at the forms at basic moves of Tae Kwon Do they appear almost exactly the same as Tang Soo Do. General Choi was successful in establishing Tae Kwon Do as the official martial art of Korea in 1965 and many former Tang Soo Do black belts crossed over to Tae Kwon Do. This further brought the two styles together. After the Korean War many foreign soldiers learned the art and brought it to their home countries. In America the art was spread by Jhon Rhee known to many as the father of American Tae Kwon Do.Americans contributed to changes in Tae Kwon Do due to the tournament experience. In the early 60’s fighters generally fought from a stationary position using 80% hand techniques and 20% foot techniques. Kicks were usually stomach level or lower and few fighters would kick off their lead leg. The standard kicks were front kicks or roundhouse kicks off the back leg. The counter reverse punch and the step through lunge punch were the standard hand techniques. Open tournament competitors in the same period were better kickers but their hand techniques were primitive and they also fought from a stationary stance with no footwork. Counter techniques and combinations were unknown. Kicks included roundhouse kicks off both lead and trailing leg and spinning back kicks. Most of these kicks came from the Southwest (possibly due to Jhon Rhee’s influence there), as did kicks to the head and jumping sidekicks. East Coast fighters introduced the double front kick, and used the lead leg roundhouse more than other early stylists. West Coast fighters stuck to the older Japanese styles. In 1965, Mike Stone was released from the army and won nine consecutive tournaments without being defeated, primarily using a lead leg roundhouse and double ridge hands. In the late 1960’s, Chuck Norris became a champion by combining Korean kicks with Japanese hand techniques. Joe Lewis also came to fame at this time by the use of the lead leg sidekick and...
