My
interest in Korean martial arts started when I became a special member
of the US Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Federation (now Soo Bakh Do) led by
Hyun Chul Hwang. This was around 1980 and I was fortunate to obtain a copy
of GM Kee Hwang's book. It was rather easy to do many of the stuff as I
was training in Kyokushin style karate at the time. The forms such as Kicho
Yung Il boo, etc. Pyong Ahn, etc. because of its Japanese origins were
easy to adapt to. Around the same time, in corresponding with the WTF -
I was asked if I did not want to open a branch in South Africa for the
WTF. This eventually led me to dabble in TKD - but it was first of an ITF
nature.
In 1994 I competed in the World Championships of the "TaeKwonDo International" organisation held in Leicester, England. In that same year I had won the Grand Championships of the South African TaeKwonDo Union. I continued with this interest and in October 1999, I participated in the Hanmadang of the US National TKD Federation (Dr. Duk Gun Kwon).
One of my dearest colleagues is very much into TKD and because of him also, I am administratively involved in the sport. Because of the high amount of kicks utilized by my primary system (Ashihara Karate), it makes it easier for our students to compete.