List of taekwondo grandmasters

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list of taekwondo grandmasters includes notable persons who have been recognized as grandmasters of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. There is no single, universally-recognized set of criteria to define a taekwondo grandmaster; different organizations and different styles have their own rules. Those listed below are grouped by system: Kukkiwon (widely known as the World Taekwondo Headquarters), International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and other systems (which includes some persons receiving ranks from taekwondo organizations that predate the other two systems, e.g., the original Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA)) and United Taekwondo Association UWTA. World Alliance Taekwon-do Federation GM Francesc Campanya

Many taekwondo grandmasters are natives of South Korea, the birthplace of the martial art

Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters)

This list includes persons who:

1. are ranked at least 9th -10th depending school dan by Kukkiwon (the highest rank normally awarded to living persons within that system);
2. are notable as individuals; and
3. are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name	Rank	Life	Residence	Prominence	References
Hong Sung-chon	9th dan	1945–	Philippines	Kukkiwon Chairman of the Board (2016–). CEO and Chief Instructor of the Philippine Taekwondo Association (1975–)	[1]
Ahn, Kyongwon	9th dan	1937–	United States of America	Founded United Taekwondo Association; former president of the United States Taekwondo Union	See main article
Choi, Tae-hong	9th dan	1935–2009	United States of America	Founded first taekwondo school in Oregon, United States; former vice-president of the United States Taekwondo Union	See main article
Chung, Sun-hwan	9th dan	1940–	United States of America	Founder of Moo Sool Do and President of World Academy of Martial Arts Association. Korean National Champion (1963–1965). Kukkiwon Advisory Council (2008). Hall of Fame - U.S. Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. Former President, U.S.T.U. Michigan Tae Kwon Do Association.	[2][3][4]
Kim, Ki-whang	10th dan	1920–1993	United States of America	Promoted to 9th dan by the KTA, Chairman of the US Olympic Taekwondo team 1988, awarded 10th dan while in hospital with cancer in 1993. Inducted into Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2009.	See main article
Samer Kamal	9th dan	1966–	Canada	President of the Arab Canadian Sports Association, 1988 Seoul Olympics medalist, 1st Class International referee since 1999, 1st Class Kukkiwon Examiner, the President of Champions Martial Arts Taekwondo in Canada and Jordan	www.SamerKamal.info
Sell, Edward B	10th dan	1942–2014	United States of America	Highest ranked non-Asian Taekwondo black belt in the world. Only non-Korean honored at the Taekwondo Park in Seoul, Korea. Founder of the United States Chung Do Kwan Association.	[5][6]
Paik, Sang-kee	9th dan	1929–2009	United States of America	Early student of B. I. Yoon and first Black Belt of Grand Master Ki Whang Kim; created Sa-Sang Kwan system. Inducted into Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2013	See main article
Park, Dong-keun	9th dan	c. 1941–	United States of America	Father of Thai taekwondo; Head Coach of US Olympic taekwondo team in 1988 and 1992	See main article
Park, Young-Ghil	10th dan	1941– 2024	Italy	One of Founders of Italian Taekwondo (three Park Brothers - Sun-jae Park, Young-Ghil Park, Chung-un Park); Honorary President of FITA - Italian Taekwondo Federation 2016 - 2024; Technical Director of WTF Poomsae Committee 2018	[7][8][9][10]
Lee, Hyeon-kon	9th dan	c. 1947–	United States of America	Chairman of Board of Education of Kukkiwon; former Vice Chairman of Education of the WTF; author of taekwondo textbook. Uses Western and Eastern Medicine concurrently with great success. Became an M.D. in 2000. Published medical scientist in over 10 journals and one book. Life dedicated to helping the sick return to health.	[11][12][13]
Cho, Byung-kon	9th dan	1947–	United States of America	Student of Grand Master Pong-ki Kim and Grand Master Kop-soo Kwon Kukkiwon #05000166 - Issued: 2001-09-08 Founder: Wisconsin Governors Cup Founder: Virginia Governors Cup Author: Korean Culture, Tourism and Language Author: Star Taekwon-Do Master's Course Author: Martial Arts Dynamic Marketing and Management Seminar Author: International Discipline in the Martial Arts Seminar Author: A Health Revolution Secretary General for Korean-American Foundation (KAF) Past President of the Virginia State Tae Kwon Do Association Former Secretary General for US Taekwondo Martial Arts Commission Former Flexibility Consultant for Green Bay Packers	[14][15] TaeKwonDo Times Magazine Issue March 1991
Sell, Brenda Jean (Brenda Sell)	9th dan	January 1955–	Lakeland, Florida (USA)	Kukkiwon Certificate number: 05001899 first female to be awarded the World Taekwondo Federation certification for international level referee credentials Highest ranked non-Asian Kukkiwon female in the world President of the United States Chung Do Kwan Association	See Wikipedia page for all sources
Wyllie, Gregory	9th dan	c. 1955 –	Sydney, New South Wales (Australia)	Introduced Taekwondo into the New South Wales school system, initiated the All Schools tournament which has been a great success. Runs the Wyllie Strike Taekwondo academy, which includes his sons Steve and Chris. He is the highest ranked orator in Australia and became a ninth dan in April 2016.[16]

International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITFs)

This list includes persons who:

1. are ranked 9th dan by the ITF (and thus officially recognised as 'Grand Masters' within that system);^[17]
2. are notable as individuals; and
3. are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name	Rank	Life	Residence	Prominence	References
Kim, Jong-Chan	9th dan	1936-	Canada	Grandmaster Jong Chan Kim (JC Kim) was born in 1936.
Choi, Chang-keun	9th dan	c. 1940–	Canada	Leading campaign to reunite the ITF; one of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Choi, Hong-hi	9th dan	1918–2002	Canada	Played major role in establishing Taekwon-Do in 1955; Founder of International Taekwon-Do Federation-ITF in 1966, inaugural president of the KTA; co-led the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Choi, Jung-hwa	9th dan	1951-	Canada	President of one of the three ITF organisations; son of H. H. Choi	[18][19][20][21]
Howard, Robert	9th dan	c. 1938–	Ireland	President of the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association; helped establish taekwondo in Ireland; first European man promoted to 9th dan	[22][23][24][25]
Kong, Young-il	9th dan	1943–	United States of America	One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; one of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Nam, Tae Hi	9th dan	1929–2013	United States of America	Father of Vietnamese taekwondo; pivotal performance in martial arts demonstration 1954; co-led the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Nguyen, Van Binh	9th dan	1936–	United States of America	Chairman of ITF Masters Promotion Committee; President of ITF-USA; pioneer of taekwondo in Vietnam	[26][27][28]
Park, Jong-soo	9th dan	1941–2021	Canada	One of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Rhee, Ki-ha	9th dan	1938–	United Kingdom	Father of British and Irish taekwondo; one of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; one of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Sereff, Charles	9th dan	1933–2022	United States of America	One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi; founded the United States Taekwon-Do Federation	[29][30][31]
Trajtenberg, Pablo	9th dan	c. 1955–2022	Argentina	President of one of the three ITF organisations after T. Q. Tran's death in 2010	[32][33][34][35]
Tran, Trieu Quan	9th dan	1952–2010	Canada	President of one of the three ITF organisations from 2003 to 2010	See main article

Other taekwondo systems(Traditional, ATA, GTF, Chang-Hon/ITF Style, Others etc)

This list includes persons who:

1. have been widely recognized masters of taekwondo for at least 30 years;
2. are notable as individuals; and
3. are notable for their contribution to taekwondo.

Name	Rank	Life	Residence	Prominence	References
Cho, Hee-il	9th dan	1940-	United States of America	Founded Action International Martial Arts Association; wrote several taekwondo books	See main article
Cho, Sihak Henry	9th dan	1934–2012	United States of America	Pioneer of taekwondo in the United States of America; wrote several books; contributed karate article in World Book Encyclopedia (1976)	See main article
Choi, Kwang-jo	9th dan	1942–	United States of America	Founded Choi Kwang-Do; one of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Han, Cha-kyo	9th dan	1934–1996	United States of America	One of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Hwang, Kwang-sung	9th dan	c. 1942–	United States of America	One of the few promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi	[31][36]
Hwang, Jang-lee	9th dan	1944–	Korea	Hwang took Taekwondo lessons from age 14 and achieved his 7th dan (rank) black belt. In 1965 at age 21, Hwang became a martial arts instructor for the Korean and South Vietnamese Armies, specializing in taekwondo. In January 2003, Hwang received his 9th dan black belt in taekwondo. In addition, he currently holds a 9th dan rank with the World Tang Soo Do General Federation. Hwang still actively teaches martial arts. He is currently an instructor with the World Tang Soo Do General Federation and serves as Technical Advisor. He recently has completed a tour of the US and Canada in which he, along with other Korean Grandmasters, promoted the study and practice of traditional martial arts.	See main article
Kim, Bok man	11th Dan founder Rank as Founder Of World Chun Kuhn Taekwon-Do Federation-WCTF. 10th Dan in Traditional Taekwon-Do, Founding Member of ITF	c. 1934–2021	USA	Kim Bok-man (Korean: 김복만; Hanja: 金福萬,[1] (3 December 1934 – 14 August 2021), Father of South East Asia Taekwon-Do was an early pioneer of taekwondo in the 1950s and 1960s in South East Asia, particularly Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Sarawak and Hong Kong. He started martial arts training in the Korean art of taekyun in 1941 at the age of 7. While he was a Sergeant Major in the South Korean army, he was called to Malaysia by General Choi Hong-hi Korea's ambassador, Founder of Taekwon-Do, to teach taekwondo in Malaysia and subsequently to develop taekwondo, particularly some of the forms created by General Choi, and another martial art called Chun Kuhn taekwondo.	See main article
Kim, Pyung-soo	10th dan	1939–	United States of America	One of only two students that tested and promoted to 5th Dan at the first Korean Tae Soo Do Association exam in 1962. First correspondent from South Korea to Black Belt Magazine(1964–68). Founder of The International Chayon-Ryu Martial Arts Association. Author of three Taekwondo Books (Ohara Publications): Palgue 1-2-3 of Taekwondo Hyung, Palgue 4-5-6 of Taekwondo Hyung, Palgue 7-8 of Taekwondo Hyung, and one Taekwondo book published in Russia.	See main article
Lee, Haeng-ung	10th dan	20 July 1936 – 5 October 2000	United States of America	Founded American Taekwondo Association; first grandmaster of the ATA; author of The Way of Traditional Taekwondo	[37]
Park, Jung-tae	9th dan	c. 1943–2002	Canada	One of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Rhee, Chong-chul	9th dan	c. 1935–2023	Australia	Considered as the Father of Australian taekwondo; founded Rhee Taekwon-Do; one of the KTA's 12 original masters	See main article
Rhee, Jhoon-goo	10th dan	1932–2018	United States of America	Father of American taekwondo	[citation needed]
Vega, Orlando	9th dan International Taekwon-Do Federation	1952-	United States/Puerto Rico	He began learning Kempo Karate with Sensei Felix Vega from New York. He studied under Sensei Vega for two years.
Yun Dukan	9th dan	1942-	United States of America	Taekwondo Pioneer and Taekwondo Grandmaster originally from the Moo Duk Kwan. Yun Dukan, with the encouragement of Choi Hong Hi, began instructing Taekwon-Do in the United States of America in 1968.	See main article

See also

• Original masters of taekwondo