Kyongwon Ahn
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Kyongwon Ahn, 9th ''
dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...
'' (
Kukkiwon Kukkiwon (), also known as World Taekwondo Headquarters, and home of the World Taekwondo Academy, is where the official taekwondo governing organization was established by the South Korean government.Min, B.-H. (2005): (11 July 2005). Publishe ...
), is a South Korean
taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
master who founded the United Taekwondo Association (UTA) in the United States. Ahn was born in 1937 in
Keijō , or Gyeongseong (), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea. History When the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Empire, it made Seoul the colonial capita ...
,
Keiki-dō , alternatively Keiki Province, was a province of Korea under Japanese rule. Its capital was at Keijō (Seoul). The province consisted of what is now the South Korean territories of Seoul and Gyeonggi, as well as parts of what is now southern Nor ...
,
Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
, and began training in the
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
began when he was 12 years old. He served an internship with his instructor, Chang Bok Lee, 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 Tang Soo Do (; ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean martial art based on karate which can include fighting principles from taekkyeon, subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by ...
at the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
in
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. He has also held teaching and advisory positions at the
Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...
(in Ohio) and
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...
. 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 The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...
's Taekwondo Committee. The
World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The World Taek ...
(WTF) awarded Ahn his Master Instructor certification in 1977. He received 9th ''dan'' ranking from Kukkiwon in 1990.Kukkiwon Certificate #5000019. Through the 1980s, Ahn worked within the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) and ultimately served as the association president
USA Taekwondo USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the Sport governing body, national governing body (NGB) of Taekwondo for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and thus the United States' official Member National Association of World Taekwondo USAT has complete au ...
. He served as a member of the board of directors for the
United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...
and worked to bring taekwondo to the 1988 and 1992
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...
. In 2000, Ahn was one of the founders of the United States Taekwondo Won (USTW).Taekwondo Times, Tri-Mount Publications, Inc. Bettendorf, IA, Volume 22, Number 1, January 2002 From 2003 to 2005, he served on the WTF's Legislative Committee. In 2005,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
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

*1967 – Arrived in Cincinnati, OH to establish the martial arts program at the University of Cincinnati and to provide instruction to the R.O.T.C. students *1974 – Founding member of the National AAU Committee *1975 to 1979 – President of the Ohio Taekwondo Association *1977 – Head of the U.S. National Team at the 3rd World Championships held in Chicago, IL *1978 – Author of the promotion standards and code of operation for the National AAU Taekwondo Committee *1980 to 1984 – Vice President of the United States Taekwondo Union *1985 to 1986 – President-elect of the United States Taekwondo Union *1986 – Director of the 1st World Cup Taekwondo event held in Colorado Springs, CO *1986 to 1992 – President of the United States Taekwondo Union *1987 to 1992 – Executive Board Council member of the World Taekwondo Federation *1986 to 1992 – Member of the Board of Directors of the United States Olympic Committee *1988 – Team Leader for the U.S. National Team at the 1st Taekwondo Demonstration at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea *1989 to 1992 – Chairman of the Law & Legislation Committee of the World Taekwondo Federation *1990 – Certified as an International Referee by the World Taekwondo Federation *1990 – Promoted to 9th Dan by the World Taekwondo Federation / Kukkiwon *1992 – Team Leader for the U.S. National Team at the 2nd Taekwondo Demonstration at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain *1992 – Member of the Promotion Committee for the Taekwondo Olympic status *1992 – Member of the Arbitration Committee for the 1992 Barcelona Taekwondo Olympic Games *1995 – President of the Ohio State Taekwondo Association *1999 – Founding member of the United States Taekwondo Won *2001 to 2004 – President of the United States Taekwondo Won *2008–2009 – Member of the Kukkiwon International Advisory Committee


Awards

*1977 – Award from Dr. Un Yong Kim for Outstanding Contribution to Taekwondo *1987 – Award from Pan American Games *1992 – Award from the Barcelona Olympic Games *1995 – Award from Dr. Un Yong Kim for Outstanding Contribution to Taekwondo *2002 – National Martial Artist of the Year from the International Tang Soo Do Federation *2003 – National Sport Merit Award from the Republic of Korea


Achievements

*One of the founding members of the AAU Taekwondo program *Responsible for establishing the United States Taekwondo Union as the National Governing Body for Olympic Taekwondo *Lobbyist for Taekwondo as an Olympic Sport *Initiator for the World Cup Taekwondo event when President of the United States Taekwondo Union *Founding member of the United States Taekwondo Won *Has taught Taekwondo from 1957 through 2011 (1957 to 1967 in Korea; 1967 to current in the United States)


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

*
List of taekwondo grandmasters This list of taekwondo grandmasters includes notable persons who have been recognized as grandmasters of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. There is no single, universally-recognized set of criteria to define a taekwondo grandmaster; differ ...


References


External links


Ahn Taekwondo Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Kyongwon 1937 births Living people Martial arts school founders Miami University faculty South Korean emigrants to the United States Martial artists from Seoul