The founder of the World Tang Soo Do Association was Grandmaster Jae Chul Shin who was one of the leading figures of the martial arts world of the 20th and 21st Century. He was born on 20^th December, 1936 in Seoul, Korea. He began his long and distinguished career in martial arts in 1947, at the age of twelve after being initially inspired by an unknown monk in a desire to learn the martial arts. He joined the Seoul Moo Duk Kwan central gym and began serious study under Grandmaster Hwang Kee, founder of the Korean Moo Duk Kwan system. (There is a picture of Grandmaster Hwang Kee from when he visited St Ives on the St Ives Club page.) By the time he was first Dan, he had started his teaching career as an assistant instructor at the central gym. After that he taught at Korea University where he was studying and where he would earn both his bachelors and master’s degrees in political science. While studying he also taught martial arts at the Seoul Central YMCA, various colleges, different police and military institutions. He was drafted into the South Korean Air Force to teach martial arts in 1958 and taught both American and Korean servicemen at Osan Air Force base where he was stationed. One of the American servicemen that Grandmaster taught was one of his most notable students; Carlos Ray Norris or better known as Chuck Norris.

By the time he had completed his master’s degree in 1968, Grandmaster had been instructing students in martial arts and in particular Tang Soo Do for almost 20 years across South Korea. In that same year with the  sponsorship of Chuck Norris, Grandmaster moved to the United States to continue his graduate studies at Rutgers University and extended his instruction to foreign students as a representative for the Korean Soo Bahk Do Association. He also established the U.S. Tang Soo Do Federation at his first school in Burlington, New Jersey. In 1982, the World Tang Soo Do association was formed with Grandmaster at the helm. Today it is made up of over 150,000 members including 8000 black belts and 300 master instructors in 38 countries. His years of teaching experience and his extreme dedication have added to his scientific and unique methods of teaching Tang Soo Do. His fields of expertise include self-defence, forms, breaking, weapons, health care, ki gong and meditation. He was also the author of several books on our martial art. In March 2010, the World Tang Soo Do Association’s board of directors approved Grandmasters promotion to 9th degree black belt. In July 2010, he was formally promoted to the rank at the association’s annual world championships, after 27 years as an 8th degree black belt. Sadly Grandmaster passed away on 9th July 2012. Grandmaster dedicated his life to developing one of the finest and most effective martial arts: THE WORLD TANG SOO DO ASSOCIATION.

Grandmaster Jae Chul Chin