GM Mel Steiner
Brief History of Taekwon-Do
The style of Taekwon-Do which the Chi Organization practices, is called Ch’ang Hon or “Blue Cottage”. General Choi, Hong Hi, the creator of said Taekwon-Do system, was given this pseudonym by his calligraphy teacher, Mr. Han, Il Dong. The hallmark of this system, which was created during the 1950s and named in 1955, is the combination of fast and slow, light and forceful movements together with extensive foot work whose root stem from- Sho-Rin, Sho-Rei, schools of Okinawan Karate and heavily borrowing from Japanese Shotokan. These roots, combined with others, have over time been refined to the extent that they no longer resemble their original movements and have become totally “Korean” in every way, through the application of the nine “Training Secrets” as written by Gen. Choi.
The name and number of movements, as well as the diagrammatic representation of each pattern (Hyung), have specific significance which symbolizes its namesake, or relevance to some historical event or person, in Korean history.
Translated literally,- TAEKWON-DO means: “Art of foot and hand fighting”
TAE- means to kick, jump or smash with the feet KWON- denotes the fist- mainly to punch or destroy with the hand or fist. DO- is the art, the way, the method
12344 S.W.124 Path
Miami, Fl 33186
WWW.chitkd.com
Mel Steiner
Grandmaster
Instructor
9th Dan
Accomplishments
1969-White Belt
1974-B.A. from Florida International University
1981-Opened TKD commercial school
1984-1st to demonstrate TKD at the Honan Shaolin Temple in China
International Taekwon-Do Federation-(I.T.F.-Gen. Choi, Hong Hi)
1986-Promoted to 4th Degree #A-4-102
1988-Certified as I.T.F. International Instructor #419
1989-Promoted to 5 th Degree #A-5-37
1994-Promoted to 6 th Degree #A-6-21
1999-Promoted to 7 th Degree Master #A-7-14
2003-Promoted to 8 th Degree Master (I.C.T.F.)#-1
2007-Promoted to 9 th Degree Grandmaster (I.C.T.F)# 1-1028
-I.T.F school plaque #301
-I.T.F Class “B” National Umpire #281
-I.T.F. Class “A” International Umpire #542
-Re-established I.T.F. governing body in Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and
Nicaragua-
-Hosted I.T.F. Instructors Course #35 in the U.S.A taught by Gen. Choi, Hong Hi
-Hosted 1 st Instructors Course by Grandmaster C.E. Sereff, 9 th Dan, for the I.T.F.
-Participated in thirteen I.T.F. Instructors courses and taught two
-One of only five in the U.S.A to be awarded “I.T.F Outstanding Instructor”, 1994
International Instructor courses
1988-Canada #10 1995-California #90 1999-Australia#CS13
1990-Colorado #23 1996-Miami #CS1 hosted by me
1991-Miami #35 hosted by me 1998-Jamaica #148 1999-Canada #158
1994-Texas #68 1999-Colorado #153 2001-Jamaica #184
United States Taekwon-Do Federation 1985-1999
Grandmaster C.E. Sereff
U.S.T.F school plaque #2
1st Florida State Director
1st Region 9 Director-Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, North/South
Carolina
1st Ambassador At Large- Caribbean and Latin America
Appointed to the U.S.T.F. Executive Committee
One of five U.S.T.F. Vice Presidents
Established 1 st Student Insurance Program
Created 1 st Procedure Manual
Contributed in fashioning 1 st U.S.T.F Constitution
3rd Recipient of the U.S.T.F. “Loyalty Award”
International Taekwon-Do Federation (Grandmaster Choi, Jung Hwa)
2001-2003 member school
Taught 2 Instructors Courses
Taekwondo Times Magazine
2001-feature cover and article
International Ch’ang Hon Taekwon-Do Federation (I.C.T.F)
2003- 1st elected Executive Vice-President under President GM Kong,
Young Il and Honorary President GM Nam, Tae Hi
2003- Promoted to 8th Dan #1 by GM Nam/GM Kong
Chairman of the Technical Committee
2006-Second elected I.C.T.F. President
2007- Promoted to 9th Dan #1-1028
International Taekwon-Do Federation(I.T.F. HQ Korea)
2014-member #US-100745
2014-recognized 9th Dan Grandmaster #100745-9
2016-appointed Chairman of Special Needs Committee and designed the first
“Special Needs Teaching Guide”
Designed, published and copyrighted a unique method titled,
“How To Measure Stances”
Inducted into the “International Karate Hall of Fame”
Included in “Who’s Who in the South and Southwest”
Included in “Who’s Who in American Martial Arts”
First President of Chi Taekwon-Do USA and
First President Organizacion Chi Taekwon-Do, Venezuela
