Kyongwon Ahn

Last updated

Kyongwon Ahn
Born1937 (age 86–87)
Seoul, Korea
Occupation Taekwondo master
Known forFounder of the United Taekwondo Association
Korean name
Hangul
안경원
Revised Romanization An Gyeong-won
McCune–Reischauer An Kyŏng'wŏn

Kyongwon Ahn, 9th dan (Kukkiwon), is a South Korean taekwondo master who founded the United Taekwondo Association (UTA) [1] in the United States.

Contents

Ahn was born in 1937 in Keijō, Keiki-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan, [2] and began training in the martial arts began when he was 12 years old. He served an internship with his instructor, Chang Bok Lee, [3] as the Master Instructor for the South Korean and American armies from 1955 to 1967. In 1962, Ahn achieved his Juris Doctor (Civil Law) from Kangwon University. In August 1967, he emigrated to the US and began teaching tang soo do [4] at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He has also held teaching and advisory positions at the Miami University (in Ohio) and Xavier University. Ahn founded the International Martial Arts Federation, now the United Taekwondo Association in 1971 in an effort to standardize taekwondo teaching methods.

Information

In 1974, Ahn was a founding member of the Amateur Athletic Union's Taekwondo Committee. The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) awarded Ahn his Master Instructor certification in 1977. He received 9th dan ranking from Kukkiwon in 1990. [5] Through the 1980s, Ahn worked within the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) and ultimately served as the association president USA Taekwondo. [6] [7] He served as a member of the board of directors for the United States Olympic Committee and worked to bring taekwondo to the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games. In 2000, Ahn was one of the founders of the United States Taekwondo Won (USTW). [8] [9] From 2003 to 2005, he served on the WTF's Legislative Committee. In 2005, South Korea awarded Ahn the National Sport Merit Award in recognition of his work in promoting taekwondo and helping it to become a full medal Olympic sport.

Major Taekwondo career accomplishments

Awards

Achievements

Senior students

As an instructor Ahn is responsible for teaching and promoting thousands of under black belt students, hundreds of black belts and several master instructors and six Grandmaster Instructors – Grandmaster August K. Oneal, Grandmaster Kim Limes, Grandmaster Ron Hickey, Grandmaster James Beasley, Grandmaster Robert K. Fujimura (former executive director of the US Taekwondo Union/now USA Taekwondo) and Grandmaster Chuck Beyersdoerfer. These masters and students made their mark as Taekwondo instructors, International Referees, state and national champions and successful business leaders in many fields. He also sponsored other Korean instructors when they first came to the United States of America. Noted as much for his patience and kindness toward students as he is his ever-demanding standards of perfection within the study of Taekwondo, Ahn is known as a beloved mentor to thousands of who have learned under his instruction over the last half-century.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Originally incorporated as International Martial Arts Federation, Inc.
  2. ↑ The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia (Tradition, History, Pioneers), J. Corcoran and E Farkas, Pro-Action Publishing, Los Angeles, CA, 1993
  3. ↑ U.S. Tae Kwon Do Journal, Vol. 6. No. 1, Spring 1987, United States Taekwondo Union, Inc. 1985, Richmond, CA 94803
  4. ↑ Tang Soo Do (The Ultimate guide to the Korean martial art) KU Lee, A&C Black Publishers Ltd., London, 1998
  5. ↑ Kukkiwon Certificate #5000019.
  6. ↑ USOC Adopt-A-Sport Program, History of US Taekwondo Union Presented at the 1991 AAHPERD Convention, Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, CA, April 1991
  7. ↑ Taekwondo, USTU Instructors Handbook, third Edition, United States Taekwondo Union Instructors Certification Committee, Berkeley, CA Third Edition, 1991
  8. ↑ Martial Arts World Magazine, Y.K. Kim Publications, Inc. Orlando, FL, May, 2002
  9. ↑ Taekwondo Times, Tri-Mount Publications, Inc. Bettendorf, IA, Volume 22, Number 1, January 2002


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