List of taekwondo grandmasters

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Many taekwondo grandmasters are natives of South Korea, the birthplace of this widely known martial art

List of Taekwondo Grandmasters includes notable persons who have been recognised as grandmasters of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. There is no single, universally-recognised set of criteria to define a taekwondo grandmaster; different organisations and different styles have their own rules. Those listed below are grouped by system: Kukkiwon (widely known as the World Taekwondo Federation or WTF system), International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and other systems (which includes some persons receiving ranks from taekwondo organisations that predate the other two systems, e.g., the original Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA)) and United Taekwondo Association UWTA.

Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Federation)

This list includes persons who: (1) are ranked at least 9th dan by Kukkiwon (the highest rank normally awarded to living persons within that system); (2) are notable as individuals; and (3) are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name Rank Life Residence Prominence References
Ahn, Kyongwon 9th dan 1937– United States of America Founded United Taekwondo Association; former President of the United States Taekwondo Union See main article
Cha, Yong-Kil 9th dan 1946– Germany President of the Jidokwan Europe Federation [1]
Chang, Seong Dong 9th dan 1953– South Korea President of Sangrok World Taekwondo Academy, founder of Taekwondo in India [2]
Choi, Tae-hong 9th dan 1935–2009 United States of America Founded first taekwondo school in Oregon, USA; former Vice-President of the United States Taekwondo Union See main article
Chung, Sun Hwan 9th dan 1940– United States of America Founder of Moo Sool Do and President of World Academy of Martial Arts Association. Korean National Champion (1963-1965). Kukkiwon Advisory Council (2008). Hall of Fame - U.S. Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. Former President, U.S.T.U. Michigan Tae Kwon Do Association. [3][4][5]
Dong, Seung Gyoo 9th dan 1946– United States of America President of Advanced World Martial Arts System; author of several books [6]
Kil, Sang Sup 10th dan Unknown United States of America Korean National Champion between the years of 1965 and 1968, Founding President of the United States Han Mu Kwan Federation, President of the Michigan Tae Kwon Do Association [7]
Kim, Il-Kwon 9th dan 1942–2015 United States of America Founder and President of the I. K. Kim Ja Be Ryu Tae Kwon Do Organization located in Cincinnati Ohio & President of the World Martial Arts Federation [8]
Kim, Ki Whang 10th dan 1920–1993 United States of America Promoted to 10th dan by the KTA; Chairman of the US Olympic Taekwondo team 1988. Inducted into Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2009 See main article
Lee, Bum-I 9th dan 1938– Germany President of the German-Korean culture Federal e.V. (DKK e.V.). Chairman of Taekwondo Instructor Association in Europe. Chairman of the European Taekwondo delegation in Korea. Highest Dan-grade of Europe (1985) and "father of Taekwondo" in Germany. Lives in Hanover. [9][10]
Lee, Chong Soo 9th dan 1938– Canada Father of Canadian Taekwondo [11]
Lee, Tae Eun 9th dan Unknown Canada Executive Council member of the World Taekwondo Federation; Major player in having WTF Taekwondo recognized as an official Olympic sport; Goodwill Ambassador for the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Korea and Canada, from 3 October 2012 – 31 December 2013 [12]
Lee, Hyeon Kon 9th dan c. 1947– United States of America Chairman of Board of Education of Kukkiwon; former Vice Chairman of Education of the WTF; author of taekwondo textbook [13][14][15]
Lee, Kwan Sung 9th dan c. 194?–2003 United States of America President of Kentucky Taekwondo Association. [16]
Mayes, Myong Sok Namkung 9th dan c. 1954– United States of America Highest-ranked woman in taekwondo, 1988 US Olympic Coach (Women's) [17][18][19]
Nguyen, Dang Phung 9th dan Unknown Australia President of Chang Moo Kwan Australasia, Order of Australia Medal (OAM) 2009 See main article
Paik, Sang Kee 9th dan 1929–2009 United States of America Early student of B. I. Yoon and first Black Belt of Grand Master Ki Whang Kim; created Sa-Sang Kwan system. Inducted into Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2013 See main article
Park, Dong Keun 9th dan c. 1945– United States of America Father of Thai taekwondo; Head Coach of US Olympic taekwondo team in 1988 and 1992 See main article
Pak, Jang Hee 9th dan United States of America Produced 5 Black belt students who have represented the United States National Tae Kwon Do Team, two of whom won gold medals in the Olympic Games.
Park, Yeon Hwan 9th dan 1952– United States of America Korean National Champion 1971–1975; US Olympic Coach; Pan-American Team Coach; author of several reference books See main article
Park, Sun Jae 7th dan c. 1940– Italy Father of Italian taekwondo; Vice President (Italy) of the WTF; one of the KTA's 12 original masters [20][21][22][23]
Shin, Jang-Hwan 9th dan 1951– Austria Father of Austrian taekwondo [24]
Lee, Hyeon Kon 9th dan c. 1947– United States of America Chairman of Board of Education of Kukkiwon; former Vice Chairman of Education of the WTF; author of taekwondo textbook. Uses Western and Eastern Medicine concurrently with great success. Became an M.D. in 2000. Published medical scientist in over 10 journals and one book. Life dedicated to helping the sick return to health. [13][14][15]
Ko, Tai Jeong 9th dan Unknown Denmark Former national coach of Denmark
Park, Suk Byung 9th dan Unknown - South Korea Founder of Jungdo Federation, Korea Judo National Champion (1969-1974), Olympic Head Coach – Netherlands, Yongin University Assistant Professor, Black Belt Man of the Year 1983, 1993, 1999, World Championships – 2nd Place
Robinson, Clint 9th dan Unknown United States of America Co-founder of the United World Taekwondo Association.

Since 1975 Grandmaster Robinson has trained thousands of students to the highest levels of expertise in the Korean-based martial art.

See main article
Reza, Sadat 8th dan unknown Canada

International Taekwon-Do Federation

This list includes persons who: (1) are ranked 9th dan by the ITF (and thus officially recognised as 'Grand Masters' within that system);[25] (2) are notable as individuals; and (3) are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name Rank Life Residence Prominence References
Bos, Willem Jacob 9th dan 1952– Italy President of the All European Taekwon-Do Federation 2004–2006; Technical Director for the Italian Taekwon-Do Federation 1992– [26][27]
Choi, Chang Keun 9th dan c. 1940– Canada Leading campaign to reunite the ITF; one of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Choi, Hong Hi 9th dan 1918–2002 Canada Played major role in establishing Taekwon-Do; inaugural President of the KTA; founded the ITF; co-led the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Choi, Jung Hwa 9th dan 1954– United Kingdom President of one of the three ITF organisations; son of H. H. Choi; involvement in Korean political controversy [28][29][30]
Howard, Robert 9th dan c. 1938– Ireland President of the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association; helped establish taekwondo in Ireland; first European man promoted to 9th dan [31][32][33][34]
Kong, Young Il 9th dan 1943– United States of America One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; one of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Massar, Frank 9th dan 1958– United Kingdom Founded Massar Taekwondo Association See main article
Nam, Tae Hi 9th dan 1929–2013 United States of America Father of Vietnamese taekwondo; pivotal performance in martial arts demonstration 1954; co-led the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Dang, Huy Duc 9th dan 1944– United States of America Director of Martial Arts Training Center, South Vietnam National Police Force Headquarters; one of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi [35][36][37]
Nguyen, Van Binh 9th dan 1936– United States of America Chairman of ITF Masters Promotion Committee; President of ITF-USA; pioneer of taekwondo in Vietnam [38][39][40]
Park, Jong Soo 9th dan 1941– Canada One of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Rhee, Ki Ha 9th dan 1938– United Kingdom Father of British and Irish taekwondo; one of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; one of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Sereff, Charles 9th dan 1933– United States of America One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; founded the United States Taekwon-Do Federation [41][42][43]
Tran, Trieu Quan 9th dan 1952–2010 Canada President of one of the three ITF organisations from 2003 to 2010 See main article
Trajtenberg, Pablo 9th dan c. 1955– Argentina President of one of the three ITF organisations after T. Q. Tran's death in 2010 [44][45][46][47]
Kirschbaum, Len G. 9th dan 1955- United States of America President of IOTF and Founder of the International Academy of TKD. Delegate for H.H. Choi for special certification seminars for ITF.

Other taekwondo systems

This list includes persons who: (1) have been widely recognized masters of taekwondo for at least 30 years; (2) are notable as individuals; and (3) are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name Rank Life Residence Prominence References
Cho, Hee Il 9th dan 1940– United States of America Founded Action International Martial Arts Association; wrote several taekwondo books See main article
Cho, Sihak Henry 9th dan 1934–2012 United States of America Pioneer of taekwondo in the United States of America; wrote several books; contributed karate article in World Book Encyclopedia (1976) See main article
Choi, Kwang Jo 9th dan 1942– United States of America Founded Choi Kwang-Do; one of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Han, Cha Kyo 9th dan 1934–1996 United States of America One of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Hwang, Kwang Sung 9th dan c. 1942– United States of America One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi [43][48]
Park, Jung Tae 9th dan c. 1943–2002 Canada One of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Rhee, Chong Chul 8th dan c. 1935– Australia Father of Australian taekwondo; founded Rhee Taekwon-Do; one of the KTA's 12 original masters See main article
Rhee, Jhoon Goo 10th dan 1932– United States of America Father of American taekwondo
Kirschbaum, Len G. 9th dan 1955- United States of America Founder of Original Taekwon-Do Federation (IOTF) on June 17, 2002. Served as special ITF seminar instructor and loyal student of Taekwon-Do founder, General Choi Hong Hi.

See also

References

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