Kang Duk Won Martial Arts Association

 

 History and Lineage

   
Great Grandmaster
Byung In Yoon
1920 - 1983
Great Grandmaster
Chul Hee Park
1933 -
Great Grandmaster
Hwa Chong
1939 -
Greatmaster
Carl W. Stolberg
1941 - 2007
biography



Great Grandmaster Byung In Yoon as a youth was a student learning Chuan Fa in Manchuria, China in the 1930's. In 1937 he went to Japan to be educated at Nihon University. While at the University he participated in an exchange with Toyama Kanken where Mr. Yoon received rank in Shudokon. After World War II, Mr. Yoon taught Kwon Bup in Korea until the Korean War. It was during the Korean war that Mr. Yoon became a POW. He was unable to return to South Korea and remained in North Korea until his death in 1983.

Great Grandmaster Chul Hee Park as a youth became a student of Byung In Yoon in Korea in 1946. After Mr. Yoon disappeared during the Korean War, Mr. Park continued to teach Kwon Bup along with Jung Pyo Hong. About 1954, Mr. Park and Mr. Hong founded a new Kwan, which Mr. Park named Kang Duk Won (School of Virtue). Mr. Park continues to teach Kang Duk Won Kwon Bup to this day. During one of his visits to the United States in November of 2001, Mr. Park was an honored visitor to the Kang Duk Won dojang in Muskegon.

Great Grandmaster Hwa Chong became a student of Mr. Park in the mid 1950’s. Through Mr. Park’s correspondence with Mr. Stolberg, Mr. Chong was able to get help from Mr. Stolberg to come to the United States in 1967. Mr. Chong was educated at Michigan State University and began teaching taekwondo at the University of Michigan and in the Detroit area. Mr. Chong is a past president of the United States Taekwondo Union and is influential in taekwondo throughout the world. He currently serves as a consultant to the World Taekwondo Federation.

Greatmaster Carl Stolberg became a student of Mr. Park soon after corresponding with him in 1962. After Mr. Chong came to the United States Mr. Stolberg began training with him. In the 1960’s Mr. Stolberg began teaching Kang Duk Won and taught continuously in Muskegon for more than 40 years. Over the years Mr. Stolberg received national recognition for his contributions to taekwondo. He was an advisor to the Michigan State Taekwondo Association and an advisory member of the Legislative Committee of the World Taekwondo Federation. He passed away April 28, 2007.
biography