User:ErinHowarth/6

The following is a list of Taekwondo practicioners who have achieved the highest rank: ninth degree black belt. This rank is accompanied by the title Grand Master. The tenth-degree black belt is a posthumous award.

Within the Songahm system of Taekwondo, there is only one 9th Degree Black Belt at a time. This individual also holds the title of Grand Master and is considered to be the leader of Songahm Taekwondo. Past and present Grand Masters include: Haeng Ung Lee (1969-2000) and Soon Ho Lee (2000-present)


 * 1) Haeng Ung Lee was inagurated as the ninth-degree black belt, Grand Master, and leader of Songahm Taekwondo in 1969 at the age of 33.  He died in 2000 and was posthumously promoted to 10th degree black belt, and awarded the title "Eternal Grand Master".


 * 1) Charles Sereff earned his ninth-degree black belt in 1997 at the age of 64.   He began studying taekwondo at the age of 28, and he earned his first black belt in two years.  In 1963, he opened the fist Korean style martial arts school in the Denver area. In 1974, he helped form the United States Tae Kwon Do Federation (USTF).  In 1975 and 1982 he coached the U.S. team to victories at the ITF World Championships in Montreal and Athens.


 * 1) Young Yee earned his ninth-degree black belt in 1999 at the age of 52.  He teaches in Torrence, California.


 * 1) Soon Ho Lee was inagurated as the ninth-degree black belt, Grand Master, and leader of Songahm Taekwondo in 2000, succeeding his brother,  Haeng Ung Lee.


 * 1) Tim Tieyah earned his ninth-degree black belt in November 2007 at the age of 71.  He is a Native American from the Comanche tribe.  He began studying Taekwondo at the age of 23 and earned his first black belt in 5 years.  He began teaching at the Dallas Police Department, then he opened his own schools, and now he teaches at the YMCA in Topeka.  He teaches Chung-Do Kwon style Taekwondo.
 * 2) Myong Namkung Mayes earned her ninth-degree black belt in December 2007 at the age of 53.  She is the highest ranking woman in the World Taekwondo Federation. In 1987, she founded the U.S. Taekwondo Center in Springlake, North Carolina.  photo


 * 1) Tae Hong Choi earned his ninth-degree black belt.  He earned his first black belt in two years.  His Taekwondo Academy was the first taekwondo school in Oregon.  Choi founded the Oregon State Taekwondo Association and the Northwest Black Belt Association and was its president for 30 years.  In 2007, Choi received the lifetime achievement award from the United States Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. Choi died in Portland, Oregon on March 8, 2009.
 * 2) Hyeon Kon Lee is a 9th Degree Blackbelt certified by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (No: 08-01001607).
 * 3) Dong Keun Park was a Korean National Champion in the 1960s. He pioneered taekwondo in Thailand, and established his own school in New Jersey in 1971.  He coached the U.S. Olympic team in 1988 and 1992.  In 2005, he published a book.
 * 4) Dae Jeong
 * 5) Shin-Chul kang