Grandmaster Choi
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President and Founder of Choi Kwang-Do Martial Art International.
Kwang Jo Choi was born on March 2, 1942, in Tae Gu City, Korea, which was under Japanese control at the time. He started training in the martial arts at the age of 12 because his father was concerned as Kwang Jo was small and physically weak, and he wanted his son to be able to protect himself in the war-torn streets. Kwang Jo’s first official martial arts instructors were Grandmaster Dong Ju Lee and Grandmaster Jung D Cho. They trained him in Kwon Bup, a form of Korean karate.
During his military service, Kwang Jo became a chief Instructor in the 20th infantry division and came into contact with General Choi (the founder of Tae Kwon Do) when the military began to use that system for unarmed combat. After completing his military service, Kwang Jo travelled to Seoul to see General Choi, who taught him the art. Shortly thereafter, Kwang Jo was named a chief instructor for the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF) and taught martial arts instructors from all over Korea and overseas. At the same time, Kwang Jo served as an instructor for the national police department, and
taught many military instructors and members of the armed forces. In 1967, Kwang Jo was personally selected by General Choi to serve as an elite member of a group of experts chosen to spread Tae Kwon Do throughout the world. Through his mission, Kwang Jo became one of Tae Kwon Do’s most prominent ambassadors and was directly responsible for its spread throughout South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, eventually, the United States.
Due to the lockout movements of his traditional martial arts training, however, Kwang Jo injured his body, which forced him to move to North America for medical treatment in 1970. After visits with many doctors, Kwang Jo decided to try rehabilitating his body without surgery. He also studied physical therapy techniques and slowly began to recuperate and heal his condition. It was during this process that Kwang Jo started realizing that the harsher, lockout movements used in conventional martial arts had caused his injuries. As a result, he began to study anatomy, physiology and human-movement sciences.
From 1978 to 1987, based on these observations, coupled with years of research and practical experience, Kwang Jo pioneered one of the most revolutionary changes in recent martial arts history: the introduction of an entirely new martial arts form –
Choi Kwang-Do
Choi Kwang-Do, which translates as “the art (or method) of Kwang Choi” is now one of the fastest growing martial arts / health and fitness programmes in the world. Choi Kwang-Do is at the forefront of the international martial arts scene at a level never witnessed in martial art history. With rapid growth and currently 80 locations in the UK, membership in Choi Kwang-Do welcomes you to train at any CKD location - not only in the UK - worldwide.