Kangdukwon Founders

1958 test for 4th degree master's rank in Kang Duk Won. The test was supervised by Park Chul-Hee, the head of this kwan at the time. Park is seen in the center of the photograph.

A History of Kangdukwon Taekwondo

The Kang Duk Won was founded after the Korean War in 1956 by two people who practiced martial arts at the YMCA Kwon Bup Bu. They were HONG Jong Pyo and PARK Chul Hee. The first Kwan Jang was HONG Jong Pyo.

Kang Duk Won was founded after YMCA Kwon Bup Bu’s founder, YOON Byung In, was kidnapped to North Korea. Hong Jong Pyo and Park Chul Hee had conflicts with Lee Nam Suk and Kim Soon Bae, which led to a separation. Regarding this, Kang Duk Won’s second Kwan Jang, Park Chul Hee, said: “After the Korean War, when the members were scattered, the Chang Moo Kwan and Kang Duk Won came out of the YMCA Kwon Bup Bu’s root. Therefore, we cannot say that the Kang Duk Won was from the Chang Moo Kwan.”

After starting the dojang in Shin Sul Dong, Seoul in 1956, Kang Duk Won was named, which meant “house of teaching generosity”. This motto became the symbol of the Kang Duk Won.
The Kang Duk Won was not a big school. The first members were:

LEE Kum Hong (the present WTF Secretary General);
KIM Yong Chae (5th KTA President)
LEE, Jung Hoo
LEE, Kang Hwi
HAN Jung Il
KIM Pyung Soo
JI Seung Won
IM Bok Jin and others.

Later the Kang Duk Won constantly moved from Chang Sin Dong to Chung Jin Dong to Suh Dae Moon Gu to Seoul Gymnasium to Suh Dae Moon Gu Lottery and other places. When LEE Kum Hong became the third Kwan Jang, the Kang Duk Won moved to In Sa Dong and settled there. Presently, the Kang Duk Won Moo Do Hwe (Kang Moo Hwe) continues on.

Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee passed away on 2 April 2016 at 12:05 AM in Seoul, South Korea. He was 84. Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee was a direct student of Grandmaster Yoon Byung-In, the first Korean national to bring the martial art of chu'an fa (aka kung fu) back to Korea after studying in Manchuria and Shanghai, China. When Grandmaster Yoon disappeared in August 1950, Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee continued to teach Grandmaster Yoon's curriculum, and founded the Kang Duk Kwon (which means Academy Teaching Virtue) in 1956 in Seoul, South Korea. Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee was born in 1932.

Park, Chul-hee (1932 – 4 April 2016) was one of the two cofounders, along with Hong Jong Pyo, of the Kang Duk Kwan, one of the original Nine Kwans of taekwondo. Hong and Hee were students at Chang Moo Kwan but had personal conflicts with Suk Nam Lee and Kim Soon Bae, so in 1956 they left Chang Moo Kwan to open their own school – the Kang Duk Kwan – in nearby Shinsuldong, Seoul.

Park Chul-hee was a senior student of Great Grandmaster Yoon Byung-in and co-founded Kang Duk Won (“Academy of Moral Teaching”) with Grandmaster Hong Jong-pyo in 1954. Grandmaster Hong is one of the early students of Yoon, Byung-in. He, is the founder of Hung Moo-Kwan and Kwon Bop club at the Law College of Seoul National University in Korea and co-founded Kang Duk Won with Grandmaster Park Chul-hee in 1954.

Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee passed away on 2 April 2016 at 12:05 AM in Seoul, South Korea. He was 84. Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee was a direct student of Grandmaster Yoon Byung-In, the first Korean national to bring the martial art of chu’an fa (aka kung fu) back to Korea after studying in Manchuria and Shanghai, China. When Grandmaster Yoon disappeared in August 1950, Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee continued to teach Grandmaster Yoon’s curriculum, and founded the Kang Duk Kwon (which means Academy Teaching Virtue) in 1956 in Seoul, South Korea. Grandmaster Park Chul-Hee was born in 1932.

Kangdukwon cohorts in 1958 — 1958 test for 4th degree master’s rank in Kang Duk Won. The test was supervised by **Park Chul-Hee**, the head of Kangdukwon at the time. Park is seen in the center of the photograph.

GM Hwa Chong and GM Park Dong Gun at GM Kim Byung Soo’s dojang in the early 1960s.

Kangdukwon senior instructors ca. 1970 — Kangdukwon senior instructors in Michigan during GM **Park, Chul-hee**‘s 1970 visit.

Left to right: Grand Masters Sung-won Chi, Park Chul-Hee, Kim Soo — Left to right: Grand Masters Sung-won Chi, Park Chul-Hee (1932 – 4 April 2016), and Kim Soo. Taken at the Taekyun Dojang run by master Do Ki-Hyun on Insadong, Seoul, 2010