Rock Springs Taekwondo

Rock Springs Taekwon-Do is a USTF school. USTF or the United States Taekwon-Do Federation, was founded by Senior Grandmaster Charles E. Sereff and is affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) which was founded by the inventor of Taekwon-Do, General Choi Hong-Hi.  The USTF was the recognized National Governing Body for the ITF in the USA until 2002, following the General's death.

Taekwon-Do is not an ancient martial art. It was developed by General Choi Hong-Hi in the 1940s and 50s. He had studied karate but wanted to make a new, Korean martial art. In 1955 he officially named it Taekwon-Do. He continued to work on Taekwon-Do with modifications and additions up until his death. 

There are two main branches of Taekwon-Do with direct lineage to the General, ITF and WT. The ITF or International Taekwon-Do Federation focuses on the martial art aspect while WT or World Taekwon-Do's* focus is on sport. It is the WT that you see in the Olympics. Both versions of Taekwon-Do are physically and mentally demanding and share most of the same patterns and belts while ITF maintains the General's original patterns. There are many other offshoots of Taekwon-Do including ATA, USTU and IOTF for example, but most do not have direct lineage to the General and have been altered significantly, from patterns to the number and colors of belts.

* World Taekwondo was formerly called World Taekwondo Federation