Chapter 11: Taekwondo Development

Kee formalized his system of self-defense on his birthday, November 9, 1945 when he started teaching Moo-duk-kwan as the "Transportation by Rail Committee Tang Soo Do Bu" at the railroad system at Yong San Station, Seoul as a traffic service. Since Kee claimed that he learned kuk-sool when he worked for the Southern Manchuria Railroad in 1935 and since Kee's first students were railway employees, Moo-duk-kwan was called the "Railroad Dojang.” The Moo Duk Kwan used the trains to open a school in different railroad stations' storage rooms and spread its power. When someone said Moo Duk Kwan, one would think about the railroad. The school flourished for many years. Then, due to the Korean War, the school was closed on June 25, 1950. When it reopened, Kee changed the name to Moo-duk-kwan.