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Park Jung-tae (c. 1943 – 11 April 2002) was a South Korean master of taekwondo and a pioneer of that martial art in Canada.[1][2][3] He was one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association.[4][5] Following a career in the South Korean military, Park emigrated to Canada in 1970. He was a key leader in the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) under Choi Hong-hi, but founded the Global Taekwon-Do Federation in 1990 after leaving the ITF. After teaching taekwondo for many years, Park died in 2002.
| Park Jung-tae | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1943 Korea |
| Died | April 11, 2002 (aged 58–59) Canada |
| Style | Taekwondo |
| Rank | 9th dan taekwondo (GTF), 8th dan taekwondo (ITF) |
| Notable students | Sabree Salleh |
| Website | http://www.gtftaekwondo.com/ |
Park was born in 1943 or 1944 in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation.[1][6] He began training in the martial arts as a child, starting with boxing before moving on to judo and then taekwondo. Park was one of the twelve original taekwondo masters of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association. In 1964, he was the second President of the Korean Tae Soo Do Association.[7] From 1965 to 1967, he was ranked 4th dan and directed instruction of soldiers in Vietnam.[8]
Park moved to Canada where he met his future wife, Linda, in Toronto in 1970.[9] During the 1970s, Park established the Manitoba Tae Kwon-Do Association.[10] In 1975, he was ranked 6th dan.[11] In 1978 and 1979, he accompanied Choi on taekwondo demonstration tours in Europe.[12] In 1984, he conducted a seminar in Brisbane, Australia.[13][14] At the time, he was ranked 8th dan in the ITF.[14] In November 1984, Park was elected Secretary-General of the ITF.[15] He also held the position of Technical Chairman of the ITF.[16]
Park founded the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) on 14 June 1990, the year after his departure from the ITF due to North–South Korean political issues.[1][17][18] He created six additional hyung to be practised along with the earlier ITF patterns.[16] Amongst those who affiliated with the GTF was Sabree Salleh in 1998.[19] Shortly before he died, Park promoted Salleh to 9th dan (GTF).[19]
Park died on 11 April 2002 due to poor health, and is survived by his wife and their children: Juliann, Heather, and Christopher.[1][6][20] Linda Park succeeded her husband as President of the GTF,[6][20] and holds honorary 9th dan ranking.[21]
Park is listed as a pioneer in Canada (1970s) in Chang Keun Choi's list of taekwondo pioneers.[22]
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