Vietnam is one of the foundational international chapters in Kangdukwon history. The lineage began in 1966, when ROK Army Captain Ahn Gun Soon and Captain Kim Tae Sup were assigned to train Vietnamese troops in taekwondo.
The transmission of 1966
Ahn Gun Soon had trained with Hwa Chong in the same dojang at Kwangju Jaeil High School under Kangdukwon co-founders Jong Pyo Hong and Chul Hee Park. In Vietnam, Ahn and Kim Tae Sup passed that training to Vietnamese servicemen. One of them was Nguyễn Kim Châu, whose commitment would become decisive for the survival and growth of Kangdukwon in the country.
From 1966 to 1969, the Korean instructors trained Vietnamese troops during the Vietnam War. Nguyễn Kim Châu preserved the teachings through the turbulent decades that followed and developed Kang Duk Won Moo Do. His long service made him an essential link between the original Korean teachers and later generations of Vietnamese practitioners.
Recognition and renewal
The World Kangdukwon Federation later recognized Nguyễn Kim Châu as a Kangdukwon Grand Master of 9th Dan standing and welcomed the Vietnamese Kang Duk Won Moo Do community. The reconciliation joined two major international branches: the Vietnamese lineage established by Ahn Gun Soon and the American and worldwide federation led by Hwa Chong.
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Read Grand Master Ahn Gun Soon, WKF recognizes and salutes Kangdukwon in Vietnam, Kangdukwon flourishes in Vietnam, and the WKF–Kangdukwon Moo Do Accord.