Kwans

As the native arts and Japanese arts gained in popularity in Korea, several kwans (schools) that taught Japanese influenced martial arts sprang up in Korea:

1945: Chung Do Kwan. The first kwan to teach a native Korean style of martial art the "Chung-do-kwan" (gym of the blue wave, meaning a youngster's spirit and vitality) was opened, in the Yong Chun district of Seoul, by Lee Won Kuk.

In 1926, at the age of 19, Lee Won Kuk moved to Japan where he attended high school and Chuo University law school. He joined Japan's Karate-do headquarters, Song Do Kwan (Shotokan ) where he studied with the father of karate, Gichin Funakoshi, and Ro Byung Jick, the founder of Song-moo-kwan.

Lee returned to Korea in 1944, an in September he began teaching Tang-soo-do in the Yong Shin school hall in Seoul. During the period of Japanese occupation it was virtually impossible for a Korean national to open a school of martial arts in their homeland. Due to Lee's close relationship with Japan's Joseon Governor General Abe, Lee was allowed to open his school of karate. The school was called Chung Do Kwan. His friendship with the Japanese led to widespread rumors and deep distrust of Lee that he was a Japanese sympathizer.

Upon Korean independence in 1945, Lee stood trial for his Japanese affiliations, which caused him to temporarily close the doors to his school. He was acquited and became very proactive in his stance about Korean independence and formed a tight alliance with the Korean National Police and helped them rid Seoul of gangsters. Lee Won Kuk was a precise person with the strong body of a martial artist and glaringly sharp eyes that made his expression very strict. When the Chung Do Kwan was reopened at Gyun Ji Dong, Si Chun Gyo Dang, Jong Ro Gu, Seoul, in April of 1946, it became referred to as the National Police Headquarters dojang. Anyone with a black belt was given "an honorary badge."

Lee retired in 1951 due to age an Duk-Sung Son took over the kwan.  Many Korean martial art schools closed during the Korean War, including Chung Do Kwan but it reopened in 1953. After the Korean War,the kwan had less than 200 members. The primary instructors were Yoo Ung Jun and Son Duk Sung with promotion tests given every six months. Chung Do Kwan would become one of the largest and most important of the kwans. By this point, Lee rarely visited the school which was being run by Son and the instructors he either trained or respected.

Son was the instructor who issued General Choi his 4th Dan certificate. Son later canceled this certificate and revoked Choi's honorary kwajang (grandmaster) status when General Choi sent him a 6th Dan certificate and insisted that Son sign it. Son also expelled Nam, Tae Hi who, with Choi, later founded the Oh Do Kwan.

The first seventeen black belts of Chung Do Kwan were: Yoo, Ung Jun; Son, Duk Sung; Uhm, Woon Kyu; Hyun, Jong Myun; Min, Woon Sik; Han, In Sook; Jung, Young Taek; Kang, Suh Chong; Baek, Joon Ki; Nam, Tae Hi; Ko, Jae Chun; Kwak, Kuen Sik; Kim, Suk Kyu; Han, Cha Kyo; Jo; Sung Il; Lee, Sa Man; and Rhee, Jhoon Goo (who later became the father of American Taekwondo).

Over time, from Inchon the center of the Chung Do Kwan's annex kwans, several kwans were developed which had roots in Chung Do Kwan, such as Kuk Mu Kwan, founded by Kang, Suh Chong; Jung Do Kwan, founded by Lee, Yong Woo; Chung Ryong Kwan, founded by Ko, Jae Chun; and Oh Do Kwan, founded by Choi, Hong Hi and Nam, Tae Hi.

The Chung Do Kwan's first Kwan Jang was Lee Won Kuk, the second was Son Duk Sung, and the third was Uhm Woon Kyu. When Son Duk Sung became the Kwan Jang of the Chung Do Kwan, Uhm Woon Kyu, Hyun Jong Myun, and Nam Tae Hi had conflicts with regard to the issue of who should receive the nomination from Lee Won Kuk and become the next Kwan Jang.