Chang Jin Kang

Grandmaster Chang Jin Kang is the founder and head of Il-Do Taekwondo, a Taekwondo school in Orange County, California, and holds the rank of 9th degree black belt.^[1][3]

Early training and competition #

He entered the Song Moo Kwan, described as one of the most prestigious Taekwondo studios in Seoul, in 1958.^[1] He trained directly under Ro Byung-jick, the founder of the Song Moo Kwan.^[2] In 1963 he won the Taekwondo championships at the Korean National Sports Festival, and in 1966 he scored the highest grade in the National Taekwondo Promotion Test.^[1]

Military service #

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1967 after completing the Army R.O.T.C. program. In 1968 he commanded the Korean Army's Taekwondo exhibition team in Vietnam, and in 1970 he ran an exhibition at the Military Academy of Vietnam and received the In-Hun award for distinguished service and military merit. He was honorably discharged as a captain in 1971.^[1]

Il-Do Taekwondo #

In 1975 he directed exhibition tours to 11 European and Middle Eastern countries. In 1980 he opened the Il-Do Taekwondo school in Santa Ana, California. The school later moved to Irvine, where its Irvine school opened in 1991.^[1] Il-Do now has two locations in Irvine: the original school at Heritage Plaza and Elite Fitness Taekwondo at Woodbury Town Center.^[2] The school lists a 2001 "Best Martial Arts School in Orange County" recognition from the Register.^[1]

Rank and organizations #

He was promoted to 9th degree in 1994, in what the school describes as the first test of its kind in the world, and received the 9th degree promotion from the Kukkiwon in 1997.^[1] He earned a second-degree Kumdo rank from the Korea Kum-Do Association in 2004.^[1] He chaired the Martial Arts Committee of the California State Tae Kwon Do Association in 1989, became president of the World Martial Arts Master's Federation in 2003, and joined the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification of Korea in 2005.^[1]

Recognition #

Listed recognition includes a certificate of special recognition from Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (2002), a Kukkiwon award (2006), a lifetime achievement award from South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (2008) and a Kukkiwon letter of commendation (2017).^[1]

University program #

He began teaching Taekwondo classes at Concordia University in 1998 and was named Director and Professor of Taekwondo Education in 2006. In 2007 he directed the first Concordia University Open Taekwondo Tournament and the inauguration of its bachelor's degree program in Taekwondo.^[1] The school describes this as the first bachelor's degree course in Taekwondo outside Korea.^[3] A June 2007 forum discussion mentions a four-year Taekwondo degree at a Concordia University but does not name him.^[4]

Community work #

In 1985 he started a Taekwondo program at Irvine Youth Services. In 1992 he raised $1,500 for the Irvine Police Department's D.A.R.E. program by breaking 500 boards, and in 1993 he broke 1,068 boards in 13 minutes 57.7 seconds, which the school describes as a world record; the Irvine and Santa Ana schools raised $8,361.42 for D.A.R.E. and scholarship funds. In 1996 he organized the Best of the Best Martial Arts Festival for D.A.R.E. programs in Irvine, Santa Ana and Tustin, and in 2002 he hosted the third festival to help victims of the 9/11 attacks. He hosted the first Irvine Mayor's Cup Taekwondo Championship in 2003 and taught Taekwondo as the official P.E. class at CREAN Lutheran High School in 2010.^[1]