I am not sure how many people here read TKD Times, however honestly I was not too impressed with the last issue of it that just came out.  The entire issue was focused on MMA which I am so tired of hearing about.  I am a fan of the UFC, K1, World Combat League and so forth, but now a days is seems like MMA gyms are opening all over the place with fools with real attitude problems taking classes and thinking they are the next ultimate fighter and dieing to show someone thier "skills" in the street. 

I may not have the greatest "ground game" in the world, however I can defend myself and over the last 12-15 years I was taught by every instructer the last place you want to take a street fight is to the ground because the amount of dangers it presents.  Broken class, rocks, crack pipes, used needles and many other things that can harm you just as easy if not more then the person you are trying to take to the ground.

In any event the only artical I found of interest was one where a guy was talking about ITF and how devided it really is. I will admit my ignorance yet again and say that I had no clue that the ITF had a number of diffrent branches, head quarters and so forth.  The person writing the artical focused on the need for ITF to come togather as a stronger organization before they mix with the WTF. 

For those who train within the ITF is the ITF really a collection of a bunch of organizations or was the guy ranting about something he did not know about?

The place I usually get my issue of Times from hasn't had this month's yet. 

Personally, I'd like to see TKDTimes either focus more on taekwondo or change their name.

Daniel

I think it comes and goes.  I have found some wonderful articals in TKD times, however the last issue reminded me of BlackBelt without all the ads.

If they atleast kept in within the Korean Arts it wouls still work, but honestly do not rush to the store for this months issue.  I borrowed this issue from a friend and when it hits the shelves I am not planning on buying it.  Perhaps no one has them in stock because they realized how horrible the issue was and pulled after they mailed it out to those who have it delivered.

i agree...

There are actually 3 ITF's. ITF-V (Vienna) Master Tran who was elected president, ITF-NK North Korea illegally proclaimed Mr. Chang Ung ITF as president and ITF-C (Canada) Grand Master Choi Jung Hwa's group, GM Choi is the son of General Choi, founder of the ITF and the Chang Hon style of TKD.

This whole splinter of the ITF came 2-3 years before the Choi passed away. From what I unserstand is that the NK Gov't capitalized on the Choi's illness and impending death to use the ITF as a political tool for their own agenda. The Vienna gov't has ruled against his group multiple times in favor of Master Tran's group, meanwhile GM Choi's group remains quiet and seemingly neutral.

So it's hard to see a unification between the WTF & ITF when the unification of the ITF still remains questionable.

As far as TKD Times and the articles on MMA....   since many of the MMA fighters have been formally trained in Taekwondo, why not have an article or two appear in issues.  I remember seeing Matt Hughes in an issue over the summer as well. You may not be a fan, but MMA interest is growing and many TKD students are crosstraining in MMA as TKD schools are now offering it as part of their curriculum.

"Kick Chick"

It is not about a artical or two on MMA, the last issue with Matt on it was 90%MMA. 

I have a odd pov on the matter.  When I want to read about Martial Arts in generial I read Black Belt, when I want to read about Shaoln, I read Kungfu, or inside Kungfu, for TKD its TKD times.  To me it just seems like some magizines in generial are forgetting about the loyal readers and focusing on something for everyone instead of the nich market that made them who/what they are.

This is also done in music, tv and the movies as well.  Ohwell life is not perfect and my .02 is not worth all that much.

I do thank you for the information you posted about the ITF.  I have tried looking at ITF stuff but mostly I come up with diffrent ITF schools not exactly the ITF itself.  The best information I have found on ITF is wikipedia which is a great site but we need to be mindful that ANYONE can do edits to topics.

Again I just found it odd that TKDtimes has given a lot of space to WTF and ITF coming togather and now the last artical talking about how wrcecked the ITF was interesting.  I think the artical may have been in the opinion section, but I am not postitive.

I think you might want to take a look at the mission statement of TKD Times.

"Tae Kwon Do Times Magazine is your community source for all martial arts including Kuk Sool, Hapkido, Hanmudo, Yudo, Tang Soo Do, Choi Kwang Do, and major organizations such as the World TKD Federation (WTF), the International TaeKwon-Do Federation (ITF), the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), as well as many others."

GM Jung, publisher of the magazine, has a similar view as KC on learning about martial arts. 

Hannigan, you do realize that TKDTimes is a member here on TKDspace? Perhaps you would like to direct your question to "her"

Also I came upon this page also that is a good run-down on the ITF

http://www.raynerslanetkd.com/SECTION2-Latest_Developments.html

~"Deb"

Funny Enough I found this site through TKDtimes website.

Thanks for the information.

Not exactly neutral point of view.

1st The Gen's son, GM Choi Jung Hwa broke away before his father passed away on June 15, 2002. He was voted to replace his father in Italy at the Congress in 2001, after his father served on 2 years of his new 6 year term. This was against the Constitution, as it is the Sr. VP who is next in line or replaces the president if he does not or can not serve his full term. After that happened there was a big back & forth, with all kinds of mud & allegations concerning the future of NK in the ITF to be led by the son. In Jan of 2002, the son was expelled in an extraordinary Congress whose legal standing was challenged.

When the founder passed away, another split occurred after a special congress was called in Sept of 2002. This congress reportedly elected Prof Chang Ung, a NK & IOC Member in good standing. The election was reportedly just a clap for Prof Chang Ung & has been contested by some. In addition the legal standing of this congress was also called into question. Several court decsions go back & forth, however the latest one clearly indicated this was not a valid election. It should be noted that these cases are still pending in appeal & to date, no court has ordered the ITF-NK out of the ITF owned building in Vienna (ironically reportedly paid for by NK funds)

In June 0f 2003, 2 ITF congresses were held. 1 in Poland, where the regularly scheduled WCs were held. This small group did not contain many registered delegates that were official representatives of the NGBs prior to the passing of the founder. None the less, they were the ones that showed up & voted in Master Tran Trein Quan, a long time top student of the founder. He was at a time the Chair of an ITF Committee, president of the Canadian NGB, PanAm rep & someone who traveled with the founder. 

Also in June of 2003, another congress was held in Greece at a WC moved to that location without any approval of a congress, the body that runs the ITF in accordance with the constitution. NK reportedly paid travel expenses for the teams to go there. This help to insure that they had the majority of the official delegates from the ITF member countries. However this congress apparently did not vote or re-confirm Prof Chang Ung as president. They did however elect other positions in the ITF board.

Now to say that the ITF-NK illegally proclaimed Prof Chang Ung as president leaves out some very important facts & points of view. They are the larger organization, with more members. So do all these groups blindly follow NK's dictate? If so, are they forced too? If so, how? They are located in their respective countries, free of any repressive control or manipulation. Many of these members simply wish to follow the wishes of what they believe were of the founder. In essence they are looking to follow a more eastern custom of adhereing to their teacher. The ITF-V took a more western approach with an open & free election. The majority of the GMs went with the ITF-NK group, along with many other seniors.

The son has been very active, travelling the world, spreading his art & message. He was recently in SK & Japan, where he held many press conferences openly claiming the ITF-NK TKD instructors were spies. He also spoke with SK govt officials & prosecutors for his role in an assination plot against a former SK president, for which he was arrested, convicted & served time for in Canada. At a recent course he taught in Norway, the host apparently said on TV that their ITF Headquaters was moving back to SK. Earlier this year, a open tournament there highlighted the ITF & WTF in the same venue. His followers apparently believe in a more blood line succession.

Now the merger talks between the ITF-NK & WTF probably have more to do with Korean politics, than TKD. With the new hard line right govt in SK, it will be interesting to see how that unfolds. That along with the recent Olympic embarrassment & other sports fighting hard for status, may spell the end of Olympic TKD & any merger talks.