In September 1986 the floor trembled at the Pyynikki Ball Games Centre, when something unprecedented was taking place: the first Nordic Open Championship of ITF Taekwon-Do. The Championship was already a unique event in the history of Taekwon-Do in Finland. What made the event even more special was the guest of honor: the Founder of Taekwon-Do, General Choi Hong Hi. On top of that, Rhee Ki Ha, Master at the time, attended the event. Practitioners from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greenland and Poland arrived to compete. The Championship was the first international Taekwon-Do competition in Finland, and it was arranged even before ITF Taekwon-Do Finland was created.

WTF Taekwondo first introduced in Finland in 1979 by Master Dae Jin Hwang (7th degree at that time). At first, the art was practiced in Tampere and Klaukkala. Tampere Taekwon-Do Club, founded in 1979, took its first steps in Taekwon-Do through WTF Taekwondo.

In 1985 Fikret Güler (then 4th degree, now 8th degree), a Turk living in Sweden, started teaching ITF Taekwon-Do in Finland, at the request of Juha Kannusmäki from Tampere. WTF was quickly forgotten and finally ITF Taekwon-Do was introduced in Finland.

At first, the Finnish Taekwon-Do Union operated informally between 1985 and 1986. The most significant achievement of the Union, the Nordic Open Championship, was an important event in the history of ITF Taekwon-Do in Finland. It was the only time the Founder of Taekwon-Do visited Finland. Unfortunately, there were not enough black belt holders for General Choi to visit a second time.

A year later, ITF Taekwon-Do Finland was founded by the clubs in three cities in southern Finland: Tampere, Hämeenlinna and Vantaa. The first President was Erkka Keinänen (then a red belt holder, now 4th degree).

ITF Taekwon-Do quickly spread to northern Finland when Kimmo Mäkelä (red belt holder at the time), moved from Tampere to the northern city of Oulu. The first ever beginners’ course of Taekwon-Do took place in autumn 1987 with 127 intrigued participants. In the same year, Oulu ITF Taekwon-Do Association was founded and Taekwon-Do took root in Oulu.

Other clubs founded in the first years of ITF Taekwon-Do Finland were Vammalan Taekwon-Do seura, Valkeakosken Taekwon-Do seura, Nokian Taekwondoseura, Espoon Taekwon-Do seura, Aitoon Taekwon-Do Seura, Taekwon-Do Tornio and Hosin Sul Taekwon-Do. Today 25 clubs are part of ITF Taekwon-Do Finland and clubs can be found in most of the country, ranging from Helsinki to the northern parts of Lapland in Muonio.

In Finland, ITF Taekwon-Do grew in popularity and developed rapidly: the first black belt was acquired as early as 1986, when Marko Hurme from Tampere was awarded 1st degree in Sweden. Two years later, Maria Kristensen was the first Finnish woman to carry a 1st degree black belt. It took a while for Finland to receive its first International Instructors, but finally in 1995 Marko Lieke and Erkka Keinänen were awarded 4th degree black belts in Ireland, by General Choi Hong Hi. The first Finnish woman to become a 4th degree was Piia Houni from Hämeenlinna, in Russia in 2000.

For many years, there was a need for a Master’s degree in Finland. Marko Lieke was the first Finn to acquire a 7th degree black belt at the IIC in May 2012 in Livingston, Scotland. After that, the Master’s degree was awarded to Mariusz Steckiewicz (2013) and Thierry Meyour (2014). Finns have always been keen to compete and be successful in international competitions. This was apparent when Juha Kannusmäki represented Finland at the World Championship in Athens in 1986, even before ITF Taekwon-Do Finland was founded.

In 1990, Hannu Hytönen from Tampere was the first Finn to succeed at an international championship. He won the European championship in special technique breaking in Davos, Switzerland. Harri Ketamo was the first Finn to win a world medal, when he was a awarded a bronze medal in Malesia in 1994, also in the category of special technique breaking. Finally, in 2003, Finland got its first world champion, when Ismo Mäkinen won the category of male 1st degree patterns. Mäkinen, now 4th degree, won the world championship four times in a row and then retired in 2010.

By spring 2014 Finnish Taekwon-Do competitors have won 11 world championships and 18 European championships in singles. The best world championship result as a team is from 2009 in Argentina: the Finnish national team was the fourth best in the competition.

International cooperation has always been a major part of Taekwon-Do in Finland. Being at the border of Europe, it was difficult to make the grade at first. Master Güler from Sweden was asked for help, as well as other people from other Nordic countries. In the middle of the 90’s cooperation between the Nordic countries was at its peak and Nordic Championships were frequently organized. International Instructors and Masters were also asked to visit and teach in Finland starting right from the first years of Taekwon-Do in Finland. Two of the most significant ones were Grand Master Wim Bos (Sabumnim at the time) and legendary fighter Stephen Tapilatu. International cooperation has remained close in the 2000’s. In 2011 the first International Instructor Course in Finland was organized in Oulu, with practitioners from 12 different countries participating. The next IIC is planned to be held in Tampere in 2015.

The cooperation of Master Fikret Güler and ITF Taekwon-Do Finland ended at the beginning of the 21st century, when the martial art had already established a position in Finland, and the federation grown so much that there was no need for help from abroad anymore. It was time to continue development after the fundamentals were built. The system for educating umpires was improved by Master Mariusz Steckiewicz, and Jukka Nyman improved other parts of the federation. Heli Karjalainen developed the license system, which made a sports insurance cover compulsory for every practitioner.

At the same time in the north, the number of practitioners grew exponentially. Taekwon-Do spread to the small localities in the northern part of Finland, and the amount of practitioners in the federation tripled in a few years. Northern Finland now had twice as much practitioners as the south. These were the golden years of ITF Taekwon-Do in Finland. For the first time, the art was being spread systematically and professionally, even aggressively, and it worked. However, the years following the death of General Choi Hong Hi and the division of the ITF were challenging. ITF Taekwon-Do Finland decided to join the organization that had Grand Master Trần Triệu Quân running as President. Some Finnish clubs, including the enormous northern club, left ITF Taekwon-Do Finland and joined another Finnish ITF Federation, founded at the beginning of the 21st century. Eventually international competitions were held in Finland, in Tampere: in 2004 the European Championship and EuroCup in 2007. The European Championship is planned to be held in Tampere in 2016.

ITF Taekwon-Do Finland has come a long way from a small federation, barely lasting out, to a professionally run, internationally credible organization that is able to arrange large, international events. The strong clubs make the federation a stable and solid one, with new clubs being founded continually. The future will be even more international, but the real challenge is to inspire new practitioners to join the martial art and to keep the current ones active. Finnish practitioners only once had the joy of General Choi Hong Hi visiting, which is something they plan to improve upon: Grand Masters and Masters will be invited to teach in seminars, and Finns are taking an increasingly active role in attending international events. The northern location of Finland forces Finns to work in collaboration with the whole world, in good Taekwon-Do spirit.

Thank you Saija Aalto, Heli Karjalainen, Erkka Keinänen and Vesa Pitsinki, for making this article possible.

Written by Inka Pyykkönen
Translation by Karim Khanji
Photos courtesy of Ari Asplund