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Leiden University Hosts Launch of Dr. Bok Kyu Choi’s Defining New Work

LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS – April 10, 2025 — With the release of A Brief History of Korean Martial Arts, Dr. Bok Kyu Choi has delivered a defining contribution to the field of Korean studies. Launched at Leiden University in collaboration with the Korean Institute for Martial Arts and the Center for Korean Studies, the book repositions Korea’s martial traditions within a rigorously historical and cultural framework—clear-eyed, unflinching, and long overdue.

The launch featured a keynote lecture by Dr. Choi titled Bows & Blades, as well as a symbolic presentation of the first edition to the Cultural Attaché of the South Korean Embassy. The event underscored the scholarly and cultural weight of the work, which interrogates long-held assumptions and nationalistic narratives surrounding Korean martial history.

“A wake-up call—in the best possible way. Choi reframes Korea’s martial arts not as relics, but as living histories forged through conflict, adaptation, and pride.”
— TKD Times
 

Unlike many treatments of the subject, Choi’s book does not present martial arts as fixed or pure traditions. Instead, it traces how practices like Taekwondo, Hapkido, and Kumdo were reconstructed in response to Japanese colonial rule and modern national identity-building. It explores how martial arts evolved, not in isolation, but through cultural exchange, political pressure, and postwar transformation.

“Choi doesn’t tear down tradition—he puts it in context. This is how you honor the past without becoming a prisoner of it.”
— TKD Times
 

Drawing from archival texts, fieldwork, and practical experience, Choi weaves together academic inquiry and practitioner insight. His reading of sources like the Muye Dobo Tongji reflects not only scholarly depth but also a personal commitment to understanding martial arts as embodied knowledge.

“Not just a history book, but a mirror. For practitioners and scholars alike, it reflects not just where Korean martial arts came from—but where they’re going.”
— TKD Times
 

• A Brief History of Korean Martial Arts * stands as a pivotal publication—one that broadens the conversation, deepens the analysis, and raises the standard for future work in the field. For historians, martial artists, and cultural scholars alike, it is a book that does more than document the past: it defines a path forward.