Is TKD really TKD anymore?

[mastercole]

Is that Master Ron Hickey (student of GM AHN) I see front row, second from left (first face in front row on left)?

Yes, that is GM Hickey, he attended with GM Limes who is also from GM Ahn's in Cincinnati. GM Hickey is one of the hand full of American born Taekwondoin I consider my big senior. He is a great man and I hold a tremendous amount of respect for him. Like his teacher GM Ahn, he has given me a lot of very good advise over the past 3 decades and I would not have been able to achieve some of the things I have without his help.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

Yes, that is GM Hickey, he attended with GM Limes who is also from GM Ahn's in Cincinnati. GM Hickey is one of the hand full of American born Taekwondoin I consider my big senior. He is a great man and I hold a tremendous amount of respect for him. Like his teacher GM Ahn, he has given me a lot of very good advise over the past 3 decades and I would not have been able to achieve some of the things I have without his help.

Yeah, I always liked GM Hickey. Very nice and approachable man.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

I know of GM Kim Limes, but I don't think I've had the pleasure of speaking with him.. .

 

[mastercole]

Yeah, I always liked GM Hickey. Very nice and approachable man.

Master David Johnson from GM Ahn's school might be GM Hickey's most notable student. David was and still is an excellent fighter. GM Hickey spent a lot of time training him. In the early 90's David needed a coach at Nationals so he grabbed me. I remember sitting in chair thinking he has to be the hardest hitting guy here. His round kicks were lifting people off the ground. He went on to medal at the event. Fast forward to 2007 or 2008, I took a group of competitors to GM Ahn's tournament and got to watch David win gold in the men's WTF black belt division, then fight for the grand championship against a young guy from GM Ki Whang Kim lineage who was I believe the Champion point fighter from NASKA, or some similar group. It was a very close fight, the kid won the match, I think he as coaches by his dad. The kid was really good, good enough that he might be able to switch over to the Olympic circuit. Anyway, David still had it after not competing for many years and being much older.

 

[mastercole]

GM Ki Moon KWON, who is a very nice gentleman, has the distinction of being one of the first competitors at a WTF International Event featured on TV. It was in 1981 at the World Games, which were being held at Toso Pavillion in Santa Clara, California and the event was covered by ABC's Wide World of Sports. I remember casually flipping through the channels when I happened to catch it, so I videotaped it. GM Kwon fought GM Dae Sung Lee in the finweight finals. There was another match, between Spain's Co Banito and Korea's Kimo Yang I think his name was. The commentator was Master Kim Royce, a heavyweight National Team Member from UC Berkeley. I later met GM Kwon through an introduction from mastercole, and I told him I remembered his name because of that ABC broadcast, which surprised GM Kwon.

I have a video clip of GM Kwon and GM Myung Sam Chang (Olympic Champion) entertaining the crowd at our 1997 tournament. It's all unrehearsed and just for fun. These guys never trained for demonstration, they were fighters. The MC is GM Joon Lee from Lee Brothers.

 

[RobinTKD]

What a great video Master Cole, thanks for sharing!

 

[Drew Ahn-Kim]

Yes, that is GM Hickey, he attended with GM Limes who is also from GM Ahn's in Cincinnati. GM Hickey is one of the hand full of American born Taekwondoin I consider my big senior. He is a great man and I hold a tremendous amount of respect for him. Like his teacher GM Ahn, he has given me a lot of very good advise over the past 3 decades and I would not have been able to achieve some of the things I have without his help.

Master David Johnson from GM Ahn's school might be GM Hickey's most notable student. David was and still is an excellent fighter. GM Hickey spent a lot of time training him. In the early 90's David needed a coach at Nationals so he grabbed me. I remember sitting in chair thinking he has to be the hardest hitting guy here. His round kicks were lifting people off the ground. He went on to medal at the event. Fast forward to 2007 or 2008, I took a group of competitors to GM Ahn's tournament and got to watch David win gold in the men's WTF black belt division, then fight for the grand championship against a young guy from GM Ki Whang Kim lineage who was I believe the Champion point fighter from NASKA, or some similar group. It was a very close fight, the kid won the match, I think he as coaches by his dad. The kid was really good, good enough that he might be able to switch over to the Olympic circuit. Anyway, David still had it after not competing for many years and being much older.

I'm actually Grandmaster Ahn's oldest grandchild, his first to get a Black Belt, and I grew up around all the aforementioned Grandmasters. They are like family to me, but at the same time when we were at the dojang I was never given any special treatment. Grandmaster Hickey is one of the most stand-up individuals I've met in my life, I still talk to him from time to time, especially for advice on re-entering the world of TaeKwonDo after spending a great deal of my teen years studying Karate and Judo (lived in Japan), followed by a passion for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Master David Johnson was always the most feared competitor in my young eyes, and an absolute stellar competitor and athlete. As a kid he terrified me, but he elevated my game and confidence to amazing levels. I've recently been to the Ahn classic with my Grandfather and I got to meet up with GMs Limes, Hickey, David Johnson and several others. I'm still only 25, and young in my journey as a martial artist, but I have a love and frankly Taekwondo running through my veins, but also have trained at some of the top BJJ gyms with great MMA fighters and coaches. I see ways to keep Taekwondo's spirit and core in tact, while supplementing it with grappling. More than techniques though, its the understanding of the principles of ground fighting, positioning and control, and ESPECIALLY how to get back up.

Anyways, great to see respect for the amazing men mentioned above, and I look foward to engaging in discussions here. Keep it alive brothers and sisters.

 

[Balrog]

Yea I was told to come for the weekend and pay 499.00 and I can get my certificate saying I am certified to teach MMA.

You don't need that, you need this.