The Next Generation
by Master Nguyen Quang Cuong
Songlong Martial Arts Training Ltd. Co.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Kangdukwon Taekwondo, introduced to Vietnam by Korean Grandmaster (then ROK Army captain) Ahn Gun Soon in 1966-1969 during that nation’s decades-long armed struggle, has survived repeated hardships and challenges over the intervening decades.
Thanks to Grandmaster Soon’s student and successor Grandmaster Nguyen Kim Châu, Kangdukwon Taekwondo took root in Vietnam and today boasts several schools with hundreds of students, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City but also with many branches abroad. Here one of Grandmaster Châu’s senior students describes the challenges that Kang Duk Won Moo Do today faces–and the characteristic resolve of Kangdukwon in Vietnam to overcome those challenges.
“I am Nguyen Quang Cuong, born in Vietnam in 1983. In 1991, at age fourteen I began to learn Taekwondo as a student of Grandmaster Nguyen Kim Chau. In 1994 I advanced to 1st dan; in 1996 2nd dan; in 1999 3rd dan; in 2004 4th dan; in 2010 to 5th dan; and in 2017 to 6th dan–all certified by Korean Grand Master Ahn Gun Soon, our Grandmaster Chau’s teacher.
Our beloved master Nguyen Kim Chau once held a strong position in Vietnamese Taekwondo. However, since his retirement, our Grandmaster Chau is almost retired, and in 2018 his teacher Grandmaster Ahn Gun Soon also passed away.
In 2017, I established Songlong Martial Arts Training Ltd. Co., a private martial arts training company in Vietnam. We operate six schools, including four schools in Binh Chanh District and two schools in Binh Tan District of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Our schools teach two hundred children and a hundred adults, with 20 lecturers, 20 assistants, and several peer coaches from 1st dan up to 5th dan.
Due to circumstances in Vietnam, Kangdukwon has not been officially recognized here. So generations like ours are not connected with other masters to help with advancement. Today, thanks to the connection with WKF, we can express our aspirations to go forward in the right direction to join the WKF and the Kangdukwon Taekwondo family of the world.
We need the opportunity to meet the senior masters of Kang Duk Won in Korea and the USA, so our generation and future generations may enjoy officially recognized Kangdukwon Taekwondo in Vietnam. We respectfully welcome Kangdukwon Taekwondo masters to facilitate and realize the our wish to transform, to promote the World Kukkiwon diploma, to participate, to connect as official members of the World Kangdukwon Federation. And so our national Kangdukwon Taekwondo federation may be legally recognized in Vietnam. Thank you very much, masters!”