Moving to the West
In 1967, Grandmaster Kim moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was there that he started his first Taekwondo club whilst working very hard as a full-time academic student. At that time, no one in Winnipeg knew what Taekwondo was, but those who witnessed it were no less than impressed. The club flourished, and eventually, Grandmaster Kim was able to invite a leading Taekwondo master, Mr Jung Tae Park, to move to Winnipeg and open a school together. Although Grandmaster Kim’s academic pursuits required much of his time when the new school opened, he continued to teach under Mr. Park’s guidance and learned from him. Today, Grandmaster Park is currently the president of the Global Tae Kwon Do Federation.
In 1971, Grandmaster Kim moved to Boston and started teaching at local universities. He also had the honour of being invited to the home of General Choi Hong Hi, the acknowledged founder of modern-day Taekwondo. After a brief review of forms, General Choi invited Grandmaster Kim to receive personal training from him. This was the greatest honour for a Taekwondo practitioner as General Choi usually only teaches a handful of instructors in his abode. Grandmaster Kim then visited General Choi periodically to receive personal instruction until 1978. It was also during this period that Grandmaster Kim, with encouragement of General Choi, opened his Taekwondo school in Boston.