Taekwondo Grandmaster & Man Of Contrasts, Hee Il Cho
9th degree Black Belt Master Cho, who turns 70 this year, empitomizes the winning attitude of “I Can And I Will”.
Born in Pohang, Korea, in 1940 during the Japanese occupation and growing up as an adolescent during the Korean War (1950-53) life was not for the faint of heart.
Master Cho started his martial arts training at about the age of 10 after being beaten by a couple of teenage punks.
And again, his Tang Soo Do training was not for the faint of heart. Only the toughest made it through the rigorous daily 5-6 hour grind.
By the age of only 13, Master Cho attained his 1st dan and upon reaching the age of 21 he was a 4th degree Black Belt!
He complemented his Taekwondo training with boxing for around 2 years.
When he was 22 years old, Master Cho was called to serve in the Korean Army. During his tour he even taught Taekwondo to Indian, Korean and U.S. special forces.
By the time he left Korea for the United States in 1968, Master Cho was already a 6th dan.
After moving from Chicago, South Bend (Indiana) and Providence (Rhode Island) he ended up in Los Angeles where he lived, trained and taught from 1975 till 2000.
No other Taekwondo practitioner in the world has donned more martial arts magazine covers than Master Cho. More than 70 times!
Master Cho has been considered controversial by some in the Takewondo community for his views on how the art should progress and evolve, all whilst maintaining tradition and on the same token expecting TKD to move forward. He also ruffled feathers for incorporating boxing training and techniques to make Taekwondo practitioners more-rounded martial artists.
The Black Belt Hall of Fame Inductee and Black Belt Instructor of the Year has been marveled for his kicking abilities, especially his spinning kicks.
Master Cho has displayed his amazing kicking skills in countless books (e.g. “Man Of Contrasts”), videos, movies and seminars conducted throughout his martial arts career that now spans 60 years.
Hee Il Cho continues to teach in Hawaii where he now lives.
I would like to end today’s post with a very interesting statement Master Cho made in reference to a number of incidents, in which after being challenged by some guys walking into his school and beating them and then only to get sued for injuring them.
“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 student will retain confidence in my ability to teach them this skill? And yet, if I use my skill and hurt someone, even in self-defense, have I not betrayed the spirit of what martial arts are all about?”
And I know how much you enjoy “Masters In Action”:
7 Comments to Taekwondo Grandmaster & Man Of Contrasts, Hee Il Cho
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Adding boxing to TKD is something that needs to be done. In my school we did have the jab but pretty much everything else was traditional and chambered.
Master Cho’s power is very impressive – I also like how he specifically teaches eye pokes. Some schools water down tactics like that for fear of losing children (it scares the parents).
TigerMarch 1, 2010
Thanks for your comments, Bob.
I agree with you that truly great masters like Hee Il Cho
impress by helping traditional styles progress.
I like the way he has incorporated techniques from other
styles such as boxing that have a proven track record.
You’re right about the eye poke. So effective.
“Watering down tactics suck.”
Thanks again for writing in, Bob.
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
TigerMay 2, 2010
Thank you for your acknowledgement.
Stay tuned for more updates on martial arts greats.
Thanks again for writing in.
My good friend invited me to my first TKD tournament in LA in the early 1980. The tournament was put on by Master Cho and during one sparing match between my friend and another black belt that broke out into a shouting match between the other fighter teacher and the referee due to what he thought was a poor job by the referee. After shouting at the referee and later shouting at my friend teacher, the two Masters were about to get it on and along came Master Cho who must have felt disrespected by this teacher behavior at his tournament who looked like he wanted a fight. Before you could blink an eye, Master Cho put him down on the floor and before you could blink your eyes again Master Cho must have kicked him 4 or 5 times in the face. This instructor was bleeding all over and the police came and ended the tournament.
You don’t want to mess with or disrespect Master Cho.
TigerAugust 25, 2010
Thanks for writing in, Milt.
Wow! What an experience that must have been.
Sounds almost like ‘No Holds Barred’ and the beginning of Ultimate Fighting 
Thanks again for sharing your story.
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March 1, 2010