By the mid ‘50’s, Tang Soo Do had grown exponentially. Hwang Kee had established a dojang at the Korean Airforce headquarters. Hwang Kee had his assistant instructor, a young man by the name of Jae Chul Shin take on the duty of instructing the servicemen; both Korean and American, including a certain Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris. Earlier that same year on 11 April, 1955, the Korean government called all the different Kwans to a meeting. The goal of this conference was to unite all the different systems under one umbrella term as one state backed system. An influential military leader and politician, General Choi Hong Hi, suggested the name Tae Kwon Do. Which means “The Way of the Foot and Fist”.
Most of the Kwans agreed to this merger. On the other hand, as is often the case when influential martial artists get together, negotiations failed between Hwang Kee and General Choi Hon Hi. In the end, the Ji Do Kwan also left the negotiations and joined the Moo Duk Kwan under the new banner of Dae Han Soo Bahk Do Hoi (The Greater Korean Association of the Hand Strike Way). Even though this association was called Soo Bahk Do, it technically had two systems under its umbrella; Ji Do Kwan Tang Soo do and Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do. It wasn’t always clear where one ended and the other began, but the one thing that was clear was that Tang Soo Do was here to stay.
