Who was Ki Whang Kim?

Answer 1

Ki Whang Kim (aka Kim Ki Whang) was a grandmaster in Korean Martial Arts. He was for a long time the Chairman in the US of the Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Association. He is well known in the history of the unification of several Korean martial arts into the overall style known as Taekwondo.

Just to add: Ki Whang Kim trained directly under Toyama Kanken. He was drafted into the Japanese military after high school and went to Nihon University in Japan. He also train with Gozo Shioda in Yoshikan Aikido and while stationed in China he trained in Kung-Fu. He came to the USA in 1963 and began teaching Moo Duk Kwan at the YMCA in downtown Washington DC. Ki Whang Kim joined the Taekwondo movement and was recognized as a 9th Dan in 1971 by the Korean Taekwondo Association. Grandmaster Ki Whang Kim produced some of Americas best martial arts fighters and forms competitors including Albert Cheeks, George Thanos, Mike Warren, Marcella Byrd, John Critzos, Mitchell Barbrow, Kyu Sang Whang, Bernard Floyd, James Roberts Jr, Tom Mickens...etc. The students of Ki Whang Kim have the most listed wins at Henry Cho's All American Open.-Hercules Baxter