Francia
ITF
Francia fue uno de los primeros países occidentales en recibir el Taekwondo, pero el ITF tuvo una presencia efímera en sus inicios y prácticamente desapareció durante 25 años ante la hegemonía de la FFTDA (WT). El ITF regresó de forma organizada a principios de los 2000 y hoy cuenta con una asociación oficial afiliada a la ITF-Viena, una red de clubes en crecimiento, y su figura más destacada: Lylian Doulay, primer y único Campeón del Mundo ITF de Francia (Inzell 2019).
Origins
The first steps — Lee Kwan-Young and pre-schism Taekwondo
The art arrives in France before the ITF/WT split existed
Taekwondo arrived in France on 16 September 1969 thanks to Grand Master Lee Kwan-Young (9th Dan), who won a national competition in Korea to become the martial art's ambassador abroad. At 23, he arrived in Paris with no money or French. At that time the ITF/WTF split was not yet definitive — the ITF had been founded in 1966 and the WTF would not be born until 1973. Taekwondo in France was practised under the orbit of the French Karate Federation.
Lee Kwan-Young trained the first French practitioners and built the foundations of Taekwondo in the country. His orientation would be closer to what later became the WT, but he was the original carrier of the art that would later split. The French postal service dedicated a postage stamp to him in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of his arrival.
“Lee Kwan-Young is regarded as the father of Taekwondo in France — the French postal service dedicated a stamp to him in 2019.”
The Void
25 years without ITF — total dominance of the FFTDA
The 1973 schism erases the ITF from France for a generation
After the 1973 schism, when the South Korean government created the WTF as a soft-diplomacy tool, General Choi was forced into exile and moved the ITF headquarters to Toronto. In France, the ITF practically disappeared. The FFTDA, created officially in 1995 with the delegation from the Ministry of Sports, consolidated the WT's monopoly in the country with around 900 clubs and 50,000 licensees.
For nearly three decades, the ITF ceased to exist as an organised practice in France. Only a few individual practitioners kept contact with the style through travel or European masters. Pierre Sabbah, who had begun practising in 1976 with Lee Kwan-Young, would join the ITF in 1994 and would be the one to rekindle the flame.
“The ITF ceased to have an organised presence in France for approximately 25 years — between the mid-seventies and the early 2000s.”
Renaissance
The UFTI and the return of the organised ITF
Pierre Sabbah and Martin Kountchev rebuild the ITF from scratch
In the early 2000s the ITF began to reorganise in France. Pierre Sabbah — who joined the ITF in 1994 and met General Choi Hong Hi at a seminar in Great Britain that same year — founded the UFTI (Union Française de Taekwondo ITF), the first union of ITF clubs in France. From 1995 he accompanied the French team at ITF European and World Championships.
In parallel, Martin Kountchev (6th Dan) developed ITF in the Grenoble region. In March 2003 he organised in Saint-Martin-d'Hères a seminar with Grand Master Park Jong-Soo (9th Dan ITF), one of the twelve original masters of Taekwondo. Despite these efforts, the number of clubs remained very low — presence in only a few cities: Brest, Paris, Limoges, Bordeaux, Grenoble and Marseille.
“Pierre Sabbah was the one who reintroduced the ITF in France in an organised way — 25 years after its disappearance.”
Lylian Doulay
Lylian Doulay — ITF World Champion 2019
France's first and only ITF world title
In 2011 the most visible figure of modern French ITF emerged: Lylian Doulay founded the Taekwon-Do ITF Paris Association on 15 November, becoming the first relevant ITF club in the capital. A practitioner since 1993, Doulay forged himself on the international circuit: bronze at the European Cup (2005, 2006), three ITF World Cup titles (2012, 2014, 2016), four European Championship titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) and world runner-up at Dublin 2017.
In 2019, at the ITF World Championships of Inzell (Germany), Doulay was crowned World Champion in senior men's Tul — France's first and only ITF world title. In December 2016, Paris had hosted the first International Instructor Course (IIC) ever held in France. Today the Taekwon-Do ITF France Association, affiliated with ITF-Vienna, is based in La Mure (Isère), is chaired by Philippe Michel, and has around 9 affiliated clubs.
“Lylian Doulay — France's first and only ITF World Champion (Inzell 2019, senior men's Tul).”
Taekwondo en Francia
- ›Campeón del Mundo ITF 2019 — Tul masculino senior (Inzell, Alemania)
- ›Subcampeón del mundo ITF 2017 (Dublín)
- ›4 títulos de Campeón de Europa ITF (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018)
- ›3 títulos de Copa Mundial ITF (2012, 2014, 2016)
- ›Fundador del primer club ITF relevante en París (2011)
- ›Fundador y primer presidente de la UFTI — primera organización ITF en Francia
- ›Conoció al General Choi Hong Hi en Gran Bretaña (1994)
- ›Representó a Francia en Europeos y Mundiales ITF desde 1995
- ›Árbitro internacional ITF
- ›Organizó el seminario del GM Park Jong-Soo en Grenoble (marzo 2003)
- ›Construyó la base del ITF en el sur de Francia
- ›Presidente Honorario Vitalicio de la Asociación Taekwon-Do ITF France
Sigue explorando
La historia del Taekwondo continúa en cada dojang, en cada clase, en cada estudiante.