Cha Kyo Han
HAN, Cha-kyo (20 July 1934 – 1996) was one of the twelve Original Masters of taekwondo. He held the rank of 9th dan in taekwondo. Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to the United States of America in 1971. After teaching taekwondo for many years in Chicago, he died in 1996.
Han was born on 20 July 1934 in Seoul, Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation. He trained under three martial art masters: Nam Tae Hi, Duk Sung Son, and Woon Kyu Um. From 1950 to 1959, Han served as a martial art instructor in the Korean military forces. Through the 1960s, his career continued with both military assignments and leadership of demonstration teams overseas. In 1965, Han was ranked 6th dan.
In 1971, Han emigrated to the United States of America and settled in Chicago. Together with his brother Han Min Kyo, himself a 9th dan, he developed the Han Method and obtained patents for his exercises. He founded the Universal Tae Kwon Do Federation (UTF) around 1980. Han died in 1996.
Han appears on Chang Keun Choi's list of taekwondo pioneers.
References[]
- Han Cha Kyo on Wikipedia
- Han's bio on the UTF website
- Han's bio on the Universal TKD website
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