Ambassadors of the year
Park Chong-Hyon, Park Chong-U
Th ese brothers are third generation Koreans
living in Japan. During WWII their grandfather
moved to Japan. It was a diffi cult time for their
family. In Japan the male is traditionally very
strong. In keeping with this, their parents wanted
both boys to be very strong. At seven Chong-
Hyon started Karate, then switched to Tae Kwon
Do at age 18, after Gen. Choi had introduced
Tae Kwon Do to the Japanese people in 1982.
Chong-U began his martial arts studies at the
age of four. Th ey studied Tae Kwon Do under
Grandmaster Hwang Jin. Chong-Hyong is a
6th dan black belt, and Chong-U is a 5th dan
black belt. Since 1990 they have participated in
the ITF World Tae Kwon Do Championships.
Every two years, beginning in 2008, they
host the Korea/Japan Martial Arts Festival to
promote friendship and teach Tae Kwon Do to
the Japanese people. Th ey say, “We believe it is
important to share the tenets of Tae Kwon Do
with the Japanese people. From Japan, we want
to spread the Tae Kwon Do spirit throughout all
of Asia. We hope to uplift children’s hopes and
dreams by giving them self-confi dence. Th eir
hope is for a bright future where Chong-Hyon
and Chong-U live to be 100 years old and still
put on a dobok on to practice Tae Kwon Do.
taekwondotimes.com / January 2018 23