MATE and KARATE KSN Renso Perez

Yuseki Nishiyama, the true father of Taekwon-Do?

Before some fanatic begins to write furiously without even having finished reading the article, I'll tell you that Yuseki Nishiyama was the Japanese name that a young Choi Hon Hi adopted in order to travel to Japan to study. In the days when Korea was a colony of Japan, the Koreans, in addition to having forbidden to speak in Japan in their language, they were obliged to change their Korean name to one japanese. This is how Choi Hon Hi, he had to adopt the name Yuseki Nishiyama, where: 勇 Yu “Brave” ⽯ Seki “Stone” 西 Nishi “West” ⼭ Yama “Mountain” "Brave West Mountain Stone" General Choi, like most of the Koreans who suffered from the Japanese invasion they despised everything related to Japan and this name was certainly not pleasing to him. general. In Korea, the mountains are a very important symbol, since they represent the union of the sky, the divine, with the earth, the natural, in fact, the cult of the 산신 "Sanshin", "Gods of the Mountains" or "spirits". of the mountains” is the oldest recorded veneration in Korea. Where: ⼭ 산 (San) “Mountain” 神 신 (Shin) “God”, “Spirit” It was not uncommon for Japanese names that Koreans adopted to have some relation cultural allegory with its roots, a subtle form of rebellion. Therefore, it should not surprise us that the famous Korean teacher, Choi Yeong Eui 최영의 naturalized Japanese, creator of the Kyokushin Kai system, better known as ⼤ ⼭ 倍 達 Masutatsu Oyama, had in his name present the Mountain: “Great Mountain”. Things in life, General Choi was a convinced Korean patriot, while Oyama took as his to the land of the Rising Sun, leaving behind his past, that is why, when Choi called him to, as a prominent Korean martial art master, join the movement of the Taekwondo, Oyama declined his offer and continued his path in Karate Do. Later, after the unification of several kwans or Korean schools of martial arts, the KTA (Korea Taekwondo Association) was formed to give foundation on March 22, 1966 to the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), later self exiled General Choi Hong Hi to Canada. In 1973 the World Taekwon-Do Federation is founded in South Korea, this being the organization that turns taekwondo into an Olympic sport of art and combat during the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, where it was presented as an exhibition sport, until its recognition. Olympic sport at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Although there are two schools (ITF and WT), with differences in the competition modalities (sparring and forms), the style promoted by the WT (World Taekwondo) is recognized as an Olympic sport, while the style promoted by the

ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) also develops its own world championships as a sports discipline, without forgetting the martial part of the art, the latter is the original style implemented by General Choi. Within martial arts and combat sports, taekwondo stands out for the variety and spectacular nature of its kicking techniques, being one of the most effective and wellknown martial arts in the world. For its creation, General Choi drew on the Korean art of taekkyon (which influenced the execution of several of the kicks with the foot and the tactical work or steps and displacements), as well as karate-Do. Japanese (from where the blows with the fist and open hand come from, the planimetry or division by zones of the human body, the blocks, the positions and the system of degrees by kup-dan colored belts). His first uniform and his first forms or schemes known as hyong in the ITF (International Taekwon-Do Federation) and as palgwe in the WT (World Taekwondo) are also derived from this discipline. These first forms have been replaced by the tulle forms in the ITF, and by the taeguk forms in the WT, in order to further strengthen its own identity, in front of the disciplines from which it comes. The practitioner of this discipline is called taekuondist or taekwondista — the majority and preferable form according to the Urgent Spanish Foundation—, taekwondoka —by analogy with judoka or karateka— or taekwondoin — similar to the name in Korean—. Taekwondo is considered a method that seeks to condition the body and empower it physically, as well as the development of will and wisdom through experience. Relying on the various physical laws to generate maximum power, focusing it precisely, by accelerating body mass. Today, there are several disciplines derived from traditional Taekwondo, some more focused on the sports area, others more focused on the commercial field, others related to entertainment, but even so, the essence of the art has remained straight in the face of modernization and faithfully prevails to its principles. martial arts, as well as the values that it represents and spreads with each school, with each teacher, each student and each practitioner. Regardless of the intentions of the instructor, the hierarchical line that precedes him will not allow him to deviate from the path that his teacher marked from the beginning, because if so, no traditional martial art would have been sustained over time. Every good martial artist must respect and value his roots, because "Tree without roots cannot stand any Storm"