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
Bornc. 1943
Korea
DiedApril 11, 2002(2002-04-11) (aged 58–59)
Canada
StyleTaekwondo
Rank9th dan taekwondo (GTF), 8th dan taekwondo (ITF)
Notable studentsSabree Salleh
Websitehttp://www.gtftaekwondo.com/

Early life

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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]

Canada

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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]

Later life

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Younglai, R. (2002): Obituary of Grand Master Park Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  2. ^ National Taekwon-Do Norway: Grandmaster Park Jung-tae (1943–2002) Archived 2003-08-19 at archive.today Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  3. ^ Global Taekwon-Do Federation Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  4. ^ Choi, H. H. (1972): Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence. Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.
  5. ^ A tribute to the original masters Archived 2010-05-25 at the Wayback Machine (c. 2007). Retrieved on 13 June 2007; link has expired, as at 1 July 2011.
  6. ^ a b c Malaysian Global Taekwondo Federation: GTF Founder/History Archived 2009-02-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  7. ^ Choong, T. H. (c. 2005): "Penang State Taekwon-Do Association: The History of Taekwon-Do". Archived from the original on October 25, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved on 21 February 2009. Link has expired, as at 13 August 2010.
  8. ^ ITF Phoenix Group: Biography of Master John Tompkins Archived 2009-04-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 16 February 2009.
  9. ^ TaeKwonDo Times: Taking the Wheel – More with Grandmaster Linda Park Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  10. ^ Global Winnipeg Taekwon-Do: About Our Club Retrieved on 17 February 2009.
  11. ^ Derby School of Taekwon-Do: Forty years of Taekwon-Do in the United Kingdom Archived 2013-01-14 at archive.today Retrieved on 13 January 2010; link updated on 25 January 2012.
  12. ^ ITF Information: Biography of General Choi, Hong-hi Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  13. ^ McPhail, P., & Pygott, V. (2006): A Brief History of ITFNZ Taekwon-Do (Part 2) Archived 2006-09-29 at archive.today Retrieved on 16 February 2009.
  14. ^ a b IIMA: Bernie Korent Retrieved on 16 February 2009.
  15. ^ Taekwondo Legacy: The Founder - Biography (p. 9) Retrieved on 17 February 2009.
  16. ^ a b Global Taekwon-Do Federation: Style Retrieved on 3 February 2010.
  17. ^ Global Taekwondo Federation: GTF Archived 2009-04-02 at archive.today Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  18. ^ NP Tae Kwon Do Academy: History of Global Tae Kwon Do Federation Retrieved on 14 February 2009.
  19. ^ a b "World of Grand Master Dato' Dr. Sabree Salleh: Chronology in Martial Arts and Taekwon-Do Training". Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved on 17 February 2009.
  20. ^ a b Global Taekwon-Do Federation: Welcome Archived 2008-04-27 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 14 February 2009; link has expired, as at 3 February 2010.
  21. ^ Global Taekwon-Do Federation: Masters Retrieved on 3 February 2010.
  22. ^ Choi, C. K. (2007): Tae Kwon Do Pioneers Archived 2008-03-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 15 March 2008.
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