Brazil
ITF
Brazil is the paradigmatic case of a country where ITF Taekwon-Do arrived first — on August 8, 1970, with GM Sang Min Cho sent by General Choi Hong Hi — but whose founding core migrated to WT in the 1972-73 schism. The ITF branch was reborn in the late 90s with FBT (1997) and was consolidated in 2003 when Master Edimir Kawakubo formalized ITF Brazil under the leadership of GM Choi Jung Hwa, son of the founder. Today three organizations affiliated with different post-2002 ITF factions coexist.
Korean Arrival
The Korean arrival — Sang Min Cho founds the Liberdade Academy
8 August 1970: Brazil's first ITF dojang opens in São Paulo
On 8 August 1970, GM Sang Min Cho inaugurated Brazil's first Taekwon-Do academy on Avenida Conselheiro Furtado, in the Liberdade neighbourhood of São Paulo — the epicentre of the city's Japanese and increasingly Korean community. Cho had arrived in the country the previous month, commissioned directly by General Choi Hong Hi, president of the ITF, with the explicit mandate to plant the Korean martial art in South America.
On 16 May 1971, GM Sang In Kim disembarked and taught for ten months at the Liberdade Academy itself before opening, in February 1972, his own dojang — the Pamplona Academy — consolidating the presence of Taekwon-Do in São Paulo's Zona Sul. On 13 September 1971, Master Kum Joon Kwon arrived, a former assistant to General Choi himself in Korea.
“8 August 1970 — Liberdade Academy, São Paulo: Brazil's first ITF dojang under GM Sang Min Cho.”
Rio and Fracture
Rio, the first tournament and the schism's fracture
Woo Jae Lee institutionalises TKD in Brazil — and the Korean trunk migrates to WT
On 15 February 1972, Master Woo Jae Lee moved from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, taking Taekwon-Do to the former federal capital. His work was central to institutionalising the art: he organised the 1st National Taekwondo Competition in 1973 and, on 1 March of that same year, formally registered the discipline within the Confederação Brasileira de Pugilismo (CBP). On 31 January 1974, the CBP issued a favourable opinion on the creation of an autonomous Taekwon-Do department.
It was precisely at that juncture that the rupture occurred. After the 1973 global schism between General Choi (exiled in Canada) and the KTA/WTF backed by Seoul, the dominant Korean group in southeastern Brazil — led by Woo Jae Lee and linked to Chang Moo Kwan — opted for the South Korean orbit and then the WTF. Brazil was thus left with its founding trunk migrated to WT and its ITF branch reduced to isolated masters.
“Brazil's first national tournament (1973) was ITF — but the organisation that achieved it switched to WT shortly afterwards.”
Wilderness Crossing
Wilderness crossing and reconstruction
Two decades of scattered ITF until the founding of the FBT in 1997
The following two decades are the least documented period of the ITF branch in Brazil. While WT Taekwon-Do grew rapidly — driven by its admission as a demonstration sport at Seoul 1988 and full Olympic discipline at Sydney 2000 —, Brazilian ITF survived in scattered schools, with no nationally recognised federation. Expansion towards the Northeast also failed to crystallise into a unified ITF structure.
Modern reorganisation arrived after the 2002 global schism, which split the federation into ITF-Vienna, ITF-Choi Jung Hwa (Toronto) and ITF-Pyongyang. In Brazil, the first modern institutional step was the founding of the Federação Brasileira de Taekwon-Do ITF (FBT) on 9 January 1997, with its initial headquarters at Rua Martim Francisco 401, Vila Buarque, São Paulo, and later expansion to Cabo Frio (RJ).
“The FBT (1997) opened the modern era of Brazilian ITF after two decades of fragmentation.”
Choi Jung Hwa Era
ITF Brasil and the Choi Jung Hwa era
Edimir Kawakubo formalises affiliation under General Choi's son
The decisive milestone of modern Brazilian ITF came in April 2003, when Master Edimir Kawakubo (then 6th Dan, today 8th Dan) formalised the founding of ITF Brasil, registered as INO #111 and recognised as the first Brazilian Independent National Organisation affiliated with the ITF led by GM Choi Jung Hwa, son of General Choi and heir to the Canadian faction (ITF-C, Toronto). In September 2003, Kawakubo organised GM Choi Jung Hwa's official visit to Brazil.
Under this structure, ITF Brasil consolidated a presence in 8 states (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Pernambuco and Ceará). In parallel, the ABT — Associação Brasileira de Taekwon-Do led by Master Ricardo Ramírez in Campinas — established itself as the representative of the ITF-Vienna/Weiler faction. The XIV Pan American ITF Taekwon-Do Championship was held at the Arena Santos from 17 to 19 May 2018 — a competitive milestone for the branch on Brazilian soil.
“2003 — Edimir Kawakubo founds ITF Brasil under Choi Jung Hwa: the branch recovers a national structure 30 years after the schism.”
Taekwondo in Brazil
- ›Inauguró la primera academia ITF de Brasil (8 ago 1970, Liberdade São Paulo)
- ›Enviado oficialmente por el General Choi Hong Hi
- ›Padre fundador del TKD brasileño — línea ITF y posterior WT
- ›Llegó a Brasil el 16 de mayo de 1971
- ›Fundador de la Academia Pamplona (febrero 1972)
- ›Línea Chang Moo Kwan — migración ITF→WTF de 1972-73
- ›Trasladó el Taekwon-Do a Río de Janeiro (15 feb 1972)
- ›Organizó la 1ª Competición Nacional de Taekwondo (1973)
- ›Registró el TKD ante la CBP (1 mar 1973) — primer reconocimiento estatal
- ›VIII Dan ITF — máximo grado nacional
- ›Fundador y presidente nacional de ITF Brasil (INO #111, abril 2003)
- ›Articuló la afiliación con el GM Choi Jung Hwa (ITF-C Toronto)
- ›Organizó la primera visita oficial de Choi Jung Hwa a Brasil (sep 2003)
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The history of Taekwondo continues in every dojang, every class, every student.