GTF, ITF, WTF and the Sports Minister

GTF stands for Global Tkd Federation, ITF - International Tkd Federation and WTF - World Tkd Federation. One of the major differences between these three Tkd federations is the political structure of each body. ITF was founded by General Choi Hong Hi, GTF was founded by GrandMaster Park Jung Tae and Malaysia's very own Dato' Dr. Sabree Salleh has been awarded with the 9th Degree Black Belt and currently holding the title of GrandMaster, and the President of WTF is Dr. Un Yong Kim (*got this from internet). GTF is developed from ITF and the practitioners of GTF have to learn all ITF *patterns as well as GTF patterns. WTF taekguk or patterns are completely different from ITF and GTF. Although the Tkd practitioners learn almost similar basic techniques and movements, there are some differences concerning the philosophy behind every movement. Taekwon-Do as been told to me is considered as the military art of self-defense, it was developed for the Korean army. Some people believe that Karate which originated from Japan and an ancient Korean martial arts called Tae Kyon have great influence on Taekwon-Do. It is said that Taekwon-Do was originally created by General Choi and because of some political disputes there are a few others who claimed to be the real founder of Taekwondo. However, this issue will not be discussed further here.
There is a need to make some clarifications here. Dato' Dr. Sabree Salleh is a former member of ITF and due to some misunderstanding within the body, he joined GTF and brought it or rather introduced it to Malaysia. GTF is widely practised in Canada and Norway, and GrandMaster Park himself lived in Canada with his family (GTF HQ). The aim of GTF as being claimed by some of the practitioners is to move away from the disputes between ITF and WTF - but in Malaysia and from the eyes of an amateur practitioner like me, I think the dispute is very much "ALIVE" and will still continue unless we agree to sit down and discuss it together with diplomacy and not trying to launch some reverse hooking kicks that can break each others' neck!
I went to check out a tournament in UE3 last Saturday. It was supposed to be Kejohanan Taekwon-Do Terbuka (GTF) Negeri Selangor. We were not invited though, and some of the senior instructors in Selangor were not in the invitees list too. I was sent by Ms.5th Dan to record their opening ceremony on tape. We thought they might perform some GTF (higher Dans) pattern. But they performed Po Uen - ITF pattern, compulsory for 1st Dan blackbelts - so disappointing, not only because of the pattern they chose but also because of the lack of power, speed and style in executing all the blocks, kicks and punches. Although the overall performance was not as good as it is supposed to be (?), I find the self-defense and throwing/grappling techniques were good - Tanesh Lama, a 2nd Dan Black Belt did a great job with his partner. The opening ceremony was supposed to be graced (?) by Datuk Azalina, but due to some reasons, her secretary (dunno the position, but heard s/thg like S/usaha) came to represent her. During his (Mr.Secretary) speech, he mentioned that Datuk Azalina herself is from GTF, and I recorded it on tape! Perhaps Mr.Secretary has put it the wrongly. Actually, from what I learned from Ms.5th Dan, the Sports Minister is trying to unify the three bodies under a huge "umbrella" of Taekwon-Do. I don't really know the development of the plan initiated by Datuk Azalina, but I hope that it will become a reality soon. As far as I'm concerned anybody who practises Taekwon-Do regardless of its style (ITF,GTF or WTF) should be respected by other practitioners. Tradition is inherited and respect is earned!!


p/s: Fear of someone and respecting a person are two different things.


Links:
1)Tae Kyon
2)ITF
3)WTF
4)GTF