Chapter 25: American Organizations

American Taekwondo Association

The American Taekwondo Association (ATA) is a major Taekwondo organization in the United States. Haeng Ung Lee founded the ATA in 1969. It was smaller than the ITF but had many similarities to the ITF. In the 1970s, the ATA created its own system of closed, member only tournaments where control, variety of technique, and sportsmanship were emphasized over winning, using a style of sparring similar to the point style of Karate.

In the 1980s, Lee developed his own forms he called "Songahm" and has a copyright on them so they cannot be used in competitions by non-ATA members. Lee also formed an international organization called the World Traditional Taekwondo Union (WTTU) to spread his Songahm style of Taekwondo around the world. There are many Taekwondo organizations throughout the world, but the ITF, WTF, and ATA have the most members.