Midwest Taekwondo Association

 

The first known evidence of Taekwondo was about 4,300 years ago. This tomb is dated to the kingdom of Koguryo (37 B.C. -66 A.D.) located in southern Manchuria (North Korea). A mural on King Myung Chong's tomb shows two warriors performing Tae-Kyon (foot fighting) the predecessor to today's art. This evidence indicates that Koreans were developing a native martial art form long before Bodhidharma arrived in China to form the Shaolin Temple. Therefore, claims as to martial arts origin coming from China must be disputed. During that same time, King Dahn Goon is recorded to be the first King of Korea and held demonstrations of Tae-Kyon for the king and guests. The troops are said to have practiced the art daily. The king's outlying villages would come in for the demonstrations and competition of the sport. The reason why foot fighting was emphasized was because of its superior power and effectiveness in the hilly terrain.

 

Approximately 1600 years ago, the country split into three smaller countries. The largest was called Koguryo; the two smaller ones were called Paekche and Silla. Even though it was the smallest, Silla was the strongest of the three. The country formed the Hwa Rang youth troops. These were children of noble families, hand picked to become the future leaders of the country. The children were taught advance Tae Kyon, leadership skills, diplomacy, and strong moral ethics. They were to become great general and leaders of the country. They were surrounded by aggressive neighbors. Th fierce training they had protected the country, even though largely outnumbered in many battles.

 

About 600 years ago, Yi's Dynasty pushed for cultural activities. Confucianism replaced past cultural beliefs. Confucianism believed a superior man spent his time reading and studying philosophy, poetry, and classical music. The country weakened greatly over time with civil control and a lack of military officers. The time used to build strong soldiers and leader was spent on reading and philosophy.

 

In 1910, the country under Yi's Dynasty was extremely weak and Japan invaded Korea. The government was overthrown and the Japanese Governor-General Ito Hiro Bumi became Kora's new Governor-General. He banned all cultural activities. In particular, martial arts were not allowed. The Japanese martial arts did exist, but Korea's Taekyon (foot fighting) was practiced only in secret. There as some influence from the Japanese and the Chinese martial art hand techniques.

 

In 1945, Korea was liberated after WWII. Many schools opened with martial arts. There were eight that were well noted. In 1946, there was a nation wide movement for them to unify. On April 11, 1955, at the session for naming their art, many Taekwon-Do masters, historians, and prominent leaders were gathered to solve this problem. General Choi Hong Hi was a big influence on the development of the new art. He had a 2nd Dan black belt from the Japanese through their occupation. Under the direction of General Choi, a Taekwon-Do demonstration team went on a tour abroad in 1961, the government appointed a commission to unify the arts led by General Choi Hong Hi. The Korean Taekwon-Do Association was formed.

 

General Choi's philosophy as an ambassador was that all countries should learn Taekwon-Do regardless of political affiliation or belief. His relationship to the communist countries was questioned. Korea did not like the exchange of their National Martial Art with rival countries. In the late 1960's, General Choi moved to Canada under pressure and formed the International Taekwondo Federation as an independent group. In January of 1971, Korea formed its own Korea Taekwondo association naming Un Yong KIM its president. In May of 1973, it became the World Taekwondo Federation under his leadership. With this separation of the ITF an WTF came a distancing in philosophy, technique, and style with Taekwondo. Mostly in the early 1970's, the first Korean masters came to America to spread Taekwondo. Taekwondo was recognized as an Olympic sport in 1980 under the WTF banner. Today, many hybrids of Taekwondo exist.

 

In June of 1982, Master Dwayne Doran, eventual founder ofthe Midwest TaekwondoAssociation, started training under a 7th Dan Master Kim Sung Chae. Master Kim was under the WTF banner, but still taught much like the ITF style he originally learned. Master Doran trained with him almost daily for 5 years until Master Kim moved back to Korea to be with his family. Master Doran then spent about a year and a half writing, traveling, training, and corresponding with many Masters to find a new instructor and association. He did not limit himself to Taekwondo. Master Doran was a 2nd Dan at that time. Most of those he visited had very little to offer after black belt. By acquaintance, he met Jack Bell, 3rd Dan with the United States Taekwondo Federation. The U.S.T.F. was home based out of Little Rock, Arkansas under 5th Dan James Bottin. After spending time with Jack Bell and the Vice President of the U.S.T.F., 5th Dan Scott McNeely, many of Master Doran's questions were answered for the first time. He felt he had a lot to learn and gain from their training.

 

From June 1987 until 1994, Master Doran and his wife trained and competed with the best the U.S.T.F. had to offer. The U.S.T.F. had superior training and talent to compete with anyone of any style at that time. In his first three years with the organization, Master Doran produced 12 Grand National Champions. Master Doran, his wife, and his son won numerous trophies. Master Doran was rated in the top 10 for the nation for all 5 years he competed. He won one Grand National and finished 3rd twice. His greatest achievement was winning the coveted “Instructor Of The Year” award in 1989. This is the top honor in the U.S.T.F. for the continental United States.

 

Master Doran saw a need to change in 1994. Martial Arts was changing, so he started the Midwest Taekwondo Association. Master Doran and his instructors have produced over 400 black belts as of the year 2017. Mast Doran has copyrighted the color belt forms used within the MTA. The old forms were designed many decades ago and outdated to today's training methods and improved knowledge. The new forms are a blend of Taekwondo, other styles, and the self defense Master Doran has researched and tested with thousands of students. Master Doran is now recognized in the 2015 United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame for being the Founder of a successful martial arts organization.

 

(Coming Soon-Information about which organization we are certified through all the way to Korea.)