List of taekwondo practitioners


This is a list of highly notable practitioners of Taekwondo than

Grandmasters

Choi Hong Hi and Original Twelve Masters of Taekwondo

  • Choi Hong-hi – Founder of International Taekwon-Do Federation. While contested, Choi is still regarded by many as the "Founder of Taekwon-Do".
  • Nam Tae-hi – was a pioneering South Korean master of taekwondo and is known as the "Father of Vietnamese Taekwondo". With Choi Hong-hi, he co-founded the "Oh Do Kwan" and led the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association.
  • Choi Chang-keun – began his martial arts training in the South Korean army in 1956, studying taekwondo and karate. Choi taught taekwondo in Malaysia from 1964, and moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 1970. In 1973, he held the rank of 7th dan. Choi was promoted to 8th dan in 1981 by H. H. Choi, and attained the rank of 9th dan in 2002. He is still based in Vancouver.
  • Choi Kwang-jo – Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to the United States in 1970. Choi is the founder and head of the Choi Kwang Do international martial art organization, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Han Cha-kyo – Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to the United States in 1971 with his wife and newborn daughter. After teaching taekwondo for many years in Chicago, he died in 1996.
  • Kim Jong-chan – based in Vancouver, Canada.
  • Kim Kwang-il – contributed to the introduction of taekwondo into West Germany. He was head instructor of the ITF in West Germany, but was relieved of this duty in October 1971. In 1975, Kim was ranked 6th dan. He promoted Rolf Becking, head of the ITF Germany Technical Committee, to the rank of 2nd dan in 1976 in Stuttgart, West Germany. Between 1974 and 1977 Kim had a restaurant in Stuttgart and had completed training as a Brewmeister prior to 1974.
  • Kong Young-il – Following a career in the South Korean military, Kong emigrated to the United States just before or in 1968. He and his younger brother, Young-bo Kong, founded the Young Brothers Taekwondo Associates in 1968. Kong was promoted to the rank of 9th dan in 1997 by H. H. Choi in Poland. He is based in Las Vegas.
  • Park Jong-soo – In 1968, Park settled in Toronto, Canada. In 1973, he held the rank of 7th dan. Park and Choi went their separate ways after Choi insisted on establishing relations with North Korea during a politically sensitive period.
  • Park Jung-tae – Park moved to Toronto, Canada in 1970. During the 1970s, Park established the Manitoba Tae Kwon-Do Association. In 1975, he was ranked 6th dan. At the time, he was ranked 8th dan in the ITF and in November 1984, Park was elected Secretary-General of the ITF. He also held the position of Technical Chairman of the ITF. Park founded the Global Taekwondo Federation on 14 June 1990, the year after his departure from the ITF due to North–South Korean political issues. He created six additional hyung to be practised along with the earlier ITF patterns. Amongst those who affiliated with the GTF was Sabree Salleh in 1998. Shortly before he died, Park promoted Salleh to 9th dan.
  • Park Sun-jae alias S.J. Park – a pioneer of taekwondo in Italy. He introduced taekwondo to Italy around 1968. In 1968, he was ranked 5th dan, and in 1975, he was ranked 7th dan. He was elected vice-president in the European Tae Kwon Do Union at the union's inaugural meeting in 1976. In 2002, he was a member of the arbitration board for the WT's World Cup Taekwondo championship in Tokyo. On 15 February 2004, the Executive Council of the WT elected him as Acting President of the WT following Un-yong Kim's resignation from the presidency of the organisation. He is Vice President of the WT. Park was President of the Federazione Italiana Taekwondo around 1998, and still held the position as of 2008 and 2009.
  • Chong-chul Rhee – South Korean master of taekwondo who arrived to Australia in the 1960s. He is the founder of Rhee Taekwon-Do, which is widely publicised as Australia's first and biggest taekwondo school. Rhee holds the title 'World Master' and the rank of 8th dan in taekwondo.
  • Rhee Chong-hyup alias C.H Rhee – In the mid-1960s, he contributed to the introduction of taekwondo to Malaysia and Singapore. He arrived in Australia in 1970 and settled in Melbourne, Australia. Rhee is in charge of Rhee Taekwon-Do operations in Melbourne.
  • Rhee Ki-ha – widely recognised as the 'Father of British Taekwon-Do' for introducing the martial art to the United Kingdom since arriving in 1967. He is also considered the 'Father of Irish Taekwon-Do'.

Other Notable Grandmasters

Olympic medalists

All the practitioners listed in this section are part of World Taekwondo.

Kickboxers and Mixed Martial Artists

Celebrity practitioners

Honorary Black belts