Pioneer of the Year: Great
Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim
Great Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim is truly
a pioneer. She has been called “Wonder
Woman,” “a phoenix rising from the
ashes,” “hope of the country of Korea,”
and more. She has had to overcome
major obstacles from the moment she
was born and throughout her life.
Born on the Lunar New Year in
1946 into a deeply male-dominated
society in Korea, as a fi rstborn, she was
automatically an outcast, a curse, and bad
luck to her family because she was a girl.
Beaten by her parents every day and left to
starve for days at a time, she was abandoned
during the Korean War. She reunited with her
family after the war, but they wanted to marry
her off as soon as possible or send her to a
monastery. Th ings became worse for her after she
wanted to start training in Tae Kwon Do. Th is
was forbidden for girls. Girls had to learn to cook
and sew, get married and produce lots of sons.
But giving up was not an option. She clung
to her future memories and persistently asked
her uncles to teach her. After a while, her
youngest uncle relented, thinking that after a
few bruises, she would give up. To his dismay,
she only became more motivated, until her
master, an old Buddhist monk, discovered her
at the age of eight and broke 5000 years of
tradition by taking her as his student. He was
a special master and taught her the ancient
art of Ki energy, something rare and special
that very few people ever learned about.
She recalls a special lesson: “One time, in the
middle of a very cold winter, my master took me
to a frozen pond. He asked me to take my outer
clothes off and go sit inside a hole in the pond.
I thought he was crazy, but I still did what he
had asked. I thought I would die, but I changed
my attitude, and that gave me control. After
some time, I realized I felt perfectly warm and
the ice around me was melting! I had my fi rst
taste of the incredible power of Ki energy!”
In 1969, at her master’s suggestion, she came
to America. She only had $300 in her pocket
and an old dictionary. She got a job as a
housecleaner at a motel, sold used cars,
pumped gas on weekends, and eventually
taught Tae Kwon Do at a local school.Even though life was much better in
America, she still faced a lot of prejudice.
She came to rural Vermont, which was
predominantly white, and kids would
yell at her, “Go home, gook!” But
she never gave up her dreams.
When she fi nally could rent a small
place for her school, someone came and
threw trash all over the dojang and set
it on fi re. Yet still she didn’t give up.
Eventually, her determination paid
off. She led the fi rst US Women’s
Team in Tae Kwon Do to the 1978 Pre-
World Games in Seoul, Korea, where they
earned gold, silver and bronze medals. It was a
confi rmation of her motto: “He Can Do, She
Can Do, Why Not Me!” “Th ey didn’t let us
train in the gym with all the men,” gold medal
winner Marcia Hall remembers. “We had to
go outside and train, even though there was
martial law in Korea and there was a strict
curfew. And the men’s team asked the women’s
team to sew patches on their uniforms!”
Dr. Kim is responsible for establishing proper
age, weight, and skill categories for women
in tournaments, and she laid the groundwork
for making it an Olympic sport for women.
“Tae Kwon Do isn’t just kicking and
punching,” she explains. “It is truly a way of
life. Everything you gain in the dojang—self-
confi dence, self-discipline, awareness—are
there for you, no matter where you are or
what you do. Many of my students report
that they got better grades in school or got
job promotions because of their training.
Martial arts are the foundation in your life!”
She has written several books (with more on
the way), has her own TV talk show, and gives
lectures and workshops all over the world.
Her burning desire is to reach out and give
people a chance to become the person they were
meant to be. She is a life coach to presidents,
CEOs, Olympic and professional athletes, and
more. No matter what award she is receiving—
whether that be the Susan B Anthony Award,
Woman of Achievement award, or Woman of
the Year—her greatest reward is knowing that
she is making a diff erence in someone’s life!20 January 2018 / taekwondotimes.com