Grand Master Jung Hwan Park
Master Park participated in the first National Tae Kwon Do Championship competition ever held in Korea and arose as Champion of the kyung-Pook Providence. In 1965 he was appointed caption of the Korea National Team to compete against the champion Japanese team in Taegu City. During this period he also earned a black belt in Judo
In 1966, while at kyung-Pook University in Taegu City, he was awarded a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. During this same time he joined the Korean Army as a lieutenant (ROTC)
He was assigned as Tae Kwon Do instructor to the South Vietnamese Army in 1967. While serving in South Vietnam he was captured and became a prisoner of war of the Vietcong. However, young Lieutenant Park seized an opportunity to utilize his skills in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido and managed to escape.
Upon returning home to Korea in 1969 Master Park was recognized as a National War Hero. He later published an autobiographical account of his Vietnam experiences entitled Though the Jungle of Death.
Dr. Park began Hapkido training in 1958. This training included three years of private lessons from the late Grand Master Yong-Sool Choi, the founder of modern Hapkido. In 1970 he earned the sixth degree black belt. Eight years later he was awarded the seventh degree black belt from Grand Master Choi.
In 1972 Grand Master Yong-Sool Choi personally gave Dr. Park his blessing and official authorization to build a Hapkido organization in America. Upon his arrival in the United States Dr. Park opened a school in New York City. Which he subsequently relocated to Florida.
The prestigious eighth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, which includes the title of Grand Master, was awarded to the Dr. Park in the 1982 by the world Tae Kwon Do federation (kuk Ki Won).
In 1985 he founded the United States Hapkido Association and World Traditional Hapkido Federation. A year later he published a book entitled Traditional Tae kwon Do with text and photographic instruction of this martial art, from white through blue belts. He later produced a series of instructional videotapes on Hapkido.
Presently Grand Master Park resides on the West Coast of Florida and presides over his school, teaching his skills and knowledge to a wide variety of age groups. He frequently travels to branch schools located in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Alaska, Florida and Puerto Rico conducting demonstrations and lending his expertise to much sought after seminars.
