Daniel Perez
June 21, 2002
Bunch of Kids!
Back in 1994, at the Malaysian ITF World Championships, we were staying at the same hotel as the General, in fact,
our coach (Mr Michael Daher) had the room adjacent the General's. One morning, Mr Daher came rushing into our rooms
and told us to come to his room. We all ran in shushing and bumping each other like kids hiding from their teachers.
As we gathered in the room we heard a strange noise ...thump...thump...thump...
It was the General conditioning his hands. We were all so excited to be witnessing this moment.
I think it was the first moment that I saw the General as a martial artist, a man who has done the hard yards physically
and mentally and his perseverance had continued into his 70's (at the time). I was very proud of him after that
and had no trouble talking proudly of him to others.
Not long ago, I heard (on this board) that he was ordered by doctors to stop conditioning and imagined that he
would have ignored this advice and carried on as he had all these decades.
Truly a man who followed his own tenets, an example to us all!
Craig Stanley
June 21, 2002
Three Moments
The first time I met General Choi was at a seminar in British Columbia, Canada. When it was over I was leaving
on the plane and General Choi was ahead of me in the aisle. I was jostled from behind and did a fair imitaion of
a pretzel trying to avoid bumping into General Choi. Of course I failed and he turned to me and said, "Patience
young man, we all get there at the same time." I smiled lamely and nodded.
The second time I met the General was with my instructor on a trip to Toronto. We stopped by the General's house
and had tea. Needless to say, I sat on the edge of my seat and probably only spoke once the whole time.
I think the one week filming of the CD-patterns in Banff, Alberta had to be a highlight of my contacts with the
General. It was enlightening to see him and his son discuss technique.
Bob Deane
June 21, 2002
My First Dan Testing
I was very lucky to have been given the privilege to grade in front of him for my First Dan in 1985 in B.C. Canada.
Even though politics have forced me to quit the ITF, I have not quit teaching or living the words of our beloved
founder. I had General Choi sign his photo on the first page of the encyclopedia, and this has been my prized possession
ever since.
When I was learning Toi-Gye pattern I hated the 6 w-shape blocks in a row. When working with General Choi the next
day after my testing he asked if there were any questions on this pattern and I was stupid enough to ask him why
he had so many w-shaped blocks in this pattern. And being a man who could say so much in so few words he replied
to me, "Why do we do so many blocks in TaeKwon-Do". Nothing else needed saying.
THE FOUNDER: Favourite Moments with the General
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