Meet the Founder - Part 7

Making Bad into Good

In the last issue we left Choi Hong Hi,the man who would eventually create the martial art of Taekwon-Do, in a pretty sorry state. Near the end of World War II, he and his three fellow Koreans were caught plotting to overthrow the Japanese Army from the inside, and were taken away to prison. The Korean Independence Movement came to a full stop! It was pretty strict in the prison: if you broke the rules you got a beating. The guards were very keen to dish out punishment because they didn't like their Korean prisoners at all, so there were plenty of beatings to go around.

Prison rules:

• Don't look at anyone (especially not the guards)
  
• Don't talk to anyone (not even the other prisoners)
  
• Don't move a muscle when you are forced to kneel on the floor for hours each day
  
• Don't drop your toilet bowl carrying it on your head from your cell to the toilet pit.

For six long months Choi never saw or spoke to his three friends also imprisoned...he didn't dare. But through all of this, he still found something to be thankful for.

Which of the following do you think he was glad about ?

1. There were plenty of books to read in his cell.
2. He got to have a bath every day.
3. The food was better than he got in the army.
4. His legs were short.

Strange as it may sound, he was thankful for all of the above things. Despite the beatings and the harsh rules, they were looked after quite well, as long as they behaved according to the rules. But why was he glad his legs were short? Because the prison clothes were quite small, and those with longer legs got very cold in their short pants, especially on the daily toilet bowl run!

Choi Hong Hi behaved himself, pretending to be sorry for what he had done, and after six months he was trusted enough that he was allowed to practise karate daily in his cell. The guards quickly became fascinated with what he
was doing, and brought him eight roofing tiles. They didn't believe he could break them all, but he did it, straight away with his bare hands! He said later the applause was the sweetest thing he had ever heard.

From that day onwards the guard insisted on learning karate from his impressive prisoner in his lunchbreak,and before long all of the guards were Choi's karate students and the prison had become a training hall. If there was ever a bad situation turned around for some good, this was it!

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Text from Taekwon-Do and I, The Memoirs of Choi Hong-Hi, the founder of Taekwon-Do