Tae-hong Choi
This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.
Tae-hong Choi (May 28, 1935 March 8, 2009) was
a grandmaster in taekwondo, winner of multiple mar-
tial arts titles and a teacher of thousands of students in
Oregon.[2]
1 Childhood studies
When Choi was a boy in Seoul, he had a paper route.
When he rst approached the martial artists he met on
his route, they sent him away. After seven days of his
pestering, the men seemed to relent, but they put him to
work instead of teaching him. Choi worked for them for
three weeks before they were suciently impressed to
begin teaching him. He earned his black belt in two years.
He soon began winning titles including Korean National
Champion.[1] Eventually he earned a ninth-degree black
belt, the sports highest designation.[2] He also studied for
a masters degree in Health and physical education.[3]
2 Military service
Choi was a Korean Marine Corp Training ocer sta-
tioned in South Vietnam.[3] He was part of the detail that
guarded the U.S. Embassy.[1] He taught hand-to-hand
combat skills to Korean, South Vietnamese and U.S. Spe-
cial Forces.[3] That got him his next job of instructing
hand-to-hand combat for top-level U.S. security agents.[2]
3 Emigration
Choi moved to Washington, D.C., in 1971. He taught
taekwondo to secret service agents and CIA operatives.[3]
His family did not move with him to Washington, D.C.,
but they emigrated to Oregon where a distant cousin
lived.[2] In 1972, Choi joined his family in Oregon and
started teaching tae kwon do at the YMCA, Lewis and
Clark College and Reed College (Judo - '74-'75), and
Sunset High School before opening his own studio in
Northeast Portland.[2] Chois Taekwondo Academy was
the rst taekwondo school in Oregon.[3]
Mr. Choi was one of the pioneers for tae
kwon do in this country. When the word 'tae
kwon do' didn't even exist in this country, he
was already teaching.
-- Joon Pyo Choi, co-chairman of USA Taek-
wondos martial arts commission.[2]
Choi eventually opened two more schools for students in
Beaverton and North Portland.[2] His son, Sung Choi did
take over the studios after his death with the help of Hung
Choi. Later, Sung Choi started teaching at the New York
Athletic Club' location in NYC.
4 National leadership
Choi founded the Oregon State Taekwondo Associa-
tion and the Northwest Black Belt Association and was
its president for 30 years. In 1980, Choi served as
head of team at the rst Pan American Taekwondo
Championships.[3] In 1982, When the Amateur Ath-
letic Union was the governing body for Taekwondo in
the USA, Choi was elected vice president.[3] He also
served as a vice president in the United States TaeK-
wonDo Union.[1] He has served as tournament director
of the Northwest Oregon Taekwondo Championships and
the 17th U.S. National Taekwondo Championships.[3] In
1988, Choi traveled to Seoul with one of his students who
competed in the 1988 Olympic Games.[2] In the 1990s,
he served as advisor to the United States Taekwondo
Union.[3] In 2007, Choi received the lifetime achievement
award from the United States Taekwondo Grandmasters
Society.[3] Some of his notable students are Master Leon
Preston (8th Dan and 2008 Summer Olympics Tae Kwon
Do Referee), Gordon Graa, Scott Rohr (1979 and 1980
World Championship Medalist) and Naim Hassan (1988
Olympics Taekwondo athlete).
5 Death and burial
Choi died at Providence Portland Medical Center in
Portland, Oregon on March 8, 2009.[2] Services were held
March 12 in the Korean Mission Church (Portland).[2] He
was buried at Skyline Memorial Gardens (Portland),[2]
He was survived by his wife, two daughters, two sons
and ve grandchildren. Wife, Man Soon Choi. Daugh-
ters, Ilsun Kim, Min Sun Kim. Sons, Sung Choi, Hung
Choi. Grandchildren, Angela Kim (23), Matthew Kim
(26), Caroline Min (10), Phillip Min (12), Chloe Choi
(10).[2]
1
2 8 EXTERNAL LINKS

6 See also
List of taekwondo grandmasters

7 References
[1] Grandmaster Tae-hong Choi Passes Away. United
States Olympic Committee. March 10, 2009. Retrieved
2009-03-31.

[2] Jung, Helen (March 11, 2009). Portland-area tae kwon

do grandmaster pioneered sport in U.S. Tae Hong Choi,
who established schools and taught thousands of students,
dies at 73. The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon: Oregon
Live LLC. Retrieved 2009-03-31.

[3] United States TaeKwonDo Grandmaster Society Second

Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony and Banquet.
US Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. 2008. Retrieved
2009-03-31.

8 External links
Chois Tae Kwon Do Academy
NW Tae Kwon Do Association Kinship of Black
Belts who either trained directly with, or under, se-
nior students of Grandmaster Choi]
 3

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text
Tae-hong Choi Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tae-hong_Choi?oldid=766475385 Contributors: Bender235, Susan Davis, Califor-
niaAliBaba, PRehse, SmackBot, Cydebot, ErinHowarth, Jevansen, Btnikk, Janggeom, Plastikspork, 1ForTheMoney, XLinkBot, SJ Morg,
Good Olfactory, Marc87, I dream of horses, Plasticspork, RjwilmsiBot, SporkBot, MasterDan58, BG19bot, DUCKISJAMMMY, Otispete,
BattyBot, Laurenf12drew, KasparBot, Sea29 and Anonymous: 9

9.2 Images
File:P_vip.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/P_vip.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

9.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0