Taekwondo in America

Taekwondo became one of the most popular martial arts in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. Korean instructors, military connections, college programs, tournaments, family martial arts schools, demonstration teams, and action movies all helped introduce Taekwondo to American students. [18][19][20]

Many Americans first experienced Taekwondo through local dojangs, recreation centers, YMCA programs, military bases, college clubs, and commercial martial arts schools. For some students, Taekwondo was a traditional martial art with forms, basics, one-step sparring, breaking, and self-defense. For others, it was a sport focused on competition, sparring, trophies, and tournaments.

Taekwondo also became very popular with families and children. Its belt system, structured classes, discipline, goal setting, and emphasis on confidence made it attractive to parents. Large organizations such as ATA, USTA, ITA, and later Tiger-Rock helped shape the American martial arts school model by combining Taekwondo training with leadership programs, tournaments, rank progression, and school branding. [14][15][16][17]

In America, Taekwondo also influenced sport karate, point fighting, demonstration teams, tricking, movie fight choreography, and fitness programs. High kicks, spinning kicks, breaking demonstrations, musical forms, and synchronized demo teams helped make Taekwondo exciting to watch and easy for the public to recognize. [19][22]

This page looks at how Taekwondo spread in the United States and how Korean martial arts became part of American martial arts culture.

Jhoon Rhee and the Early Spread of Taekwondo in America

One of the most important figures in American Taekwondo history was Jhoon Rhee. He is often remembered as the “Father of American Taekwondo” because of his role in spreading the art throughout the United States, especially in the Washington, D.C. area. [18]

Rhee opened his first school in Washington, D.C. in 1962 and became one of the best-known Korean martial arts instructors in America. His schools helped introduce Taekwondo to students, families, politicians, celebrities, and martial artists during a time when Korean martial arts were still new to many Americans. [18]

Jhoon Rhee was also known for making Taekwondo exciting and public-friendly. He promoted martial arts demonstrations, musical forms, and creative performances that helped bring Taekwondo into American popular culture. His “martial ballet” and musical form demonstrations helped influence later sport karate, creative forms, demonstration teams, and performance-based martial arts. [19]

His impact went beyond kicking and punching. Rhee emphasized discipline, confidence, respect, fitness, and personal development. This helped shape the way many American schools presented Taekwondo as both a martial art and a character-building activity.

Jhoon Rhee’s influence is important because he helped make Taekwondo visible in America before it became widely known through the Olympics, large organizations, and commercial martial arts schools. His work helped create the foundation for Taekwondo’s growth across the United States.

Hee Il Cho and Taekwondo Instructional Media

Another major figure in American Taekwondo was Grandmaster Hee Il Cho. Cho became well known for his powerful kicking, technical skill, books, magazine appearances, instructional videos, seminars, and martial arts films. He helped introduce many American students to a strong, traditional, and highly athletic image of Taekwondo. [20][21]

Cho began training at a young age and became known for his speed, flexibility, and powerful kicking ability. His background included teaching martial arts in military settings before later becoming one of the most visible Taekwondo instructors in the United States. [20]

During the 1980s and 1990s, instructional books and videos became very important for martial artists. Before YouTube and online courses, students often learned about martial arts through magazines, VHS tapes, books, seminars, and mail-order training materials. Hee Il Cho was one of the Taekwondo masters who became widely recognized through these formats. [20][21]

His books and videos helped many students see Taekwondo as a serious martial art with strong basics, powerful kicks, breaking, self-defense, forms, and disciplined training. He also appeared in martial arts films, which helped connect Taekwondo to the action movie culture of the time. [20][21]

Cho founded the Action International Martial Arts Association, or AIMAA, which helped spread his approach to Taekwondo through schools, instructors, seminars, and organized curriculum. His influence reached beyond one local school because his material could be seen and studied by martial artists across the country. [20]

Hee Il Cho’s impact is important because he represented the era when martial arts masters became known through magazines, books, videos, seminars, and movies. For many American martial artists, his image helped define what powerful traditional Taekwondo looked like.ur text here...

ATA and the Rise of the American Family Martial Arts School

The American Taekwondo Association, or ATA, became one of the most important Taekwondo organizations in the United States. Founded by Haeng Ung Lee, often known as Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, ATA grew into a large martial arts organization with schools, tournaments, leadership programs, instructor training, and its own curriculum known as Songahm Taekwondo. [14][15]

ATA helped shape the modern American family martial arts school. Many ATA schools focused not only on kicking, forms, sparring, and self-defense, but also on confidence, respect, discipline, goal setting, leadership, and personal growth. This made ATA especially popular with children and families.

One reason ATA became so successful was its structured approach. Students had a clear belt system, organized testing, uniforms, patches, tournaments, and leadership programs. This gave students and parents a strong sense of progress and belonging. The school was not just a place to learn techniques; it became a community.

ATA also separated itself from other branches of Taekwondo by developing Songahm forms. Instead of using Kukkiwon Taegeuk poomsae or ITF Chang Hon patterns, ATA created its own forms system under H.U. Lee. This gave ATA a unique identity within American Taekwondo. [15][33]

The rise of ATA showed how Taekwondo adapted to American culture. It became a martial art, a sport, a family activity, a leadership program, and a school business model all at the same time. For many Americans, especially during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, ATA schools were their first introduction to Taekwondo.

USTA, ITA, Tiger-Rock, and Southern Taekwondo School Culture

Another important part of American Taekwondo history came from the USTA / ITA / Tiger-Rock line. This branch is especially connected to the southern United States, where instructors and schools helped build a large network of Taekwondo programs outside of the better-known Kukkiwon, ITF, and ATA branches. [16][17]

This history can be confusing because students from different eras may remember different names. Some remember USTA, some remember Taekwondo Plus, some remember ITA, some remember Ho-Am Taekwondo, and others remember Tiger-Rock. These names represent different stages in the development of the same larger American Taekwondo line. [17][35][38]

The official Tiger-Rock history connects the organization to Art Monroe, Craig Kollars, and Bert Kollars, who helped build schools in the southern United States. In 1983, the International Taekwondo Alliance was formed to provide curriculum and support for schools. Over time, that organization became Tiger-Rock Martial Arts International. [17]

This line is important because it shows how Taekwondo grew through regional school networks. In places like Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and other parts of the South, students often experienced Taekwondo through local instructors, family schools, tournaments, and testing programs rather than through direct Korean national organizations.

The USTA / ITA / Tiger-Rock branch also shows how American Taekwondo schools developed their own identity. Some earlier students remember older Chang Hon / ITF-influenced forms, while later students remember Ho-Am forms and Tiger-Rock curriculum. This shows how the organization changed over time while still keeping Taekwondo as its foundation. [16][34]

By the late 2000s, Tiger-Rock moved further into a formal franchise model. Franchise records state that Tiger Rock Martial Arts International, Inc. was formerly known as International TaeKwonDo Alliance, Inc., and that many existing licensees converted into franchised Tiger-Rock locations in late 2008 and early 2009. [38]

The USTA / ITA / Tiger-Rock line matters because it represents a major part of how Taekwondo was practiced in everyday American communities. For many students, especially in the South, this was the version of Taekwondo they grew up with through local schools, belt tests, tournaments, leadership programs, and family martial arts training.

Taekwondo Demonstration Teams and Performance Culture

Taekwondo became popular in America not only through schools and tournaments, but also through demonstration teams. These teams helped show the public what Taekwondo looked like by performing powerful kicks, board breaking, synchronized movement, self-defense routines, weapons demonstrations, and creative forms.

Demonstration teams were exciting because they made Taekwondo visual. A student might not understand the deeper history of the art, but they could immediately recognize a flying side kick, a spinning hook kick, a high jump kick, or a dramatic board break. These performances helped make Taekwondo one of the most recognizable martial arts to American audiences.

Jhoon Rhee helped influence this performance culture through his musical forms and “martial ballet” demonstrations. His approach helped connect Taekwondo to rhythm, music, showmanship, and creative martial arts performance. This later influenced sport karate, creative forms, musical forms, and demonstration team culture. [19]

The West Coast Demo Team, connected to Ernie Reyes Sr. and Ernie Reyes Jr., also became a major part of American martial arts performance culture. Their routines included synchronized kicking, acrobatic aerial kicks, music-timed movement, and high-energy martial arts demonstrations. This helped inspire later demo teams, sport karate competitors, trickers, and martial arts performers. [22]

Taekwondo demonstration teams also helped promote martial arts schools. Many schools performed at festivals, halftime shows, school events, tournaments, shopping malls, and community programs. These demonstrations brought attention to local schools and gave students a chance to show confidence, teamwork, discipline, and skill in front of an audience.

This performance side of Taekwondo became a bridge between traditional martial arts, sport karate, tricking, and action entertainment. High kicks, spinning kicks, jump kicks, and breaking demonstrations became part of the public image of Taekwondo in America.

Taekwondo’s Influence on Sport Karate, Movies, and Fitness

Taekwondo had a major influence on American sport karate, action movies, and martial arts fitness. Its high kicks, spinning kicks, jump kicks, fast footwork, and board-breaking demonstrations made it exciting to watch and easy for the public to recognize.

In sport karate, Taekwondo-style kicking helped shape point fighting, forms competition, creative forms, musical forms, and demonstration events. Many open tournament competitors used fast side kicks, spinning hook kicks, axe kicks, jump kicks, and flexible kicking combinations that were strongly influenced by Taekwondo training. This helped give American sport karate a more athletic and performance-based look.

Taekwondo also influenced movie fight choreography. High kicks, spinning kicks, and jumping kicks became popular in martial arts films because they looked dramatic on camera. Actors and martial artists with Taekwondo backgrounds helped bring those techniques into action movies, television, and stunt work. [22][23][26][27]

Taekwondo also reached the fitness world through programs such as Tae Bo, created by Billy Blanks. Tae Bo mixed martial arts-style kicking and punching with cardio fitness and became extremely popular during the 1990s. Even though Tae Bo was not traditional Taekwondo, it helped bring Taekwondo-style movement to people who may have never stepped into a dojang. [23][24]

This influence shows how Taekwondo became more than a martial art practiced inside schools. It became part of American pop culture. People saw Taekwondo-style movement in tournaments, demo teams, movies, workout videos, school assemblies, and local martial arts demonstrations.

Taekwondo’s impact in America came from both tradition and entertainment. It taught discipline, forms, sparring, and self-defense, but it also gave the public some of the most exciting kicks and performances in martial arts culture.

Why Taekwondo Became So Popular in America

Taekwondo became popular in America because it offered something for many different types of students. Some people were drawn to the kicking and sparring. Others liked the discipline, forms, and traditional structure. Parents liked the confidence, respect, and goal-setting that Taekwondo schools often taught to children. Athletes liked the speed, flexibility, and competition side of the art.

The belt system also helped Taekwondo grow. Students could see clear progress from white belt to black belt, and each test gave them a goal to work toward. This made Taekwondo easy for families to understand and easy for schools to organize. Rank progression gave students motivation and gave parents a way to see their child’s development over time.

Taekwondo also fit well into American community life. Schools opened in shopping centers, recreation centers, YMCA programs, churches, colleges, military bases, and family martial arts academies. This made Taekwondo accessible to children, teenagers, adults, and families who may not have had access to older traditional martial arts schools.

The art was also exciting to watch. High kicks, spinning kicks, board breaking, flying kicks, and demonstration teams helped Taekwondo stand out from other martial arts. Even people who did not train could recognize the athletic kicking style.

Large organizations such as ATA, USTA, ITA, Tiger-Rock, Kukkiwon schools, and independent instructors helped spread Taekwondo across the country. Each branch had its own way of teaching, but together they helped make Taekwondo one of the most common martial arts in American communities. [14][15][17]

Taekwondo’s popularity came from this combination of tradition, sport, family programs, discipline, fitness, performance, and accessibility. It could be practiced as a martial art, a sport, a character-building activity, a fitness program, or a path to personal confidence.

Why Taekwondo in America Matters

Taekwondo in America matters because it shows how a Korean martial art became part of everyday American martial arts culture. It did not spread through only one path. It grew through Korean masters, military connections, tournaments, family schools, college programs, demonstration teams, movies, fitness programs, and local instructors teaching in their communities.

In America, Taekwondo became more than one single style. Some schools followed Kukkiwon / World Taekwondo, some followed ITF, some came through ATA, USTA, ITA, Tiger-Rock, or independent lineages. This variety helped Taekwondo reach more people, but it also made American Taekwondo very diverse from school to school. [2][6][14][17]

This history is important because many American martial artists first entered martial arts through Taekwondo. For some, it was their first black belt. For others, it became a foundation for kickboxing, sport karate, tricking, MMA, self-defense, or action performance. Taekwondo helped introduce generations of students to discipline, kicking, forms, sparring, breaking, respect, and martial arts culture.

Taekwondo also helped shape the business side of American martial arts. Family programs, children’s classes, leadership teams, tournaments, demonstration teams, belt testing, and school branding became major parts of how martial arts were taught in the United States.

The American story of Taekwondo is important because it shows how martial arts change when they move into new cultures. Taekwondo kept its Korean roots, but it also adapted to American schools, families, athletes, performers, and communities. That blend of tradition and adaptation is one of the reasons Taekwondo became one of the most widely recognized martial arts in America.

Source Note

Sources used on this page: [2], [6], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [26], [27], [35], [38]

Citation numbers refer to the full Taekwondo Sources and References page.