Grandmaster Jae Joon Kim
1929 - 2007
Pin # 38
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Grandmaster Jae Joon Kim was born August 15, 1929 in Seoul, Korea,
the son of a world champion sumo wrestler. He died January 9, 2007
in Brandon Florida at the age of 77.
He began
training directly with Grandmaster Hwang Kee
in 1945 and in 1947, earned his 1st Degree Black Belt.
In 1952,
he assisted in the formation of the Korean Tang Soo Do (Soo Bahk Do)
Association. He served as a top master instructor from 1955 to 1959, and
in 1961 was appointed Vice-President of the Association.
From
1967 to 1968, he was the Chief Master Instructor of Korean, U.S. and
Vietnamese Special Forces in Vietnam.
At
Grandmaster Hwang Kee's request, he brought Moo Duk Kwan to the
United States and founded the Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do Association
in Detroit, Michigan. In 1969, Grandmaster Kim was awarded 8th
Dan and appointed president of the US Chapter by Grandmaster Hwang
Kee.
In the
1970's, Grandmaster Kim founded his own organization, the
World Traditional Tang Soo Do
Federation, (formerly the World
Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do Federation) and in 1987, moved the world
headquarters and his family to Brandon, Florida.
He was
inducted into the Tae Kwon Do Times Hall of Fame in 2004 and the
Grandmasters Society Hall of Fame in 2006. The
world’s martial art community considered Grandmaster Jae Joon Kim a
Master’s Master.
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