Mr. Choy commenced training in 1969 whilst still in the RAF. The school, in Barry Island South Wales was part of the United Kingdom Taekwon-Do Association. Discharged from the RAF in March 1971 as a 2nd kup, he returned to reside in London and had to travel up and down the M1 to the Coventry area under Mr. Rhee (VI Dan at the time) to further his training. Finally after having to train under Mr. De' Silva II for an indefinite period, Mr. Choy gained his promotion to 1st Degree in 1972 and became only the 19th person in the UK to have achieved the coveted Black Belt. Mr. Choy opened up his first school, Hillingdon, in 1973, soon to be followed by others.

Mr. Choy was elected as London & Southeast representative in the UKTA committee in 1975, and organised the UKTA English Championships in 1976, which was the first tournament hosted by the London area. In Stuttgart, 1975, Mr. Choy represented the UKTA in the ITF All Europe Taekwon-Do Championships. This was his only opportunity to do so as, in those days, instructors in the UKTA were not permitted to compete in National Championships, purely because they were needed more importantly to adjudicate and put on demonstrations, at the events. At the 1977 English Championships in Pontefract, Yorkshire, Mr Choy became the first Black Belt to demonstrate in public the pattern Choi Yong as a 3rd degree, and the breaking of 4 x 1" pieces of piranha pine with a 180 degree jumping back kick. His first school Hillingdon, won top honours in the UK at the Welsh & English Championships in 1978.

Grandmaster Choy IX - Side Kick c 1978

Grandmaster Choy IX - Jumping Pressups c 1978

Nominated to represent Taekwon-do in the newly formed Martial Arts Commission (MAC) in 1978, Mr Choy later went on to be elected on it's executive.

Grandmaster Choy with
the Founder General Choi Hong Hi
ITF Congress Vienna 1987

Mr Choy was elected to the position of chairman of the UKTA in 1983, having also become the first ITF Black Belt in the UK to be promoted to 5th Degree. He remained in the position of chairman until 1988. During a large period of this time, he took on the responsibility of the holding together and running of the UKTA during Master Rhee's illness which necessitated his return to his homeland of Korea for surgery - another task Mr. Choy took upon himself to organise. During this period the responsibility also fell upon Mr. Choy, to take over the duty of Chief Grading Examiner until Master Rhee's return.

In 1988 for reasons which have now become a matter of public record, Mr. Choy, along with a handful of other instructors (including Miss Au, Mr Sangha & Mr. Whitley) left the UKTA to form the British United Taekwon-Do Federation. He was elected Chairman, Chief Examiner and Chief Instructor, positions that he still holds to this day. He was elected to the position of Secretary General for the newly formed BTC (British Taekwon-do Council) until January 1996. He also held for the period of two years, 2002 -2004, the post of Secretary General of the ITF (Canada)

Since it's formation in 1988, (the year of the dragon) the BUTF has now completed more than a full cycle. There have been periods of turbulence & uncertainty, but throughout, the leadership along with a strong coalition between Master Choy VIII Dan (his certificate bearing the number GB-8-1 presented by the Founder Gen. Choi Hong Hi) the Executive & the Instructors of the organisation, the BUTF with it's impeccable standards has become one of the most highly respected independent Taekwon-do organisations in the world.
To date, Grandmaster Choy IX Dan remains the much respected head of the organisation.

Grandmaster Choy IX - Stretching 2005