Kyongwon Ahn, 9th dan, is a South Korean taekwondo master who founded the United Taekwondo Association in the United States. Ahn was born in 1937 in Seoul, Korea, and began training in the martial arts 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 Doctorate from Kangwon University. In August 1967, he emigrated to the US and began teaching tang soo do at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He has also held teaching and advisory positions at the Miami University and Xavier University. 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's Taekwondo Committee. The World Taekwondo Federation awarded Ahn his Master Instructor certification in 1977. He received 9th dan ranking from Kukkiwon in 1990. Through the 1980s, Ahn worked within the United States Taekwondo Union and ultimately served as the association president USA Taekwondo. He served as a member of the Board of Directors for the United States Olympic Committee and worked to bring taekwondo to the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games. In 2000, Ahn was one of the founders of the United States Taekwondo Won. From 2003 to 2005, he served on the WTF's Legislative Committee. In 2005, the Republic of Korea 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
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
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 three Grandmaster Instructors - Grandmaster Kim Limes, Grandmaster Ron Hickey and Grandmaster Jamie Beasley. 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.
