Chapter 17: Growth

On February 23, 1963, President Park Chung Hee told the various martial arts associations to unify under the banner of the KTA and come under the auspices of the Korean Athletics Association. The government said it would only officially recognize black belts that were certified by the KTA. This caused many of the renegade martial artists to return to the KTA.

On February 25, 1962, the KTA became the 27th affiliate to join the Korea Amateur Sports Association. On October 9, 1963, Taekwondo became an official event for the first time in the 44th National Athletic Meet. It was during this meet that great leaps in the development of Taekwondo competition rules and protective equipment occurred.

As Taekwondo grew in popularity, its emphasis was shifted from a combat art into a sport art that concentrated on competition.