Cho Hee-il (born October 13, 1940) is a prominent Korean-American master of taekwondo, holding the rank of 9th dan in the martial art.
[12] Cho later commented in an interview: "All this has created a great conflict within me, for if I cannot use my skill to protect myself from any person who walks in off the street and demands a fight, how can I hope my students will retain confidence in my ability to teach them this skill?
[14] During the late 1980s, Cho was also Senior Grading Examiner of the Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain[15][16] and of Ireland,[citation needed] and was subsequently involved in Global Tae Kwon-Do International in the early 1990s.
This martial arts organization specializes in taekwondo, with schools in cities throughout the United States and Europe.
[4][14] Cho has one son and one daughter: Jacob, 2nd dan, based in Laguna Beach, California [20] and Jasmine, who also trains in taekwondo.
[4] Cho underwent open-heart surgery in 2006,[21] and currently lives and teaches in Honolulu, Hawaii.