The Unification Problem

Taekwondo has been called the most popular martial art in the world. The majority of the schools in which the Korean art is taught have an affiliation with the World Taekwondo Federation or the International Taekwon-Do Federation.

With the WTF being based in South Korea and the ITF’s founder, now deceased, having been exiled from South Korea years ago, it should come as no surprise that the two organizations seldom see eye to eye. The ITF governs its students and instructors using its own rules for fighting and forms. The WTF — which re-branded itself World Taekwondo in 2017 but is still waiting for the abbreviated name to catch on — does the same and it oversees the sporting side of taekwondo, and that gives it great power because of the Olympic connection.

So why aren’t the leaders of these two mega-orgs satisfied with living in their own worlds? Why do they even need to talk? Well, it all boils down to audience appeal. When taekwondo debuted in the Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1988 and then an official sport in 2000, it was well-received. Audiences around the world loved the high