Modern history of East Asian martial arts
Taekwondo was developed from karate for use in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces from 1954. For this purpose, karate terminology needed to be "nationalized". The name "taekwondo" is due to shotokan practitioner and army general Choi Hong Hi. After the Korean War, Taekwondo was further developed into a purely sportive discipline, since 1973 overseen by the World Taekwondo Federation. 
During 1964-1966, Choi Hong Hi continued to promote taekwondo, working to put together a world-class exhibition team. Taekwondo's emphasis on jumping and flying kicks dates to this period. While taekwondo was based off karate, the structural changes made in the 1950s and 1960s were significant, and it cannot now be considered a branch of karate, but is a standalone modern martial art. Taekwondo was presented at the Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992, and became an official Olympic discipline in 2000.
Original masters of taekwondo
S. J. Park is a pioneer of taekwondo in Italy. In 1964, he visited Croatia to present seminars on his art. He introduced taekwondo to Italy around 1968. In 1968, he was ranked 5th "dan", and in 1975, he was ranked 7th "dan". He was elected Vice-President (Italy) in the European Tae Kwon Do Union (within the World Taekwondo Federation) at the union's inaugural meeting in 1976. In 2002, he was a member of the arbitration board for the WTF's World Cup Taekwondo championship in Tokyo. On 15 February 2004, the Executive Council of the WTF elected him as Acting President of the WTF following Un Yong Kim's resignation from the presidency of the organisation. He is Vice President (Italy) of the WTF. Park was President of the Federazione Italiana Taekwondo (Italian Taekwondo Federation) around 1998, and still held the position as of 2008 and 2009.