefits
once your body is more
comfortable in this position.

While stretching it is important to listen

to your body. If you feel a sharp pain or
excessive discomfort, discontinue the
exercise. Stretching should be carried
out alongside body conditioning
exercises such as calisthenics so the
muscles retain strength as well as
becoming more supple.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 17

18 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 Let Perseverance
Prevail
By Grandmaster Doug Cook

Taekwondo is like the Eum/Yang; there’s the physical, academic, and

spiritual elements of it that provokes wonder, fires enthusiasm,
animates, even after decades of training. And then, conversely, there is
the onerous sense of obligation, at times the grind to get to class; the
plethora of excuses to avoid going, the demon of self-doubt. And I’ve
not met the practitioner yet that is immune to these traits. We’re all
susceptible; especially those of us who have made the national martial
art of Korea, a profession.
White belts in class and at promotion tests training, coupled with a strong sense of
- particularly adults - are like dazzling anticipation, they can reaffirm their
flames, burning bright and straight. In their devotion to the art, or simply leave,
gleaming white ignoring the fact that
uniforms, they hang “a black belt is a
on the teacher’s license to learn, not a
every word, permit to quit.” Those
emulating, attempting who choose to
to articulate each remain, see a
motion correctly. universe of challenge
Black belts must ahead and accept it
admire their ardor, with a keen brand of
never not attending passion; at least for
class for fear of the time being. They
missing out on some have met their long-
important technique. term goal and are
They rise quickly. eager to move
Every few months ahead.
brings new and
miraculous skills, Meanwhile, 2nd, 3rd,
accomplishing feats and 4th Dans carry
they never before with them the pride of
thought possible, seniority and are
making quantum leaps. viewed by their juniors with respect based
on tenacity and advanced technical skill.
Freshly minted black belts -1 Dans - can Still, like the adversary that sneaks up from
go either way. After earning their hard- behind, hubris lurks and can potentially
earned rank following several years of obscure the humility required of the martial
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 19
 Grandmaster Kyu Hyn Lee is a prime example of perseverance

artist. cannot help but experience peaks and

valleys in the course of their practice;
And then we have the veterans; the 5th taekwondo mirrors life and, just as in a
Dans and above. For the most part, there daily routine, things are not always perfect.
is little question of their longevity. Certainly, there are times when you will
Taekwondo is such an intrinsic portion of enjoy an exemplary training session, one
their lives that they cannot imagine not where every stance flows smoothly, where
engaging on, at least, a weekly basis. Most every kick is well placed and strikes exhibit
have either remained loyal to a given unstoppable power. However, if that were
school, or have, by necessity, emigrated to consistently the case, everyone would be a
another institute which likely mirrors their master. Instead, it is more likely that days
original style. will be endured when techniques refuse to
come easy, when you seem to be
Yet all who immerse themselves in a digressing rather than advancing, taking
serious study of taekwondo will admit that two steps back for every one forward. It is
it is a difficult pursuit. There is no elevator times such as these when the true heart of
to success; you must laboriously scale taekwondo must materialize allowing
each step to the top. Every class indomitable will to overcome faltering
represents a challenge of some sort action.
coupled with the fact that the taekwondoist

20 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

For the sincere martial artist, the greatest within. Subsequently, permitting your
adversary is not an aggressive sparring training to suffer based on unsubstantiated
partner, but that d e m a n d s
insidious, negative represents a
state-of-mind – shortfall of tenacity
call in lethargy, that has a nasty
laziness, languor - habit of rippling
that unfailingly out into every
attempts to rot facet of life.
away dedication Dubious patterns
while whispering begin to emerge.
false promises of Delay becomes
leisure and the byword of the
comfort if left to its day where action
own devices. once dominated.
“Don’t get up. Enthusiasm is
Don’t get dressed. masked by
Stay home lassitude. Little
instead. Sit on the aches and pains
couch, eat potato begin to surface
chips, and watch that, not too long
reality TV or scroll ago, were
on the phone. commonly erased
Don’t go to class. by constant,
Go tomorrow.” Breaking promotes perseverance mindful practice.
And then “tomorrow” turns into next week But, perhaps worst of all, hollow excuses
and next week fades into next month. begin to multiply and gain veracity: you find
fault with a fellow student or teacher. You
Moreover, the temptation to wait for that “injured” wrist to
retreat into a fog of heal. The distance between
procrastination is not home and the dojang
always internal. Frequently mysteriously begins to
the voice commands us to elongate. Work, that for
focus on matters that - at years seemed mundane,
the moment - appear suddenly gains massive
eminently reasonable and importance. Sports or other
necessary. “Your children extracurricular activities
need you tonight. Cook conveniently begin to take
dinner. Do the bills NOW. precedence. And once this
Why practice…you did that trend has borne fruit, the
yesterday.” So, personal final act is played out
needs are again ushering in the process of
marginalized and relegated rationalization; the illusion
to the back burner. The where all pretext is
practice and routine intrinsic accepted and justified. The
to taekwondo that curtain falls, the progression
undoubtedly results in The gaze of determination complete…it is time to quit
improved health, greater taekwondo and search as
and prolonged cognitive skills, technical you may, there is no good reason not to.
proficiency, and a greater sense of well- Sounds daunting…and it is.
being, again falls victim to the enemy

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 21

 Over the decades I have seen this scenario
gain legs in some of my most dedicated
students. Individuals - black belts who have
trained vigorously for years - begin to lag in
attendance and then one day all but
disappear, summarily vanquished by
idleness. Moreover, adding insult to injury,
this final deed is often unaccompanied by a
formal face-to-face closure with their
teacher.

Nevertheless, the sad chain of events

illustrated above need not end so tragically.
Situations will arise that unquestionably
require a student’s immediate and
undivided attention. A sick child or spouse,
a rerouted work schedule, an unlooked-for
business trip, cannot be ignored. But these
should represent temporary setbacks, not a
permanent, damaging redirection of
lifestyle. A simple, objective analysis of a
given situation can often yield a positive
course of action when sitting at the
Grandmaster Richard Chun personified the will crossroads of indecision.
to persevere

Of course, the level of victory enjoyed when

facing down adversity is directly proportional
to the passion invested in a given activity -
in this case the martial arts. If you approach
training solely as a mode of entertainment
or exercise such a bowling, golf, or jogging,
abandonment, though disappointing, is
easy; no serious harm done. But, if you are
like me and others I know, the practice of
taekwondo has indisputably evolved into an
irreplaceable component of life and any
thought of retirement would be tantamount
to a catastrophic divorce.

It is often said that a black belt is a white

belt who never quit. This axiom plainly
represents an oversimplification. Yet it is
equally true to state that none of us are
immune to the ups and downs presented by
the sincere and vigorous practice of
taekwondo. Consequently, once the
innumerable excuses are falsely reconciled,
it becomes virtually impossible to crawl out
of the sinkhole of personal defeat. Clearly,
when earnest intent and indolence collide,
Meditation promotes a singular sense of peace

22 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

 Never give up on practice, everywhere and anywhere
too often indolence abides. Martial Arts Alliance. He
has authored four best-
At the end of the day, selling books entitled:
when all is said and done Taekwondo…Ancient
and the quest for a Wisdom for the Modern
talisman assuring certain Warrior, Traditional
victory is realized, the Taekwondo - Core
solution to this potentially Techniques, History and
toxic quandary can be Philosophy, Taekwondo–
distilled down into three A Path to Excellence,
simple statements: get up, and Taekwondo Black
get dressed, and go to Belt Poomsae: Original
work. Koryo and Koryo.
Grandmaster Cook has
been a monthly
Grandmaster Doug contributor to Totally
Cook, 9th Dan Chang Moo TaeKwonDo magazine
Kwan and 7 th Dan since 2009. He can be
Kukkiwon-certified black reached for seminars,
belt, is owner of the Korea training tours,
Chosun T a e k w o n d o The importance of getting up and get- national and international
Academy located in ting to work is evident at any age online ZOOM workshops,
Warwick, New York, a or questions regarding
senior student of the late Grandmaster U S T A m e m b e r s h i p a t
Richard Chun, president of the United www.chosuntkd.com, www.ustaweb.com,
States Taekwondo Alliance, and an on Facebook, or through email at
Advisory Council member of the World [email protected].
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 23
24 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 Martial Movie Madness
By Stuart Anslow
Welcome to this series of articles. Firstly, a bit of background! I have
been into martial arts since the mid 80’s and it occurred to me, whilst
watching ‘House of Ninjas’ on Netflix (a new series about.. well, you
know), that in my nearly 40 years of martial arts, I have watched many
many (did I say many), lets just say hundreds, well more than that, of
martial arts movies, some good, some bad, some so bad they are good
and I thought, many of our younger readers will not have seen most of
them, as days have changed, there’s no more browsing the martial art
sections at video stores, you basically get what the streaming services
give and your have to search them out (as in good martial arts films).
So, each month, I am going to detail a martial arts movie I’ve seen, let
you know my thoughts and then maybe, just maybe, you`ll want to
check it out! Welcome to Martial Movie Madness.

Ninja III: The Domination

Back in the 80’s Ninja films were all the rage,
some were good, some were bad and some were
so bad, they were good!

Ninja III: The Domination was released in 1984 and starred

Lucinda Dickey (who co-starred in the Breakdance movies). It
was the third in a series of films, that started with ‘Enter the
Ninja’, with the second in the series being ‘Revenge of the
Ninja’ and finishing off with ‘Ninja III: The Domination’.

Now you might think, as a series of films, they would have

something in common, like the Rocky movies, but each film
has nothing in common except the ninja theme and famous
ninja actor Sho Kosugi, who plays a baddie in the first one
and a goodie in the next two. Therefore, there is no need to
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 25
watch the first two, before this one or in The story follows a telecom engineer
fact, watch them in any particular order at (Dickey) who is in the wrong place at the
all. wrong time and stumbles up a ninja
assassin who is being hunted down by the
Before I get into the plot of the movie, be police. When the police corner the ninja,
warned, some of the acting from some of they shoot him time and time again, but
the supporting cast is terrible, though the before he dies, he stumbles upon Christie
main actors are actually very good. (played by Dickey) and transfers

26 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

(unbeknown to her) his ninja spirit into her. obsessed with Japanese culture but cannot
understand why! In order to find answers,
Plagued with blackouts Christie struggles Christie and her boyfriend visit a Japanese
to understand what is going on, but what exorcist for answers, who manages to
she doesn’t know is the ninja spirit is using summon the ninja’s spirit, but not expel him
her body 9and his ninja skills) to extract from her body stating ‘only a ninja can kill a
revenge on the police officers that killed ninja’.
him.
They are led to a Goro Yamada (Kosugi)
Apart from her blackouts, Christie becomes who is a ninja himself and is actually

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 27

hunting the same ninja that has taken over and with the help of the monks, manage to
Christies body in revenge, as it killed off his get the spirit out of Christies body, whereby
clan. the spirit repossesses his old body and a
fight to the death ensues.
They take Christie to a Buddhist temple

28 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

I re-watched this film a couple of years
ago and whilst this is an old movie, with
some hammy acting, it’s still a pretty
good film. Lucinda Dickey, Sho Kosugi,
David Chung (who played the evil ninja),
James Hong (the exorcist) and the
monks are all well-acted, just let down
a little by the poor acting of some of the
others (but that’s just the first half of the
film). All in all, if you like ninja films,
you`ll probably like this one.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 29

30 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 An Interview with
Stuart Anslow
By Grandmaster Doug Cook

When and why did you begin training in from what was back then, a way of life for
taekwondo and do you consider the most, to now, a hobby for most. I guess
discipline the same today as when you like anything else, it had to change and
began? cater for younger students and for those
that see it more as a hobby, to survive.
I got into martial arts in my teenage years
after watching a Samurai movie, followed I remember back as a Kup grade, the
by every kung-fu movie I could get my gradings were strict. You would sit on a
hands on. I dipped in and out of various cold wooden floor for hours, waiting to
martial arts, but then decided I needed to grade and if you messed up the pattern
settle on one and study that. I liked most (tul) or didn’t perform it well or didn’t break
martial arts and after viewing a few martial the board in 3 attempts, you failed. And the
arts schools, I settled on Taekwon-do, boards were hard rebreakable ones, not
which at the time, seemed the middle the thin ones or wood boards you see
ground between the flowiness of Kung-Fu today. I don’t feel many schools still adhere
and the rigidness of Karate. to the same standards these days
unfortunately and when you lower the bar,
It is not exactly like it was when I began, in the standards overall, drop. Don’t get me
general I feel it’s been watered down a lot wrong, there are some really excellent
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 31
Taekwondowin about still, I am just talking similar and having trained at non-Ch’ang
generally. Hon schools, such as yours and others,
lots of what we do at club level is very
similar or the same; for example step-
From the many books you have sparring, destruction, hosinsul etc.
authored, it is clear that you study the
Ch’ang Hon style of taekwondo. Can
you tell us why you choose that style Speaking of your books, can you share
and some of the significant features with our readers the content contained
that differentiate it from other types of in your works and what led you to
taekwondo? become an author as well as a
practitioner of the art and a school
I didn’t actually choose Ch’ang Hon owner?
Taekwon-do, it sort of choose me. When I
was looking for a martial art school all My first book was released in 2005 and it
those years ago, the one that looked the started off as a manual for my students,
best to me, just happened to be that style then sort of evolved from there. As I
and that’s what I`ve stuck with all these thought it would be my one and only book,
years. it covered a lot of things, but the bulk of it
was showing realistic applications to the
Most will know the differences, we do tul, moves and combinations contained in the
WT do poomsae, we spar with hand and Ch’ang Hon patterns. After that I started to
foot pads, no hogu’s, we punch to the head release others, a 3 set of books showing
etc. and from a distance they look different. the moves and transitions of all the Ch’ang
But I prefer to focus on what makes us Hon and GTF patterns, which I felt could

32 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

be done differently from similar books that Taekwon-do itself.
had come before and I think I achieved
that. As for starting Rayners Lane Taekwon-do
Academy, that just happened. I saw an
Then I did another applications book, as a article in the local paper, asking for clubs to
continuation of my first and whilst doing be set up on a nearby estate and offered to
those volumes of books, I always liked to set up a Taekwon-do school.
add some history behind the pattern
names and realised I had researched so
much stuff, it was more than I intended for Owning a taekwondo school is truly a
that particular book, as they were meant to labor of love. Would you agree, and can
be just a page or two on the history, as an you describe some of the experiences,
intro to the chapter, but one particular challenges, accomplishments, and
chapter came in at 20 pages long and that difficulties you face as the owner of
was just the intro. So, I decided to slim that Rayners Lane Taekwon-Do?
down and put out a book just about the
history of the figures and events that the I would agree indeed. I started my school
Ch’ang Hon patterns are named after and in April, 1999. Like mostly all martial art
it went down a storm. The last book I schools in the UK at that time, it was
wrote, was done because it seemed one started in a community centre after I saw
area that wasn’t really covered in any book an article in the local paper looking for new
and that was on Hosinsul. Sure, there were clubs for the area. It was a great deal, the
a couple of books out, but when I looked at hall rental was cheap and I could use it
them, they weren’t based on Taekwon-do whenever I wanted, so classes often
at all, just some self-defence stuff drawn overran or we were able to do special
from other arts, like Krav-Maga and I sessions, outside our normal class times.
wanted a Taekwon-do Hosinsul book, for The only issue was, that the community
Taekwon-do students, with defences from centre was on the notorious Rayners Lane
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 33
estate, at that time it was nicknamed ‘the right into the middle of the grading floor.
South Bronx of Harrow’. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone.

On my first night I had one student and this But we persevered and are still here today
was the head of the tenants association to tell these tales.
whom rented me the hall! But over time the
Academy grew and along the way, we had
to deal with various problems, from local Do you follow a set curriculum in your
tough guys to drug dealers trying to use school? Do you mix in any other martial
the halls toilets on rainy nights. As there arts, and do you feel there are any
was nothing for the kids to do on the components of the art that should be
estate, they would often get bored and highlighted over others and why?
cause trouble. The hall’s roof was very
high and had these glass ceiling windows, Yes, for the most part we follow a set
that needed to be open on hot days. On a syllabus, similar to other schools where
couple of occasions kids would climb onto you have to learn a certain pattern for that
the roof and drop rocks through the open grade, perform certain step-sparring and
windows – and we were training execute certain breaking techniques etc.
underneath! And they were so quick and We call this our core syllabus. But we also
knew their way around, we could never have our non-core syllabus, stuff that
catch them. On another occasion, we were students practice but either comes in at a
in the middle of a grading and a brick came grading (to be tested) at a later stage, such
smashing through one of the windows, as choke sparring and throwing techniques

34 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

or self defence related stuff like ‘the fence’, Understanding the complexity of the
awareness, dealing with adrenaline dumps question, what are your feelings of
etc. taekwondo as an art versus a sport?

I don’t mix other martial arts in as part of I think they both have their place. However,
my classes, everything we teach and too many Taekwon-do schools focus only
practice is Taekwon-do and can be found on the sport side, which is detrimental to
in General Choi’s manuals, even the martial side of the art. When some
groundwork. You could argue that our refer to the ‘art’ they see it to mean ‘artistic’
groundwork looks different to that detailed and so feel things like pattern performance
in the manuals, but that’s because it’s should look artistic as well and that’s all
evolved over time, but it’s still Taekwon-do. well and good for competitions, but the
The only exception of course is my own word ‘art’ comes from the term ‘martial art’,
research into realistic applications, which I so the martial side of things should be
teach, as well as modern self-protection trained at classes more. Don’t get me
stuff. wrong, I had a long and enjoyable time
competing in Taekwon-do, but knowing
that probably only 5% of students are
Are you associated with any global interested in competing, why spend 100%
organizations of a particular kwan? of your class time focusing on it, especially
as it’s not going to help if someone tried to
No, not any more. In my old organization, I mug or attack you on the street!
was part of the ITF, which as many know
was Oh Do Kwan, but my Academy was
established as an independent, so I just You have had the good fortune of
refer to what we do as Ch’ang Hon training in Korea, the cradle of
Taekwon-do. taekwondo. Can you tell us a bit about
your experiences there and is the
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 35
training in Korea markedly different but the session was based around musical
from training in other parts of the poomsae performance, so it was more of a
world? If, yes, how so? fun session than a serious training session.
With all that said, the country is beautiful,
I think in regard to the training side, my the people very friendly and the food is
experiences were quite different to yours. I great, so I would advise anyone who can
went on the ‘Tul Tours’ which is basically fund it, to get there, especially as part of a
travelling to the places associated with the group visit, such as what you organize or
patterns of Ch’ang Hon Taekwon-do. For the tul tours. I hope to go back there again
example, we climbed up the mountain in the coming years.
where it is said the legendary founder of
Korea, Dan-Gun descended from heaven
to earth. When we returned to the bottom, Do you feel it is beneficial to, at least
the whole group performed Dan-Gun tul once, train in Korea? Would you
and then afterwards, I taught the group recommend it?
some applications from the pattern and so
it was with other places as well. Yes, definitely. For me it brought a whole
new appreciation for Taekwon-do. I mean I
Whilst we did visit the Kukkiwon (and appreciated the art already and what it has
cheekily did some of our own training given me in return, but going to Korea and
inside), we didn’t train at what you may the various places we visited was almost
call, Korean based Taekwondo schools, spiritual and it elevated Taekwon-do for
though we did train at Master Kruks dojang me, to a whole new level. I mean,
(which is ITF), in Sumudo with Buddhist everywhere was great, but I got to teach
monks and we visited and trained at Muju, inside the 500 year old school of Toi-Gye,

36 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

plus much much more. HOONLYUN wished to feature you was
based on your tireless contributions to
the art, not the least being as publisher
Is it important for students to study the of Totally Tae Kwon Do online
history and philosophy of the magazine. Please give us an overview
taekwondo in general and why? of the periodical, its original mission,
and what you have learned over the
For me, it’s important, for others I think years from its publication and acting as
they need to decide for themselves. its editor.
Personally, I think understanding the art in
a deeper sense only elevates it more. I started Totally Tae Kwon Do magazine,
History is important to understand what we because I became disillusioned with the
are really meant to be doing today, but paper Taekwon-do magazines at the time.
Taekwon-do also has a murky past and The page counts were getting thinner and
some students just won’t be interested in thinner, there were more adverts than
that side of things, even though many find articles and of the articles they did run, a
it fascinating. lot of them became very basic, such as
‘how to tie your belt’. Plus, to keep afloat,
I think the philosophy is important. I often they had to include articles from other
remind my students that it was created by martial arts and MMA, which, whilst
a General in the South Korean army and sometimes interesting, shouldn’t be the
that is why our classes a quite disciplined. core of magazine dedicated to Taekwon-
do.

One of the many reasons we at So I started Totally Tae Kwon Do

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 37
magazine, as a magazine with Tae Kwon enables the magazine to continue to this
Do articles, for Tae Kwon Do people, no day, monthly, without faltering.
matter what style they did and because it
was digital, as long as it was related to Tae
Kwon Do, the articles could be mainstream In hindsight, given the opportunity,
or about some tiny aspect of Tae Kwon Do, would you remain a partitioner of
that few knew about. I had already been taekwondo or would you switch arts.
networking with many Tae Kwon Do And, if so, which and why?
instructors around the world and lots of
them supported the magazine and sent in I`d never switch arts, I’m Taekwon-do all
articles. For the first few years, it was the way, its why I spend a lot of my time,
produced monthly and was available free via my books, the magazine and other
of charge. places trying to elevate
the art to enrich it and
It was very time make it better for
consuming, but I enjoyed everyone who practices
giving something back to it.
the Tae kwon Do world,
but after a few years, I
felt the numbers at my Who, in the martial
Academy were declining, arts world, or in
so I had to decide, do I general, has inspired
make something from you?
the magazine or do I
stop and spend time Obviously, when it
building up my numbers. comes to inspiration
I chatted with a lot of the you have the greats,
writers and they all didn’t such as Grandmaster
want it to stop, so the Hee Il Cho, whose
decision was made to charge for it. It’s a books were some of the first ones I brought
small subscription, but still represents on Taekwon-do. As I said earlier, I enjoyed
excellent value for money and most of all, it a long time participating in the sport side of
38 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
Taekwon-do and martial artists from that partner John O’Connor and a guest
time inspired me a lot, some Taekwon-do instructor my own instructor brought to
like Kim Stones and Tony Sewell, others class one day, called Dave Richards.
not, such as Alfie Lewis,
Peter O’Para, Neville To be honest, after over
Wray and so many more. 30 years training in
Taekwon-do and longer in
Many martial artists from martial arts in general, my
other styles have list could go on and on,
influenced me as well, but all the above, as well
such as Keinosuke as many others, have
Enoeda and Terry O’Neill influenced me, the way I
of Shokokan for their train and the way I teach,
grace with power and in some way or another.
superb technique, plus
others.
What are your personal
Of course, my instructors, aspirations as a martial
Master David Bryan and artist going forward and,
Mr John Pepper heavily assuming the role of
influenced me, as did clairvoyant for a
people like Grandmaster moment, how do you
Willie Lim and Geoff see taekwondo
Thompson as well as unfolding in the future?
lesser known people, like my training
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 39
For me, it’s just to continue doing what I do, to keep it as down to earth as possible
love and passing that on to those who want and that whilst winning trophies and
to learn. As for Taekwon-do as a whole, it medals are nice, they won’t save your life
has changed a lot over the last couple of should the need arise. The sport side
decades, I would like the art to get back to comes to an end for all of us, the martial
its martial roots more, but I don’t see that side remains forever.
happening, as lots of Taekwon-do schools
have many young students and obviously
they need to cater for them. For me, I will
always keep my balance between the
martial and sport sides of the art and
continue to teach it that way.

In closing, are there any final thoughts

you would like to leave our readers
with?

Just for those that love Taekwon-do like I

40 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 41
42 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 Concussion
and the Martial Artist
Recognition, Treatment, Prevention
By James R. De Carlie

Years ago, a hard knock to the head was little more than “seeing stars”
and people were considered tough if they could simply “shake it off.”
Even today, many people equate toughness with the ability to recover
quickly and the desire to be seen as tough is commonplace within the
martial arts. So, it is understandable that many in Taekwon-do might
downplay hard head shots and continue—especially during
competition. Doing so is, at best, overly optimistic and comes with
some serious risk.

Image courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

When someone gets hit hard enough to Neurologists and other brain injury experts
see stars—or get nauseous or knocked emphasize that although some
unconscious—then they might well be concussions are less serious than others,
experiencing a concussion. Concussions there is no such thing as a minor
are considered traumatic brain injuries and concussion.
the damage is not like some simple bruise
acquired when one bumps a shin.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 43

A concussion may affect someone both these individuals don’t know enough about
physically and cognitively. Usually, there concussions to properly respond to them.
are one or more immediate symptoms—
such as loss of consciousness, The “ITF Tournament Concussion Policy,”
disorientation, memory loss, seizures or published in 2022 by The International
vomiting. These symptoms can evolve over Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), cites
a number of hours and additional statistics from the British Journal of Sports
symptoms can develop—such as problems Medicine4 that “self-diagnosis (79%) and
speaking, sensitivity to light, headache, coaches’ diagnosis (43.3%) were the most
dizziness, imbalance, and vision problems. used method of suspected concussion
If not properly treated, symptoms can last assessment.” Yet, the document continues,
months or develop into chronic conditions. “Merely 5.7% of coaches properly
In most cases, a single concussion should recognized the level of traumatic brain
not cause permanent damage but a injury a concussion represents, 68.8%
second concussion soon after the first one were unfamiliar with any sideline
does not have to be very strong for its assessment tools, and only 14.3% often
effects to be permanently disabling. seek out concussion knowledge.”
Repeated head trauma has been linked to
other serious conditions, such as Chronic
Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), 1 What is a concussion?
Parkinson’s disease,2 and Attention Deficit You have probably heard a concussion
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).3 described something like the bruising of
the brain caused by some sudden back-
Although the media have covered incidents and-forth motion that slams the brain
of severe concussions in recent years, against the inside of the skull. Although
there is an apparent lack of understanding there is truth to such a description,
about concussions—especially in contact concussions are a bit more complex.
sports and in martial arts. This is not to say
that the major sports authorities or the Concussions don’t need to be caused by a
various Taekwon-do associations do not back-and-forth motion of the head. The
have reasonable concussion-related term “concussion” actually refers to the
policies in place—most do. The disruption in the operation of the brain due
deficiencies appear to be with instructors, to some trauma rather than how that
coaches, and the athletes themselves. trauma was induced. Concussions can
result from blows to the body—even if the
Most dojangs do not normally have head is not directly impacted. The National
healthcare professionals on site, especially Football League (NFL) has had an
during regular training, so concussions are appalling number of concussions due to
usually dealt with by instructors or players getting sacked even without the
coaches. The issue appears to be that player’s head being struck.

1
Neal J, Hutchings PB, Phelps C, Williams D. "Football and Dementia: Understanding the Link." Front Psy-
chiatry. 2022 May 27;13:849876. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.849876. PMID: 35693952; PMCID: PMC9184440.
2
Goldman SM, Tanner CM, Oakes D, Bhudhikanok GS, Gupta A, Langston JW. Head injury and Parkin-
son's disease risk in twins. Ann Neurol. 2006 Jul;60(1):65-72. doi: 10.1002/ana.20882. PMID: 16718702.
3
“How Concussions are Connected to ADHD” by Dr. Saeid Mushtagh https://youtu.be/
8ESHRv7d-hs.
4
British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 52, Issue 10, “Implementation of the 2017 Berlin Concussion in
Sport Group Consensus Statement in Contact and Collision Sports” Patricios et al.
44 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 Different movements of the head each can cause a concussion.

What happens during the impact to cause When the impact rotates the head, the
a concussion depends upon several brain actually can spin somewhat within
factors, one of which is the angle of the the skull, causing strain to the base of the
impact. An impact from a straight punch, brain where the two hemispheres come
say to the nose, can cause a back-and- together. Furthermore, the brain has two
forth motion. If a punch comes from the layers; an outer layer composed of “grey
side, such as from a crescent punch matter” and the inner layer of “white
(bandal jirugi), and hits the ear then a side- matter.”5 Grey matter has a different
to-side motion might occur while the same density than white matter, so when the
punch impacting the side of the jaw can skull is moved quickly, the inner layer of
rotate the head. The back-and-forth and the brain accelerates differently than the
side-to-side motions can cause the brain to outer layer. This causes a sheering effect
bounce off the bony interior wall of the which can abnormally stretch the brain
skull, which may be violent enough to tissue,6 analogous to pulling a muscle—but
cause swelling and bruising of the brain much more serious.
tissue, called a contusion.

5
Mercadante AA, Tadi P. Neuroanatomy, Gray Matter. [Updated 2022 Jul 25]. In: StatPearls [Internet].
Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
books/NBK553239/.
6
“Why Helmets Don't Prevent Concussions -- and What Might” by David Camarillo https://youtu.be/

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 45

What actually happens when brain tissue Traditionally, the treatment recommended
suffers such a trauma? The short answer is for concussions was little more than avoid
that the trauma interferes with the brain’s doing anything that exerts the body or the
ability to communicate with various parts of mind. Guidelines included lots of sleep and
the body. The shock wave of an impact staying in a dark room with no stimulation
may cause nerve cells to tear apart or for many days. Exercise, screen time, or
become distorted. Torn cells die off intense thinking was not allowed.
immediately while others may die over a According to Neurologist Lisa B. Webb
period of a day or two. Distorted cells might from Neurological Specialists, PC in
cause random electrical discharges which, Stratford, Connecticut, “We do not
in turn, may mess with those parts of the recommend this sort of ‘cocoon therapy’
body that they are connected to. While because this method has been proven to
some of these distorted cells might quickly actually delay recovery.” Instead, Dr. Webb
return to their normal shape, it may take continues, “a progressive, gradual, and
days before they return to normal step-wise return to normal activity is
function—if at all. usually prescribed.”

Treating a concussion Such stepwise treatment guidelines

Experts unanimously agree that anyone recommend complete rest for a day or two
suspected of having experienced a before beginning the recovery
concussion or other traumatic brain injury progression—often referred to as a “Return
should be immediately removed from play, To Sport” (RTS) protocol. After this initial
must not return to competition or practice period, there is a gradual increase in the
and should be referred for medical levels of activity every day or two (or
assessment. How long it will take before longer). The important point here is to limit
the athlete with a concussion can return to activity to stay below anything that could
normal activities depends upon many exacerbate the symptoms. After each 24-
factors, but this time is often measured in to 48-hour period without any concussion-
weeks. related symptoms, one can proceed to the
Immediately following any type of head next tier of activity—if this can be done
trauma, there should be a period of rest without a recurrence of symptoms. If any
and observation. The observation period is symptoms worsen, revert back to the
important for a number of reasons. One previous step and stay there for a minimum
being that nerve cells may continue to die 24-hour period.
for a day or two, and therefore the full
extent of the damage may not be observed Generally, each step should take a
initially. Another reason is that, if a minimum of a day, so you should anticipate
concussion is suffered, there is a at least one week to proceed through the
significant chance of other issues exist, full RTS protocol. However, this time frame
such as whiplash, a fracture, or some other will vary and should be customized to the
internal damage. individual in consultation with a medical
professional.

Disclaimer

The information presented in this article is for informational purposes only. It is

not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.

Always seek the advice of a physician or a qualified health care provider should
you have any questions regarding a medical condition.

46 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

 A Closer Look At Concussions
To better understand the risks associated with concussions and to better appreciate the
treatments typically prescribed, it is worthwhile to take a slightly deeper dive into what
happens during a concussion—and this can be done without diving too deep into the
science.

The brain, as well as the rest of the nervous system, is composed of chains of nerve
cells. The primary function of most nerve cells, called neurons, is to pass along small
amounts of electricity to the next nerve cell in the chain. This is accomplished with a
chemical process that requires electrolytes such as calcium and potassium which can
hold a positive or negative charge. When a nerve cell gets a signal from the nerve cell
before it in the chain, certain electrolytes pass into or out of the cell which builds up an
electric charge. When the cell gets enough of a charge, it can transmit that electricity to
the next nerve cell in the chain.

The shock wave of an impact may cause nerve cells to tear apart or become distorted.
Such distortions often allow a flood of electrolytes to pass through the cell membrane.
This causes an initial power surge as each nerve cell interprets the flood as commands
to transmit pulses of electricity. This is why some people “see stars” when they get a
concussion. They are not actually seeing stars—it is just the random electrical discharge
to the nerves that are connected to their eyes. Depending upon which nerves get
impacted, this power surge can disrupt other parts of the body causing other symptoms,
such as loss of balance, slurred speech, or even loss of unconsciousness.

To make matters worse, when large numbers of nerve cells die, they can release toxic
levels of inflammatory chemicals into the space between the cells which, in turn, kills
neighboring nerve cells. When those die, they release even more of the chemicals which
can kill more cells … This cascade of dying cells can continue for 24 to 48 hours,
significantly worsening the initial effects of the injury.

There are other disturbances, including a decrease in oxygen in the brain tissue and
reduction in cerebral blood flow which typically last well after the initial trauma.

When the brain stops moving from the impact, the nerve cells may return to their normal
shape. Just as a car’s engine can get flooded with the wrong mixture of air and gasoline,
the nerve cell can get “flooded” with the wrong mixture of electrolytes and other
chemicals. This means that, until this mixture is corrected, not a lot of electricity gets
transmitted by the nerve cell. Compounding this, these imbalances actually interfere with
the cell’s ability to rebalance things. In other words, we go from a power surge to a power
outage.

This step-wise approach will allow for a certain amount of exercise to be included in the
recovery protocol. Research suggests that physical exercise provides a therapeutic effect
on the brain, such as helping optimize levels of neurotransmitters, increasing blood flow,
and helping restore energy levels.7

7
Cristy Phillips, Ahmad Salehi, A Special Regenerative Rehabilitation and Genomics Lett
er: Is There a “Hope” Molecule?, Physical Therapy, Volume 96, Issue 4, 1 April 2016, Pages 581–583,
https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.2016.96.4.581.

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 47

 An Example of a “Return-to-Sport” Plan

Step Aim Activity Goal of Step

1 Symptom-limited activity Daily activities that do Gradual reintroduction of
not provoke symptoms. work/school activities.

2 Light aerobic exercise Walking or stationary Increase heart rate.

cycling at slow to
medium pace.
2 Sport-specific exercise Light running or drills. No Add movement.
head impact activities.

4 Non-contact training Harder training drills. Exercise, coordination

drills and increased thinking.

5 Return to normal practice Walking or stationary Restore confidence and

cycling at slow to assess functional skills.
medium pace.
6 Return to sport Normal competition-level
activities.

While exercise may be beneficial as part of done while waiting to see that specialist.
the RTS protocol, such should not include These include having proteins with each
anything that could risk another meal, increasing fluid intake, getting extra
concussion—like sparring. This restriction sleep time each day, and practicing
can’t be overstated. Medical research has mindfulness or meditation. Since
shown that the risk of another concussion inflammation often accompanies
is significantly higher during recovery.8 concussions, it may be prudent to avoid
While recovering from one concussion, any foods that exacerbate inflammation in
another concussion can occur with much your body, such as sugar and highly
less force. “Second Impact Syndrome,” as processed foods.9
it is called, may result in permanent
damage and may create a very prolonged
outcome. In the worst-case scenario, it can How can you know if someone
be fatal. has suffered a concussion?
You can’t. Not with 100% certainty anyway.
Some physicians may suggest additional The best that can be done is to make a
management strategies during this quick evaluation of an athlete who suffers a
recovery period—or things that can be head injury and if there are any indications

8
Stovitz SD, Weseman JD, Hooks MC, Schmidt RJ, Koffel JB, Patricios JS. What Definition Is Used to
Describe Second Impact Syndrome in Sports? A Systematic and Critical Review. Curr Sports Med Rep.
2017 Jan/Feb;16(1):50-55. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000326. PMID: 28067742.
9
“3 At Home Tips To Treat A Concussion” by Complete Concussion Management https://youtu.be/WE40Z-
eIo6E.
48 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
of a concussion, get a medical
professional involved right away.

Many people assume that a

concussion can’t happen unless
someone is knocked unconscious,
but this is not true. In most cases, a
concussion will not cause loss of
consciousness. Considering the
statistics reflect how few of us in
martial arts know what to look for, it
makes sense to obtain some aids
that can be used to make ring-side
evaluations.

One of these aids is the Sport

Concussion Assessment Tool
(SCAT). The latest version, version
5, was developed by the
“Concussion In Sport Group” (CISG)
at the Fifth International Consensus
Conference on Concussion in Sport
held in Berlin in 2016. It has been
adopted by numerous national and
international sports organizations
including The International Taekwon-
Do Federation (ITF), The Olympics,
FIFA, the NHL, and World Rugby.
There is a version of SCAT for adults
and a version for children under the
age of 13.

The same organization that created

SCAT also created a separate tool,
the Concussion Recognition Tool
(CRT), for use by non-medically
trained individuals. Unless a qualified
medical professional is present who
has been trained in the use of the
SCAT tool, a layperson should use
only the Concussion Recognition
Tool. Both the SCAT and the CRT
are essentially checklists of things to
look for and recommendations for
action.

For example, the CRT indicates that

an ambulance should be called if
certain “Red Flags” are observed
(see graphic at left). These include
such symptoms as neck pain, double

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 49

vision, seizures, vomiting, and loss of drive or be alone for at least 12 hours and
consciousness. The CRT includes sections avoiding alcohol and recreational/
that identify cues and symptoms, such as prescription drugs. The CRT stresses that
disorientation or balance issues, that “Any athlete with a suspected concussion
suggest a possible concussion. Several should be immediately removed from
example questions are offered to evaluate practice or play and should not return to
the athlete’s memory, such as “What activity until assessed medically, even if
venue are we at today?” symptoms resolve.”

The CRT is agnostic to any given sport How can you prevent
although the Memory Assessment portion concussions?
is obviously geared toward team sport You can’t—but you can minimize the risks
rather than martial arts. For martial artists, for getting one.
these questions should be modified
accordingly. Some examples might include First, know that it usually takes quite a bit
“What tournament are we at?” or “What of force to cause a concussion, therefore,
event are you competing in?” normal, light contact shouldn’t be
considered high risk. Research has
The CRT also provides recommendations demonstrated that when an adult gets a
if the athlete is suspected of having a concussion, they were exposed to between
concussion. Such recommendations 70 to 120 G of acceleration10—that is, 70 to
include removing the athlete from day’s 120 times the force of gravity. With kids,
competition, not allowing the athlete to

10
“Do you get a concussion EVERY time you hit your head?” by Complete Concussion Management

50 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

concussions started to be seen around the heavy contact, concussions could happen
60 G mark. To appreciate how much force from a fall caused by a strike rather than
this is, consider that the airbags in cars are the strike itself. United States Senator
set to deploy when there is a change in Mitch McConnell recently suffered such a
velocity of about 30 miles an hour, which concussion due to a fall during a dinner
translates to about 60 G. event.

Compare this with how much force can be Most dojangs and most martial arts
delivered by a punch or a kick. An oft-cited competitions have strict rules against
study11 of Frank Bruno, who went on to be excessive force. Therefore, it is much less
World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight likely that a concussion will result from the
champ in 1995, showed that he could typical sparring found in most dojangs or
deliver a punch with enough force to tournaments. Still, with every impact a non-
accelerate his opponent’s head to 53 G. A zero chance exists of injury and the injury
different study,12 published in the Journal potentially as whiplash or a broken jaw.
of Neurosurgery, showed that adult martial Obviously, one way to reduce the risk of
artists were found to produce spinning getting a concussion is to strictly enforce
kicks in the 90 to 120 G range. It should be rules of light contact and controlled actions.
noted that these studies are investigating
the upper limits of what can be delivered There are videos available on the Internet
rather than what is typical in a Taekwon-do that show some instructors using
competition. As much as this research may excessing contact as a way to “toughen
seem to indicate that concussions require up” their students. The idea being that if

11
Atha, J., Yeadon, M. R., Sandover, J., & Parsons, K. C. (1985). “The damaging punch”. British Medical
Journal (Clinical research ed.), 291(6511), 1756–1757. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.291.6511.1756.
12
Schwartz, M et al. “Biomechanical study of full-contact
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 51
one is used to getting hit very hard then In any dynamic activity, such as Taekwon-
they are more likely to not be fazed by hard do, there is a non-zero chance of injury.
hits during a fight or self-defense scenario. Therefore we martial artists should take
Without getting into the merits of this reasonable actions to minimize the
approach, such excessive contact chances of a concussion. This should
increases the likelihood of some sort of include strictly enforcing rules against
traumatic brain injury. Recurring excessive heavy contact and avoiding unnecessary
contact—especially when recovering from impacts to the head.
a recent concussion—can prove to be
extremely high risk. If the goal is to Although protective gear does help in
minimize the chances of experiencing a many ways, it does not help much with
concussion, such practices should be concussions. While all major Taekwon-do
avoided. associations have policies against high-risk
actions, individual schools may not.
Some may ask, “What about sparring
equipment?” It is, at least officially, Since a person can sustain a concussion
designed for protection and today’s gear just from falling, risk of concussions
provides much more protection than in should still be a concern even for those
generations before. Unfortunately, the Taekwon-do clubs that do little or no
protection offered is not very relevant to sparring.
preventing concussions. For example,
helmets help with preventing skull It seems reasonable that every Taekwon-
fractures13 but offer little protection when it do instructor should be familiar with the
comes to preventing concussions or CRT (or something similar) and copies
whiplash. How about gloves? Certainly, the should be made available in their dojang or
cushioning they offer provides some included with their first aid kit. The potential
protection but gloves do more for long-term damage of traumatic head
protecting your hands than they protect injuries demands that when an evaluation
what is getting hit. A strong argument can is conducted, it is with the greatest caution
be made that wearing gloves actually in mind.
causes more damage. The argument being
that because people think the gloves will The step-wise approach of RTS requires a
prevent damage, they don’t fear hitting minimum of seven days and usually
harder. requires several weeks—so don’t rush to
return to activity. Sure, exercise does help,
but only if it can be done without making
What can we make of this things worse. Because of the increased
discussion? susceptibility of a second concussion while
Due to the lack of available medical still in recovery from a previous
professionals on a day-to-day basis, concussion, it is extremely important to be
instructors, parents, coaches, and martial extra cautious about resuming any activity
artists themselves each should play an that might risk another injury.
important role in preventing such injuries
and in initiating appropriate care if one Some may see pushing through an injury
occurs. makes them a good example for other
martial artists because it demonstrates

13
“Does a helmet protect me against a concussion?” by Weill Cornell Medicine
https://concussion.weillcornell.org/does-helmet-protect-me-against-concussion.

52 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

perseverance—a tenet of Taekwon-do. In a life-or-death scenario, this is certainly true,
but not in the ring and not in the dojang.

Download the Concussion Recognition Tool

http://www.neurosurgery.net.au/resources/Concussion/CRT5.pdf
or
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/11/872

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 53

54 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
 From the Vaults - June, 2012
General Choi Hong Hi:
10 Years On
By Jon Mackey

The man pivotal to the development and spreading of the art of

Taekwon-Do will be ten years dead this June. General Choi Hong Hi,
the principal founder of Taekwon-Do and founder and first president of
the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) died of stomach cancer
in Pyongyang, North Korea on June 15th 2002.

Reportedly a 2nd dan in Japanese Karate followers the world over.

he began work on developing a new
Korean Martial Art and during the 1950's . Historical Context
While developing this new Korean Martial On March 22nd 1966 General Choi formed
Art of Self Defence he received permission the International Taekwon-Do Federation
from the then President of The Republic of after separating from the Korean Taekwon-
(south) Korea to use the name Taekwon- Do Association in a bid to spread Taekwon
Do as the new Martial Art of Korea. The -Do around the globe, a feat he lived to
date of 11th April 1955 became the day appreciate. The separation from the
recognised as the birthday of Taekwon-Do. Korean Taekwon-Do Association was
caused in part by General Choi’s autocratic
For nearly half a century and well into his leadership style and differences with the
80's General Choi worked tirelessly to second generation leaders who were
develop Taekwon-Do through his seminars emphasising sports rules as a unifying
and International Instructor courses. He rallying point and not the first set of Korean
controlled the International Taekwon-Do patterns that General Choi had designed.
Federation with an iron fist and Along with his contentious battle to have
commanded genuine respect from them adopt his name of Taekwon-Do over
Totally Tae Kwon Do - 55
their preferred compromise name of Tae and cultural propaganda tool. Dr. Kim Un
Soo Do, General Choi eventually parted Yong (first president of the WTF) was
ways with the KTA. already working on his vision to have
Taekwon-Do become an Olympic Sport.
General Choi So naturally they
courted controversy. would also look to
H e w a s minimise the
incarcerated for influence of the ITF,
resisting Japanese a rival organisation.
rule during the As the pressure
J a p a n e s e from the KCIA of
occupation of Korea. South Korea
He was also an increased and the
outspoken critic of WTF became more
the military successful in
dictatorships that attracting and
plagued South building their
Korea at that time. It Taekwon-Do,
was during the height of this government General Choi's Korean following shrank.
brutality in 1972 that General Choi exiled
himself to Canada while leaving his entire In light of this General Choi courted North
family behind. He remained a fierce critic of Korea in an attempt to gain more Korean
the government while exiled. instructors, as well as political and financial
help to battle the political influence and
When the Korean dictator General Park money South Korea was providing to the
was assassinated by the director of the WTF. This was a move that greatly helped
Korean Central Intelligence Agency, the ITF but also one that was to frustrate it
General Choi had hoped he could return to in the years ahead.
Korea to continue
his build of His desire to see
Taekwon-Do. the ITF grow led
However this was General Choi to
not to be. Another make many
military coup took enemies and even
control as General in death he stirred
Chun Do Hwan controversy. His
became the leader final wishes in
of South Korea. relation to the
The South Korean future of his ITF
government and remains a topic of
the KCIA were controversial
adamant on debate, with many
destroying the ITF ITF members
as it provided disputing the
General Choi with direction of his
a world-wide final wishes.
travelling platform
which he used in addition to his teaching to He died in a Pyongyang hospital ward
severely criticise his government back surrounded by North Korean officials,
home. Additionally South Korea was some of which were his closest masters.
looking to use Taekwon-Do as a political From that ward it was announced that

56 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

General Choi chose Prof Chang Ung, a supporters initiated a plan to unseat
North Korean politician and member of the General Choi as president by having him
International Olympic Committee (IOC), to voted in for only two years out of the six
become the next and second president of year term with the remaining four years
the ITF. being presided over by Choi Jung Hwa.
This was passed at the congress but due
to the nature of the vote it caused divisions
between General Choi and his son. They
fought furiously after the congress with
Master Choi Jung Hwa saying the North
Koreans would not work with him as he
would not let them control the ITF or exert
their influence over the ITF as they did with
his father.

Prof. Chang Ung

It has been documented that this was in

fact General Choi's wish, it was not a last
minute decision, but rather one that took
place over a course of time. At this point
there were serious and very high level
government talks between South and
North Korea, which included an idea to
exchange Taekwon-Do Demonstration
teams while discussions to merge the
Taekwon-Do's of both Koreas took place.
As a result, General Choi, who fought his Grandmaster Choi Jung Hwa
adult life to get to this point wanted to be at
that table and he probably would have General Choi met with his senior masters
been if he hadn't passed away prior. and instructors in a bid to plan the undoing
of the vote at the 2001 congress. General
In light of these political circumstances Choi stated that the vote had to be undone
General Choi thought about who would be as their were serious and significant
the best person to politically accomplish merger talks taking place between the ITF
what was a highly political move, so he and the WTF at which he needed to be
picked a politician, Prof. Chang Ung. This remain as the president of the ITF. The
of course did not sit well with many WTF denied there were talks happening,
members of the ITF, as they did not wish to but that organisation had signed an
be political, many members were not agreement in the early 1980's that WTF
interested in politics, with some even president Dr Kim had never honoured. The
resenting General Choi’s politics and his talks that were taking place were above
constant use of Taekwon-Do and the ITF and beyond Taekwon-Do and resided in
as a political tool. the hands of the North and South Korean
government's reunification ministries. The
pressure was on General Choi to remain
The cracks begin to show ITF president.
At the ITF congress in Italy 2001, General
Choi's son, Choi Jung Hwa along with his It was January 2002 in Vienna when an

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 57

emergency meeting was called by the ITF, Quan was elected as president of the
General Choi and his supporters voted to group, emerging from this congress also to
undo the result of the previous congress on be called the ITF.
the grounds that these were important
political times. ITF meeting agreed with
General Choi and he was reinstated as
president for the full six year term, the
vienna meeting also removed Master Choi
Jung Hwa as Secretary General.

This caused major frustration for Master

Choi Jung Hwa resulting in him and his
followers leaving the ITF and setting up
their own organisation which was also to
be called the ITF. Master Choi and some of
his supporters were later expelled officially
from the original ITF. This was the start of
a very bitter division between Master Choi
and General Choi which continued until
before the time of General Choi's death
Grandmaster Tran Trieu Quan
when as father and son they reconciled.
Tran Trieu Quan was a professional
It was also the beginning of a number of business man with an MBA, in addition to a
further divisions within the ITF as General knowledgeable martial artists with a depth
Choi planned for the future of his of experience as a close and long time
organisation. student of General Choi.

Following on from the Vienna meeting The stage was set, there now existed three
which reversed the decision to have International Taekwon-Do Federations. All
Master Choi as the next ITF president, a three groups dispute the legalities of each
hastily called meeting of the ITF ratified of their respective congress meetings and
Prof. Chang Ung as the next president in votes taken within.
accordance with General Choi's wish to
have a politician lead through a politically
charged period for Taekwon-Do and for The ITF today ten years on
Korea. Master Choi Jung Hwa’s ITF went on to
attract new member schools and also
The decision to elect Chang Ung should attracted some followers from the original
have taken place at the scheduled ITF structure. Choi Jung Hwa’s ambition
congress which was to take place in 2003 was to return the ITF to South Korea, the
in Poland. Some members were country that his father had been exiled
disgruntled at how this decision was from decades previously.
handled and decided to challenge the
decision at the congress in 2003. However In 2004 his organisation ran the first world
this congress did not happen as agreed, championships held in South Korea and
Chang Ung and the ITF moved the world again in 2010 at which he attended himself
championships to Greece where the which was as a result of his cooperation
congress took place, while back in Poland with the South Korean government. It was
opponents to the move held their congress during this time that he gave an interview
as was agreed previously by the ITF. At to an international news paper about his
this congress in Poland, Master Tran Trieu involvement with North Korean intelligence.
58 - Totally Tae Kwon Do
Choi jung Hwa had been previously jailed His organisation is now presided over by
for his role in a plot to assassinate the GM Pablo Trajtenberg. GM Tran was the
South Korean dictator president – General first non-Korean to preside over an
Chun Do Hwan. international Taekwon-Do Federation.

Many of the changes introduced to GM Tran's ITF introduced many changes

Taekwon-Do through his organisation are also, but most noticeable is their work
confined to the tul, or patterns. Master Choi towards giving the organisation a more
Jung Hwa introduced the ‘kihap’ into the corporate image. The introduction of a new
patterns and also changed the name of a logo is a significant step away from the
controversial pattern titled ‘Juche’ to original recognisable blue and gold logo
‘Kodang’ a move seen as a sweetener to which is still in use by this ITF presently but
the South Korean government as the sources close this organisation say it will
organisation moved eventually use the
closer to that new design as their
country. ‘Juche’ is a corporate logo
North Korean moving the ITF’s
communist ideology even further away
based on Marxism from each other.
and Leninism.
In relation to
Today Master Choi performances, this
Jung Hwa’s ITF ITF tends to use a
appears to be the much slower rhythm
smallest of the three when performing
main organisations patterns, nearly
with 14 countries at giving more
their last European emphasis to the
championships held aesthetic beauty of
in Italy 2011 the patterns over
( w w w . i t f - martial application.
administration.com).
They continue to work within South Korea This ITF attracted twenty four countries to
which appears to have become the its last world championships in 2011 held
headquarters for that organisation. Choi in New Zealand (www.tkd-itf.org) and
Jung Hwa’s organisation has lost many maintains a considerable competitive
significant master instructors and countries standard.
over the past few years with many
returning to either of the other international Prof Chang Ung remains as president over
groups or operating independently. the ITF which has it's headquarters in
Vienna, where controversially an Austrian
Grand Master Tran Trieu Quan presided court found that the consultative committee
over his ITF until he was tragically killed in of the ITF properly followed the rules at the
Port Au Prince, Haiti by a magnitude 7.0 time of Prof. Chang Ung's election and
earthquake. Ironically he was there in his hence ruled him as the president of the ITF.
capacity as a civil engineer surveying Much of Chang Ung's work to date as been
buildings in a bid to make them safer; he around courting Olympic recognition for
was killed when the hotel he was staying in the ITF.
collapsed under the pressure of the earth
quake. This work has resulted in many of the
changes made to Taekwon-Do competition

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 59

by this organisation, which many say help trademark rights, the unification of the
to promote ITF Taekwon-Do as a dynamic ITF’s has never been so distant. While all
kicking art. In order to achieve recognition of the groups pay homage to their founder
this ITF has introduced a two punch rule, and still hold him dearly in their hearts, only
where the competitor may only throw two one action can truly show the respect and
punches before kicking or pausing to throw appreciation for the work that General Choi
another set of punches, thereby carried through his entire life and that is the
encouraging more kicking. Its rules have action of unification. Until then, his legacy
also changed to include the compulsory remains a myriad of disputes and
use of 360 degree kicks during a bout conspiracies as the international Taekwon-
again to promote more aerial kicking. This Do Family walks in different directions.
group ran the largest of the recent
international tournaments with fifty eight
countries participating in the last world Acknowledgement: A special thanks to Dr
championships in Pyongyang North Korea George Vitale of New York (Taekwon-Do
(www.itftkd.org). Master and reputed TKD historian) for his
time and assistance in compiling
information for this feature.
Newer organisations
Although it is acknowledged that
these three groups represent the ITF,
other smaller organisations have also
popped over the course of the last ten
years.

GM KS Hwang who originally

supported General Choi's wishes to
have Prof Chang Ung as the next
president eventually left the ITF and
formed Unified ITF as he felt Chang
Ung had deviated away from General
Choi's wishes. Unified ITF is relatively
small but has a mission statement to
unify all the international groups again
at some point in the future.

The Future?
Across the ITF grass roots there is
common desire for unifying the
membership. Unification of the
international bodies lends more The Author and Dr. Vitale would appreciate
credibility to its world and European-class any feed back, new information, memories
tournaments as well as it’s standing as the and insights that any Taekwon-Do
official world governing body for traditional practitioner may have about these past
Taekwon-Do. turbulent times for the ITF.
Unfortunately with all of the technical and
aesthetic changes taking place as well as a
number of bitter court battles over

60 - Totally Tae Kwon Do

Www.akato.org

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 61

 Free Issue For Every Article Featured*

Get Yourself In print

If you'd like to submit something to Totally Tae kwon Do magazine, please send your
submission to: [email protected]

Anyone can submit items as long as they are about Tae kwon Do or are Tae kwon Do
related.
Articles on aspects of training Technical articles (ie. How to….)
Articles on patterns, sparring or destruction Black belt essays
Articles on Stretching, Fitness or conditioning Competition reports, results and photos
Articles on health, nutrition or well being Seminar reports and photos
Interviews with instructors, masters or students Book, DVD and film reviews
History related articles Your own views on things TKD!
Articles on exercises Letters and emails
Self Defence articles Profiles of your school or teacher

Issue Deadlines are the 20th of each month

1.
Submission Guidelines
All articles must be submitted (preferably) in word, RTF or plain text format only, with
minimal formatting (no auto-paragraph spacing for example)
2. All articles should try to include photos and pictures to accompany the submission. If not
Totally Tae Kwon magazine may source photos to accompany the article.
3. Photos and pictures do not have to be high resolution. If we want one for the cover picture
we will contact you for a high resolution picture.
4. 100-200dpi resolution is fine for photographs. Higher resolution photographs will be scaled
down.
5. Items such as Black Belt Essays should have a picture of the author accompanying them,
though with regular articles this is optional, in addition to other photos.
6. Please ensure you spell check your work before sending.
7. All picture/photo’s submitted give permission to the magazine for future use of them.
8. All articles must be the author’s own work or have permission from the author to the
submitter to publish them with this magazine - please state this in the email sent
9. Upon submission, the submitter of the article not the magazine or editor is responsible for
any errors, libel or copyright breaches contained within the article (both text, photos and/or
pictures) when published. The magazine, nor its editor or staff cannot be held responsible
for anything pertaining to an article or photographs/pictures published
10. The magazine reserves the right to choose what articles to publish and in which issue of the
magazine they are published in.
11. The author of the articles retains full copyright of their work, but by submitting it to the
magazine agrees that it can be published within the magazine, both now and in the future,
including images that may accompany different featured work.
12. The magazine will be encrypted to prevent the copying of articles and pictures, but cannot
be held responsible for errors or those circumventing of these procedures.
13. Once published, any article, both text and photos are subject to the public domain and
therefore cannot be retracted. By submitting articles you agree that you understand this.
14. The magazine reserves the right not to publish all pictures submitted with an article, but will
try its best to do so, depending on space available.
15. The magazine reserves the right to split long articles over several issues if necessary.
16. Articles will only be accepted by email, either grouped or in a zip file.
17. The magazine reserves the right not to publish every article submitted, without reason.
62 - Totally Tae Kwon Do *Not including news, reports, results (from comps and seminars etc.)
 Sponsorship Packages
As of July 2012, all our packages have been tweaked to make them better value for
money - this includes larger adverts for some packages, bonus adverts for others and all
packages now help provide someone who cannot afford a subscription to the magazine
with a ‘Sponsored Subscription’.

Furthermore, we have also introduced the new ‘Single Club’ package, which allows
small clubs to show their support for the magazine as well.

Platinum Sponsorship @ £2000 per year

This is a 'one off' package, for one sponsor only, hence it is the premium package.

The package includes:

- A Double Page advertising spread in every issue (or two single page adverts) for 1
year.
- Web Site advertising on the magazines top two pages - the Index/info page and the
download page (where the current issues are downloaded from).
- Advertising on our ‘sponsors’ page on web site with top/premium placing.
- 20 Sponsored Subscriptions
- Plus “Sponsored By” link on all subscribers emails

Gold Sponsorship Package @ £1200 per year

The package includes:
- A Full Page advertisement in every issue, for 1 year + 4 half page bonus adverts
- Web site advertising on our very popular main ‘back issues’ page
- Advertising on our ‘sponsors’ page on web site with high placing (just under Platinum
level sponsors).
- 12 Sponsored Subscriptions
- Plus “Sponsored By” link on all subscribers emails

Silver Sponsorship Package @ £800 per year

The package includes:
- A half Page advertisement in every issue, for 1 year.
- Advertising on our ‘sponsors’ page on the web site
- 12 Sponsored Subscriptions

Bronze Sponsorship package @ £300 per year

The package includes:
- A regular half Page advertisement in every 2nd issue (or 6 issues of your choice)
- Advertising on our ‘sponsors’ page on the web site
- 3 Sponsored Subscriptions

Totally Tae Kwon Do - 63

"When I die, please draw two eyes on my grave
stone. I am determined to see Japan collapse
even after my death."

- Cho Man-sik

Issue 197: July 2025

www.totallytkd.com
64 - Totally Tae Kwon Do