Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim
9th Degree Black Belt Hall of Fame Inductee 2011 President of Taekwon-Do International Founder of Instructors' Association 2019 Recipient of World Grandmaster Highest Medal of Honor Member of Original I.T.F. Demo Team Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, 9th Dan, is a first generation student of General Choi Hong Hi and a pioneer of Traditional Taekwon Do. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, and is the head of Taekwon Do International (TKDI). Grandmaster Kim has over 45 years of experience teaching Taekwondo and personally teaches many of the classes. There are very few 9th-degree black belts in the world and even fewer who still teach. Master Kim has always prided himself on being a devoted teacher who considers his students and their development as martial artists to be his primary concerns. At S.J. Kim's Taekwondo, Master Kim teaches all level of students every day, from beginners to his most advanced black belts. Unlike a gym or health spa, S.J. Kim's Taekwondo is not run like a normal business. Master Kim considers his school to be a place of learning, and his method of teaching emphasizes the traditional values of discipline, practice, hard work and focus. His goal is to teach each student to reach his or her full potential and therefore expects his students to learn and practice with diligence and sincerity. Grandmaster Kim began his own extensive training in Taekwon Do at a young age in Seoul, Korea. In addition to studying Taekwondo, he also earned a degree in Civil Engineering and briefly skied professionally. Master Kim's late father, Dr. C.H. Kim, Professor Emeritus, was a Professor of Coastal and Ocean Engineering at Texas A&M University and is one of the world's foremost scholars in the fields of Naval Architecture and Hydrodynamics. Although he chose a different career path than his father, Master Kim has always modeled his own desire for perfection and mastery after Professor Kim's example. In 1973, Master Kim won the Masters Association Open Championships and the South Atlantic Championship in free fighting, and between 1975 and 1980 he performed annual Taekwondo demonstrations in Madison Square Garden. Master Kim has established schools all over New Jersey, Bergenfield NJ was his main school. He opened his first school in New York City in 1988. A turning point in his development as a martial artist came in 1976 when he was selected by General Choi Hong Hi, the founder of Taekwon Do and the International Taekwondo Federation, to become one of the original members of the ITF Demonstration Team. As part of the ITF Demonstration Team, Master Kim spent the next 10 years traveling the world, visiting five continents and many countries. As General Choi's student, he also taught seminars for black belt instructors worldwide. Although Master Kim's experience and knowledge of Taekwondo is still sought after both internationally and elsewhere in the United States, he has dedicated himself to teaching his own students in New York City. As such, many of his former students now travel from other countries and other states in order to continue training with him. As a sign of a teacher's greatest reward, many of Master Kim's former students continue to call and write or visit the school to update him on their lives, say hello, and thank him for teaching them. For the last chapter, Grand master Kim hopes to become a better teacher and practitioner of Taekwondo and to produce black belts who will contribute to the continuation and promotion of traditional Taekwon Do. |
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