Lee had studied Taekkyon in An Gup Dong[3] (a neighborhood in Seoul), karate with Sensei Gichin Funakoshi in Okinawa, and kung fu at centers in Henan and Shanghai in China.
According to Yong Taek Chung (a student of Lee) "it is probable that he did practice in secret as a teenager because he told this author that when he first started training he and his first teachers would not exchange names due to possible consequences if someone got caught."
According to Won Kuk Lee interview, the main differences among Korean style Tang Soo Do, Karate, and Kung Fu were in how pressure points were used and attacked.
After being released, Lee and his family emigrated back to Japan immediately prior to the beginning of the Korean War.
He is also a previous leader of the Chung Do Kwan, as well as the ex-President of the Kukkiwon, succeeding longtime President Kim Un Yong.
As one of Lee Won Kuk's original and first students, Uhm remains a link to the earliest days of Taekwondo.
As Head of Chung Do Kwan and President of the Kukkiwon, he spent decades ensuring that Kukki Taekwondo retains the power, etiquette, high technique, manners, and Way that makes it one of the world's preeminent martial arts.
Kang Suh Chong started his martial arts training in 1938 in Yudo, Su Bahk Do, and later became a student of Tang Soo Do/Kong Soo Do under Lee Won Kuk (Chung Do Kwan Founder) and is a graduate of the first class of Chung Do Kwan Black Belts.
Kang came to the United States in 1969, already an 8th Dan Black Belt, with his family and founded his own Tae Kwon Do academy in Brooklyn, New York.
Before his death, Lee Won Kuk promoted Kang Suh Chong to 10th Dan Black Belt.
While his family had been highly respected and part of the educated class they lost everything during the Japanese occupation and, like most during that time, struggled for survival.
Not until he was a young man, at the age of 19, did Yong Taek Chung begin to train in the art of Tang Soo Do under the instruction of Won Kuk Lee.
During Chung's time in Tokyo as well as in Kansas City he would regularly receive visits from his old instructor, Won Kuk Lee.
Jhoon Rhee states that he learned the Chang Hon forms from the South Korean Army Field Manual sent to him by Choi Hong Hi.
The Chang Hon set of forms are still taught by independent American Taekwondo instructors who came from the Jhoon Rhee lineage.
After witnessing that demonstration, he asked his father if he could join the YMCA Kwon Bup Bu under Yoon Byung In.
During the Korean War, Park was assigned to the ROK Army Signal Corps and served in the same unit as Uhm Woon Kyu.
He first began teaching at Seoul National University in 1955 before becoming the Chief Taekwondo Instructor for the Presidential Protective Forces at the Bluehouse in 1962.
When Korea, first became a republic, the first President Park Chung Hee ordered 6 of the top martial arts to send their best fighter to be his bodyguard.
He has trained with teachers such as Won Kuk Lee, Duk Sung Son, Yong Taek Chung, and Tae Hi Nam.
This degree was granted by Grandmaster Uhm, Woon Kyu, Head of Kukkiwon Institute, and Chung Do Kwan.
Hyun Ok Shin - United Chung Do Kwan Association Hae Man Park - Current President of Taekwondo Chung Do Kwan Kyu Seok Lee - Senior VP Asian Tae Kwon Do Union Beginning in early times, Chung Do Kwan technique and philosophy centered on mastering basics, developing powerful technique, pinpoint accuracy in application, strong kicking, and deep appreciation for manners and etiquette.
All in an effort to restore the good reputation once held by Korean martial arts and distance itself from the notion of Taekwondo students as troublemakers.
The Chung Do Kwan still exists in Korea and now functions as a fraternal friendship social club which is no longer a martial arts style.
The Chung Do Kwan still issues Dan and other types of certificates from its world headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.
Some of the older Chung Do Kwan based schools practice the original Pyong-Ahn forms which LEE Won Kuk incorporated from Shotokan karate.
Schools tracing their lineage to Duk Sung Son when he founded the World Tae Kwon Do Association in the United States after leaving Korea also practice Kuk Mu forms.
Many Chung Do Kwan schools also practice the Chang Hun tul, even if they are not affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation.