He began studying gwonbeop Kong Soo Do at an early age under the guidance of Nam Sok Lee, president of the Chang Moo Kwan Association in Seoul.
Kim arrived in the United States in January 1968 and has maintained a central school in Houston, Texas since September of that year.
Kim plans on continuing to teach and to place emphasis on the spiritual as much as the physical aspect of martial arts.
In the 1950s, Park Chul-hee mentioned to Kim he thought their missing master, Yoon Byung-in, may be teaching in Russia.
This inspired Kim to study Russian language and literature in college in hope of traveling to Russia to find Yoon Byung-in.