Martial Arts: Organizations

Martial Arts have been an enormous part of my life. I share my experience with images and prose. I hope you enjoy reading these stories them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

This is a long term project that I estimate is half completed.

Now that many years have passed since I began this project, it seems unlikely that I will ever finish, so ... please send me your ideas, whether they be additions, corrections, or suggestions to me at: my-first-name [at-sign] hellers [dot] ws. One of the nicest aspects of this project is that I've gotten in touch with old friends, met new people, and even connected together people I did not know.

These are some of the martial arts organizations that have touched my life.

Established by Wok Kuk Lee, and next led by Duk Sung Son. Kwans were styles or schools in Korea before the unification of Tae Kwon Do. Chung Do Kwan was one of the biggest and most successful kwans.

26 May 1946: Mr. Lee is seated in the middle. Mr. Son is in the back row, second from the right. Mr. Suh Chong Kang is in the third row from the bottom, second from the right. I suspect that most Chung Do Kwan seniors listed below are present, and I would be delighted to learn and document who is who in this photo; any help would be appreciated.

As reported on many web pages, the first Black Belts of Chung Do Kwan were as follows. The source of this information seems to be "A Modern History of Taekwondo", written (in Korean) by Kang Won Sik and Lee Kyong Myong.

1. Yoo Ung Jun
2. Son Duk Sung
3. Uhm Woon Kyu
4. Hyun Jong Myun
5. Min Woon Sik
6. Han In Sook
7. Jung Young Taek
8. Kang Suh Chong
9. Baek Joon Ki
10. Nam Tae Hi
11. Ko Jae Chun
12. Kwak Kuen Sik
13. Kim Suk Kyu
14. Han Cha Kyo
15. Jo Sung Il
16. Lee Sa Man
17. Rhee Jhoon Goo
18. Kim Bong Sik

A derivative of the WTKDA established by Bob Dvorkin.

Goju Ryu Karate and Matayoshi-no Kobudo organization established by Kimo Wall.

Kodokan Lineage

A derivative of the WTKDA established by Jerry Bates, Ron LeBlanc, Dong-Hoon Kim, Don Richardson, and Steven Glass.

President: Grandmaster Dong-Hoon Kim

South Central TKD

A derivative of the WTKDA established by Ted Hillson.

Head Instructor: Master Ted Hillson

The first derivative organization of the WTKDA of which I am aware, established by Tony Rosario and others in the greater Poughkeepsie area. I witnessed their first black belt test in early 1975, where Ron Saks (brother of my school classmate Iris) was promoted to first degree. I recall a board breaking requirement of a combination break that had to be completed within a set time. I also remember hearing about a student I never met whose name was Kelso.

A derivative organization of the WTKDA, established in 2010 by Jack Emmel (Southeast Region Director), Jim Cahill (Northeast Region Director), Ralph Rubino (Midwestern Region Director), and Ron Geoffrion (Western Region Director).

A derivative of the WTKDA established by Michael Dealy.

Headmaster: Michael Dealy

25 May 1895: Dinner after a WTKDA black belt test. The folks from Brooklyn are serenading the celebrants.

Established by Duk Sung Son in 1963. Originally known as the Tae Han Karate Association.

President: Grandmaster Duk Sung Son