Uruguay
ITF
ITF Taekwon-Do arrived in Uruguay through the Río de la Plata: Argentine masters who crossed to Montevideo in the late 1980s and early 90s planted the first seeds of General Choi Hong Hi's system on Uruguayan soil. Uruguay shares with Argentina the classic ITF culture — the Sine Wave, the tul, the Matsogi — and built its own movement, small but cohesive, from those Río de la Plata roots. The Uruguayan ITF Taekwon-Do Federation (FUTITF) represents the country before the international ITF and has taken athletes to ITF Worlds and to the ITF Pan Americans.
Pioneers
Arrival from Argentina: the first ITF instructors in Montevideo
The Río de la Plata ecosystem brings ITF to Uruguayan soil
While WT-line TKD in Uruguay was born from Korean immigration, the ITF arrived by a different route: across the Río de la Plata. Between 1988 and 1993, Argentine instructors who had trained in the Buenos Aires schools founded by Kim Han Chang's disciples began crossing to Montevideo to teach. The proximity between the two cities — barely 50 kilometres by water — made this transmission natural and fluid. The first ITF dojangs in Uruguay taught tul, Matsogi and Sine Wave from the very beginning, establishing a clear stylistic identity distinct from the WT schools that already existed in the city.
This cross-river dynamic gave Uruguayan ITF a particular character: closer to the Argentine school than to any direct Korean influence, and deeply marked by the Buenos Aires instructors' pedagogical style. The first Uruguayan ITF black belts trained under Argentine masters, and many travelled to Buenos Aires for seminars, gradings, and competitions. This foundational link with Argentina would remain a defining feature of Uruguayan ITF for decades.
Federation
The Uruguayan ITF Taekwondo Federation (FUTITF)
Official Member Association before international ITF — the unified voice of Uruguayan ITF
As the ITF community grew in Uruguay, the need arose to create a dedicated governing body separate from the WT-affiliated FUT. The Federación Uruguaya de Taekwondo ITF (FUTITF) was established and recognised as an official Member Association by the international ITF (itftkd.sport), giving it the institutional backing to represent Uruguay at world and continental ITF competitions. Unlike Argentina, where the post-2002 ITF schism generated multiple competing federations, Uruguay's ITF structure consolidated more rapidly around the FUTITF as the central interlocutor.
The FUTITF operates with a more concentrated structure than its Argentine counterpart — a reflection of Uruguay's smaller population and the more limited territorial spread of ITF dojangs, which are concentrated primarily in Montevideo and a few interior cities. Nevertheless, the federation has managed to maintain consistent representation at international level, registering athletes for ITF World Championships and Pan American ITF events, and sustaining an active network of dojangs that continue to teach the tul, Matsogi and Sine Wave tradition.
Competition
Uruguay in the ITF circuit: Pan Americans and World Championships
Consistent continental participation — XVI ITF Pan American Santiago 2025
Uruguay has been a consistent participant in the ITF international circuit, sending athletes to ITF World Championships across multiple editions. While results have not matched the powerhouse performances of neighbouring Argentina, Chile, Brazil, or Peru, the Uruguayan delegation has gradually grown in both size and competitive level. The presence of Uruguayan athletes at World Championships — where they compete in tul patterns and Matsogi sparring — reflects the health of the domestic programme and the FUTITF's institutional stability.
At the continental level, Uruguay has competed at the ITF Pan American Championships, including the XVI Pan American ITF held in Santiago, Chile in May 2025. The deep ties with Argentina remain central: many Uruguayan athletes train under Argentine masters or participate in Buenos Aires-based seminars and tournaments, and the Buenos Aires-Montevideo corridor continues to function as the backbone of ITF development on the eastern shore of the Plata. This integration gives the Uruguayan programme access to training resources and competitive exposure far beyond what a small country could generate alone.
Keep exploring
The history of Taekwondo continues in every dojang, every class, every student.