Kukkiwon

About the Pan American Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Association

The Pan American Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Association (PATMA) is an extension of the Korea Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Association (Hae) (KTMA) and operates under the authority of Grand Master Jae Kyu Chun, President. Grand Master Jong H. Lee is the President, and Grand Master Jin Young Kim is Secretary General of PATMA responsible for the Moo Duk Kwan family in Pan America (Canada, USA, Mexico & South America).

Annual meetings are conducted in an effort to bring the Pan American Moo Duk Kwan family together in honor of our heritage and Kwan. Our goal and purpose is to keep our Kwan alive and contribute to systematic spreading of Taekwondo. The PATMA conducts annual high rank examinations for members wishing to test for high rank (5th Dan & above) within the Korea Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan Associaton. Rank issued by this governing body is registered at the Korea Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan office in Seoul, Korea. The PATMA cooperates fully with the Kukkiwon and strongly recommends all members align themselves with the Kukkiwon for training, curriculum and promotional purposes.

Meaning of Moo Duk Kwan

Moo Duk Kwan is a registered trademark identifying Hwang Kee’s authorized martial art schools and means “School of Martial Virtue”

  • Moo – military, chivalry, martial; within the ideograph the inner part of the symbol is the word for “stop” and the outer part means “weapon”.
  • Duk – benevolence, virtue, goodness, commanding respect; within the ideograph on the left it means “little steps” or “to happen”, and on the right the character means “moral”; thus moral steps or perhaps virtuous conduct.
  • Kwan – large building, palace, library; again within the ideograph the left part looks like a roofed building and technically means “to eat” (under a roof).

Our History

Moo Duk Kwan is the name adopted by Hwang Kee for his martial arts school established in Korea November 9, 1945. Today Moo Duk Kwan and Hwang Kee’s fist logo are federally registered trademarks 3,023,145 and 1,446,944 and 3,119,287 of Hwang Kee’s licensed successor organizations. Hwang Kee named the first martial art system he taught in his Moo Duk Kwan schools Hwa Soo Do. Later Hwang Kee modified the content of his martial art system and named it Tang Soo Do and eventually he modified his martial art system again and adopted the name Soo Bahk Do to reflect the significant changes incorporated into his system including a new series of hyungs.

In 1961 the Korean government initiated a movement to unify all of its country’s martial arts schools under one governing body. This body would originally be called the Korean Tae Soo Do Association and later renamed the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association. The stated purpose was to unify the Kwans and allow for growth of this newly named Korean martial art. “A Modern History of Taekwondo”, reprinted records and minutes of the meetings of the Kwan Unity committee indicating that Hwang Kee was upset that he would not lead the unified group.

In March 1965 three of Hwang Kee’s senior students, Kim Young Taek, Hong Chong Soo, and Lee Kang Ik, led a significant number of practitioners from Hwang Kee’s Moo Duk Kwan schools to join the Tae Kwon Do Kwan Unity Movement and in April 1965 Lee Kang Ik became the president of their group.

The Moo Duk Hae is a social friendship club that endorses the Kukkiwon curriculum. Every year the Moo Duk Hae has an anniversary celebration in Korea, where members from all over the world attend. Attendees include some from the Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan.

Our Lineage

The first president of the Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan was Lee, Kang Ik, elected on 20 November 1965. Hong, Chong Soo was elected the third President of Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan on 27 July 1971. In February of 1974 he was appointed the Vice President of Kuk Ki Won. Many advanced practitioners of Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan followed this lead and broke away from Hwang, Kee. They each became part of the Taekwondo branch of Moo Duk Kwan/Hae.

Though the two Moo Duk Kwans are relatively similar in style and structure, and most Korean Moo Duk Kwan Masters draw their lineage from Hwang, Kee, the two Moo Duk Kwans possess differing forms and a somewhat differing focus upon self-defense. The Taekwondo branch of Moo Duk Kwan does, however, possess substantially more members — approximately five hundred thousand.

Moo Duk Kwan/Hae Current President:

2nd President of the Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan/Hae

  • Grandmaster Chon, Jae Kyu, Seoul, Korea

President of the Pan American Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan/Hae

  • Grandmaster Lee, Jong Hwan, U.S.A. (as appointed by Jae Kyu Chon)

1st President of the Moo Duk Hae (Tae Kwon Do Moo Duk Hae)/Past President

  • Grandmaster Hong, Chong Soo, Seoul, Korea

Moo Duk Kwan Past Presidents:

Founder and 1st President (November 9, 1945)

  • Great Grandmaster Hwang Kee, Seoul, Korea

2nd Presdent, Moo Duk Kwan, Korea Tae Kwon Do Association (November 20. 1965)

  • Grandmaster Lee, Kang Ik, Seoul, Korea

3rd President, Moo Duk Kwan, Korea Tae Kwon Do Association (July 27, 1971)

  • Grandmaster Hong, Chong Soo, Seoul, Korea

4th President, Moo Duk Kwan, Korea Tae Kwon Do Association

  • Grandmaster Kim, In Seok, Seoul, Korea

5th President, Moo Duk Kwan, Korea Tae Kwon Do Association

  • Grandmaster Choi, Nam Do, Seoul, Korea