Chapter 13: Turning point
When the 29th Division moved its headquarters to Yong Dae Ri, located in He Kang Won Province, west of Sulrak Mountain, in the eastern part of Korea, to become a part of the Second Corps, Choi ordered a gymnasium to be built there. He named it Oh Do Kwan and it was there that Master Nam Tae Hi began to teach Tangsoodo to military instructors. Choi recruited instructors from the different kwans as instructors. The new kwan was based upon the principles used by the Chungdokwan (which Choi commanded in late 1954). This interest in the martial arts caused a tremendous surge in Taekkyon/karate schools and students.
On May 25, 1953, while the war was still raging, representatives of the five original kwans (Chung-do-kwan, Song-moo-kwan, Yun-moo-kwan/=Ji-do-kwan, YMCA Kwon-bup/Chang-moo-kwan and Moo-duk-kwan) met in Pusan and formed the Korea Kong-Soo-Do Association. Choi Hong Hi was not a member of this group and thus did not attend the organizational meeting. The association did not elect a president. They elected Young-Joo Cho (a Yudo stylist) as Vice-President and Pyong-Chik Ro (Sang-mu-kwan founder) as the Executive Director. The various Directors were Kee Hwang (founder of Mu-dok-kwan), Chong-Woo Lee (Chi-do-kwan), Yon-Kue Pyang (Chi-do-kwan), Jong-Myung Hyun (Chong-do-kwan), Nam-Suk Lee (Chang-mu-kwan), and In-Hwa Kim (Yudo). Pyong-Chik Ro was established as "the master instructor" and as "the chair of the rank promotion committee." Eventually dissension set in, and the association dissolved. Chong-do-kwan continued to describe its art as Kong-su-do until about 1962.
There was an "instructor shortage" in Korea in the early 1950s, and "it was hard to find a dojang," probably both because of the youth of the art in Korea and because many instructors were in the military. Various military units trained in Kong-su-do distinguished themselves in the war, including the Korean Twenty-Ninth Infantry Division (formed by Choi in 1953) and the Black Tigers, an elite unit involved in espionage and assassination missions behind enemy lines. Many lives were lost in the conflict. Sang-Sup Chun (founder of the Yun-mu-kwan) and Pyung-In Yun (founder of the Chang-mu-kwan) were both listed as missing in action. Other masters continued to spread Korean martial arts throughout the world. Later in 1952 after the presidential demonstration, Tae Hi Nam was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for special training in radio communications. During his stay in Georgia, Tae demonstrated his art to both the military and the public, further publicizing Korea's fighting art.