Grandmaster Woo Jin Jung 

Below is a  partial story  of Grand Master Jung`s life provided by www.mooto.com

'December 31, 1971. I landed on this airport, which was covered with snow like a meter high. My
future seemed gloomy but it was still wonderful. Yes! This is the land for me to challenge and fight.

I had mixed feelings here like both confusion and wonder.
Grandmaster Jung, Woo Jin reflected the very first day when he took the first step on Iowa this way:
'This is the land for me to challenge and fight.' It's been 29 years since he settled in USA, and now
he has become the winner of the fight. Nobody knows him without taking him as most successful
Taekwondo master in USA.
He now runs 7 Fitness centers, and has some huge malls, too. He owns 36 acres' Taekwondo
training site in Rocky, Springs, Colorado. He is also the president of 'Taekwondo Times' world-
famous Taekwondo technical magazine.
Most Korean instructors who are living in USA remember how much money they had with them when
they first went over to USA. It's the same with president Jung. When he first went to USA, he had only
5 dollars; he's almost penniless.

Since president Jung was not that good in English, nor was he prepared for life in USA, he had really
hard days. His first job in USA was a pump man in a gas station.
He was so poor when he was a pump man. He was so hungry. He actually had all kinds of jobs in
Korea, too, but living in a foreign country was much harder than he expected.

Here is a story that tells you how difficult days he had as a pump man. Listen to his telling his own
story.

"At first, I had hard times, but every morning I was excited. Earliest memory is that I had to work from 6
in the morning to evening, but I was supposed to spend only 20 dollars a month. It was hard.
There lay a KFC on the way to the gas station. At home I was supposed to eat only some rice and
water, so I couldn't afford to buy some from that store. So I bought a piece a week on Friday. I became
happy from Thursday. I ate even bones.
It was most delicious thing in my life. Sometimes I go there, looking at trees in front of the store. I go
to KFC and eat one on Dec. 31 every year.'
Since he was so hungry that he ate even bones back in those days, he is still very thrifty even though
he owns 7 fitness centers and a huge mall around USA. He looked like a janitor in one of his fitness
centers in Iowa.
While I was looking around his fitness center, he picked up some garbage and dropped into a
garbage can. I saw him picking up dirty things in pools. It is a rare thing to see from ordinary great
business men.

Profile
1942 Born in Kaesan-Li Cheongnyang-Nyeon Wulsan-Gun Kyeongnam on Feb. 20
1962 Graduated from Kyeongnam Engineering High School
1963 Opened his first school in Yongdeungpo, Seoul
1965 Taekwondo instructor in Korea Army Ordnance School
1967 Instructor during Vietnam War
1969 Graduated from Hanyang Engineering College
1971 Immigrated to USA
1973 Opened a Taekwondo school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA.
1979 Founded new schools and fitness centers
1980 Started Taekwondo Times with master Kim, Jung-Eun (Current president of Taekwondo
Times)
1985-1988 Director of USA and Canada Visiting-Korea team (Taekwondo Times held)
1986 This year's figure of SBA
1991 Made up a Taekwondo Demo team of North and South Koreans living in USA.
1992 Visited North Korea and reported the opening ceremony of Taekwondo Sanctuary for the first
time. He had talks with Kim,Il-Sung.
1993 Opened his 7th fitness center.
1995 Chief of Taekwondo Sacred Place Construction Committee in Najin Sunbong Sect.
1996 Completed building Springs Taekwondo Research Institute in Colorado, USA
1999 Ran 45 Schools in three states, USA.

It was Taekwondo that he was able to do best in the foreign country. He could rarely meet Asians in
a small harlem in Iowa, where he opened his first Taekwondo school. Guess what the name was?
It was 'Taekwondo Karate.'
Taekwondo was little known to Americans. So master Jung decided to use both names, Taekwondo
and Karate. When he first opened the school, elderly people came in and would order lunches,
which was because they mistook it for a Chinese restaurant. This shows how little known taekwondo
was to Americans.

Neither Taekwondo nor Korea was well-known in USA. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa where few Asians
were to be seen master Jung, Woo Jin started creating his own destiny with his own guts.
He had not a few problems when he first opened his school. Most difficult was money problem. He
has little money so that he had to do everything by himself. His first school resided in the building
where motor cycles used to be repaired. How did he get this building? It's interesting.

Having heard master Jung Woo Jin would like to open a school for some oriental martial art called
Taekwondo, three of Americans came up and said, 'Break this brick, then.' Jung, Woo Jin thought
he would be forced to go back to Korea if he could not cope with that situation in a wise way. So he
struck his fist down on the red brick with all his energy.
Fortunately, the brick was broken. God was on his side. He earned luck for he broke the red brick in
a freezing winter. Witnessing the brick broken, the Americans took him to a realty dealer, helping him
to find some building for teaching students.

Whenever he bumped into money problems, he used to pretend not to understand English. Actually
he couldn't help doing this because he didn't enough money. This strategy worked out anyway.
Electricity works for the school costed him total 1500 dollars. He had only 1300 dollars, so he did all
he things by himself; he graduated from the engineering college. He knew that an electricity work
should be done only by licensed people, but he couldn't help it.
One day an inspector from the city hall got mad at him, saying 'How could you do this?' Jung, Woo Jin
understood what he was saying, but he only pretended not to understand his saying. 'What do you
mean? I don't follow you.' He insisted.

Every building should have two rest rooms, and an emergency exit, about which he didn't know well.
Laws of Cedar Rapids were so complicated to him. Toilet inspectors or water service inspectors
visited his buildings, but they could not help giving up, for Jung Woo Jin kept pretending not to get
them.
One day, the city hall summoned him. They wanted to do some 'public hearing.' Showing up in the
city hall, people started to whisper to themselves, 'That's the man. Definitely!' Quiet city Cedar Rapids
had an eccentric person.
People working for the city hall had a lot of talks on his Taekwondo school. They had even disputes
on it. At this moment, too, Jung Woo Jin still pretended not to know anything. However, he had to say
what should be said. With his hands on his stomach, he talked in a modest way as possible.

'It's not been long since I came to your country, and I don't have enough money. So I have a lot of
troubles here. I would like to teach Taekwondo to people in your country, but I know little in many
ways. So you please help me,' he said.

It was one of the biggest crises second to the happening when he had to break a brick bare-handed
in a cold winter. Whether he should close his school depended on the city's decision. Luckily, God
smiled at him again. People in the city hall decided to give an opportunity to him.

At the moment, Don Conney, mayor of Cedar Rapids, fought in Korean War. What a coincidence! Don
Conney remembered Koreans as good and naive. He helped Jung, Woo Jin at this moment, and
since then he gave a lot of help to Jung, Woo Jin. These two people became friends and even like
brothers. Moreover, Cedar Rapids and Wulsan, Jung, Woo Jin's hometown, became friends. The two
cities got the sisterhood later.  

He still had many things desired even after he opened a school against all odds.
It had only one bathroom room, and warming system was so poor that more than 2 people could not
take a shower together; they had to take a freezing shower. It had no parking lot, so students had
difficulty parking their cars. however, nobody complained.
Students understood his situation - their instructor was poor. Jung, Woo Jin recalled, saying 'I learned
a lesson that the large number of students doesn't make you happy.'

His first test was for only 11 students, then 20 to 30 and finally to 100 after a year. Jung, Woo Jin
tested total 700 people for 7 years in this school. He had no money to advertise his school, but more
and more students came to the school.

Another problem: the gangsters' challenge. These things happened very often to Korean instructors
actually.
It was the harlem. Gangsters got mad to see an Asian busy around teaching martial arts, and never
stopped challenging. He was bothered by them for a year. It was a terrible headache. Every time he
had to face those thugs he was lonely.
One day, another happening took place. Most gangsters used to visit his school only to be afraid of
him, seeing Jung, Woo Jin teaching his students hard, and then they just went back. However, this
time it was different.
Some thugs had mishaps in Chicago, staying a little in Cedar Rapids, and going back. One day, one
of those thugs challenged him, and how hard he tried to scare him off, he was only laughing like a
bull. Jung, Woo Jin got scared.
It was for him to beat the guy, die or live. He made up his mind, and made one of his students bring
pencil and paper. Once he got prepared, he wasn't scared at all.
He handed the pencil and paper to the thugs, and told him to write a memorial 'It's OK if I died during
this fight.' Then the thugs said he didn't want to die. So Jung Woo Jin told him to call the police. Then
the thugs just left the school running away from him, saying 'Don't call the police, please.' Jung, Woo
Jin said later, 'He must be a wanted criminal.'

He told this story to many people later. Then a lot of martial artists took advantage of this way, that is,
'Jung Woo Jin's knowhow to scare off thugs' Since thugs kept coming along, he used to give a hard
time to leaders, first. Then the other followers ran away.

Jung, Woo Jin had a hard time in demonstrating, too. People didn't know about Taekwondo so that
he would break concrete with fists or even heads. Then doctors would adivise him not to use his
head, the most important part of the body.

He did it all to popularize Taekwondo, but it really hurt if the concrete wasn't broken. He did all kinds
of things to distribute Taekwondo around.
Since he had already experienced a lot of mishaps before since his childhood, fortunately, he was
able to stand all those hard times.

The Korean War broke out at 9. Korean War gave a lot of pain to Korean people. People would starve
without food or clothes. The whole world got crazy that they couldn't be relaxed at night. So Jung, Woo
Jin started Taekwondo.

The following is Jung, Woo Jin's recollection.

'Taekwondo didn't have its formal shape. I learned it just for self-defense. It was dangerous to hang
around at night in those days. At 9, Korean War broke out, and the world was so tough.
I think I learned Taekwondo from a yellow belt holder. I entered a school in Pusan, and then I opened
my own school in 1962 when I was studying alone in Seoul. I wanted to get some financial advantage
from it.'

He got fascinated with Taekwondo. His learning Taekwondo led him to be a Taekwondo instructor
even in Vietnam. Finally he took Taekwondo for his vocation.
He was fighting for survival, doing anything in Korea. He decided to leave Korea where there were so
many suppression that he couldn't realize his dream and to emigrate to USA, 'Country of Liberty.'

Jung, Woo-Jin is the current chairman of 'Taekwondo Times', the only professional Taekwondo
magazine. He has been actively participating in the journalism field of Taekwondo along with the
publisher, Kim, Jung-Eun instructor for 20 years.
In fact, Kim, Jung-Eun in 1980 and Jung published Taekwondo Times; Woo-Jin took a part in the
business with the late Shim, Sang-Kyu instructor. For the first 5 years, they went through a great many
ordeals. As Jung reflected on those times it would have been impossible without blind love to
Taekwondo. Taekwondo Times has subscription of 120, 000 in more than 120 nations throughout
the world.

He is extending the range of his influence through Taekwondo Times. Most impressive one can be
South-North exchange and unification of Taekwondo. It is actually the project to put WTF(World
Taekwondo Federation) and ITF together(International Taekwondo Federation).


 
©2002 JUNG'S TAEKWON DO