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About Grand Master Tae Zee Park
- 9th dan - World Tae Kwon Do Federation
- National Tae Kwon Do Champion - Korea 1963 - 1968
- Captain of Korean Army Tae Kwon Do Team
- Instructor of National Teachers College - Korea
- Member of Korean National Tae Kwon Do Demonstration Team
- Captain of Sung Kyun Kwan University Tae Kwon Do Team
- Founded Tae Park Tae Kwon Do 1974
- Vice Chairman of the U.S. Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwan Association
- General Secretary of the Sung Kyun Kwan University Tae
Kwon Do Alumni Association
The Life
of Grand Master Park
Many years ago, in South Korea, a shy young boy named Tae Zee
Park watched helplessly as a bully hit the young boy's mother.
Even though the community rallied together to run the bully out
of town, Grand Master Park decided, then and there that he
would be ready the next time someone tried to hurt his family.
So, the young Grand Master Park learned a little soccer and a
little boxing, but he learned to love Tae Kwon Do.
The
Early Years
Grand Master Park started Tae Kwon Do lessons when he was
twelve years old. Five days each week for at least two hours a
day, young Grand Master Park would practice basic patterns,
kicks, and forms. He wanted to be strong and responsible and to
hold his own among his six brothers and sisters. Very few of
the other students in his class worked as hard as he did.
When Grand Master Park was sixteen, he became one of the
youngest first-degree black belts in Korea. At his first-degree
test, he was rewarded the highest points in forms and free
fighting, but his goal was to become even better. He left home
and went to the central studio to practice and study. After
earning his second degree, Grand Master Park entered his first
tournament.
Tournament
Fighting
Korean martial art tournaments were very dangerous.
Participants risked serious accidents- even death- to win
because winning meant great honor for the fighter's school and
it's reputation. Everyone knew who the tournament winners were,
and they were given many special privileges.
Each Tae Kwon Do school sent their top one or two fighters to
compete. Each fight consisted of three three-minute rounds. As
long as a competitor won, he could progress to the next round.
If he lost, he went back home. In addition to being very good,
tournament fighters had to be very strong and in excellent
shape. Sometimes a competitor would have fought for five days
in a row to qualify for the final rounds.
Grand Master Park completed his formal education at Sung Kyun
University, where he graduated with a major in Government. In
addition to his scholastic pursuits, this very special school
allowed him to study Tae Kwon Do up to five hours a day. All
350 people in his freshman class were black belts. Grand Master
Park was one of the only two or three students picked for
special training as part of the university team. He and the
other team members worked very hard and received many high
honors. In 1964 and 1965, Grand Master Park was the top
tournament fighter in all of Korea.
The once shy boy had grown into a strong and brave young man.
Professional
Tae Kwon Do
After graduating from the university, Grand Master Park was
recruited for the Korean Army's Tae Kwon Do team. For the next
three years, his full-time job was to represent Korea in
international tournaments. He had become the equivalent of a
professional athlete. Everyone knew his face and he was very
well respected.
After army service, Grand Master Park taught for one year at
the Korean National Teachers College, where he earned his sixth
dan. He had loved practicing Tae Kwon Do and now he loved
teaching it to others.
On
To America
When, Grand Master Park first came to America, in 1974, he
taught martial arts at Kent State University in Ohio as an
exchange student. He later moved to Michigan and began teaching
Tae Kwon Do at the YMCA in Jackson. It was there that he
learned about America from his students. Grand Master Park
would teach them martial art and his students would teach him
the English language and American customs. He learned what
Americans believed and how they made decisions. This
interdependence on his students helped form life-long bonds.
Founding
the Tae Park Institute
Grand Master Park had proven in Korea that he was an excellent
fighter and teacher. But now he was in America where the
peoples' wants and customs were very different. He started his
first Tae Kwon Do class in 1974. But it closed after only two
months. Grand Master Park believes that the advanced techniques
he taught were too difficult for beginning students, who
quickly became frustrated and stopped coming to class.
Grand Master Park changed his style and concentrated on the
basics when he reopened his school in Jackson and soon
thereafter expanding to Hillsdale College. As the Tae Park
Institute grew, Grand Master Park focused on building a strong
supportive organization that would produce black belts with
solid leadership skills. As the years passed, Grand Master Park
opened schools in Springport, Grand Rapids, Hillsdale, Jackson,
and Ypsilanti. In 1976 Tae Park Institute conducted it's first
Black Belt testing. Although many students studied under Grand
Master Park only these 19 students were part of that first
testing.
There were 18 testing for 1st Dan:
Tandy Amburgy, Mike Ascuitto, Lynn Bernard, Steve Burnett, John
Carey, Jeff Duane, Mark Good, Thomas Hallin, Wendy Hauser, Gary
Jones, Steve Molden, Bruce Park Sr, Ronnie Parker, Leroy
Pegler, Ed Rugh, Madeline Matthews-Rugh, Richard Warren, Mike
Wittum
There was one testing for 2nd Dan:
Richard Weatherford
Tae Park
Institute Today
Over thirty-five years have passed since Grand Master Park came
to America to teach Tae Kwon Do. Today, Tae Park Institute has
schools in fifteen states and many Michigan locations. There
are over 2,000 black belts with over 50 Master, 8 Senior
Master, and 4 Junior Grand Master Instructors.
Grand Master Park's students speak of him with great
pride and respect and view him as a father figure and mentor.
As one of Grand Master Park's master instructors has
said, The Tae Park Institute will survive a long time because
of Grand Master Park's high caliber physical ability,
intelligence, compassion, and family-like loyalty toward his
pupils.
Grand Master Park and his wife, Mrs. Hwy Park, currently live
in the Ann Arbor area. His daughter Na Lee graduated from the
New York University Law School and is working in Washington,
D.C. and daughter Na Na, a University of Michigan Law School
graduate, works for the Federal Government in Washington, D.C..
Grand Master Park's son, Won Hee, is a graduate of Harvard
University and now resides in Arizona.
Edited by
Master Michael Madden 5th Dan.
Re-written with
permission from Grand Master Park and Northern Michigan Tae
Park Tae Kwon Do, NMTPTKD
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