The Jook-Am legacy
His life in Taekwon-Do
Teacher, husband, father and pioneer. Explore GrandMaster Park Jung Tae’s life, his family in Canada and the worldwide community he helped build.
A life in Taekwon-Do
GrandMaster Park Jung Tae (1943–2002) was a Korean-born Canadian teacher, technical innovator and founder and President of the Global Taekwon-Do Federation. His work connected schools and practitioners across continents, while his students remember the individual attention behind that public life.
A ninth-degree black belt, his contribution extended beyond any single organisation. His technical career and the personal memories of those who knew him together reveal the teacher behind the public legacy.
Training, service and the early years
He began martial arts training in Korea as a child, studying boxing, judo and karate. He later taught martial arts in the Korean Army and served as an instructor in Vietnam during 1965–1967.
After returning to Korea, he completed an intensive international instructors’ course in 1968 and helped train instructors who would teach overseas. Demonstrations and travel became an important part of his work: showing the art to new audiences, then helping instructors develop it in their own communities.
Building a school in Winnipeg, Canada
In 1970, he formed the Manitoba Taekwon-Do Association and opened his own school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This group photograph shows members who began training in 1970–1971.
The school brought together students in a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere. GrandMaster Jae Hun Kim joined early and helped with demonstrations and promotion, while the Korean community also supported the school.
The relationships formed around training became an enduring part of his teaching legacy.
Family at the heart of his life
Alongside his international teaching, GrandMaster Park Jung Tae’s family in Canada held an important place in his life. He was a husband and father as well as a teacher, and the family story belongs at the heart of his legacy.
His wife, Hon. GrandMaster Linda Park, and their family share in preserving that legacy. The photographs and personal memories gathered here also offer a glimpse of the man beyond the dojang.
Family connections in Korea
This early family photograph shows GrandMaster Park Jung Tae with his brother Moon Chae Park.
Teaching across borders
Teaching and demonstrations took him across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The Taekwon-Do Hall of Fame’s historical account identifies work in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Japan, North Korea and China.
During the ITF period he served in technical and organisational leadership, including his election as Secretary-General and Instruction Committee Chairman in Vienna in 1984. His career combined the practical work of teaching with the task of building connections between national communities.
The photographs of large classes and smaller groups show different sides of that work. They preserve the scale and personal character of his teaching.
Founding the Global Taekwon-Do Federation
In 1990, GrandMaster Park founded the Global Taekwon-Do Federation. He served as its President and continued to teach, demonstrate and develop the federation’s technical work until his death in 2002.
The photograph here shows the GTF demonstration team visiting South Korea on a trip arranged by GrandMaster Park to demonstrate and promote GTF.
The official GTF founder biography and the Taekwon-Do Hall of Fame preserve records of his international contribution. The interviews in this archive add the memories that a career summary alone cannot convey.
A chronology of contributions
- 1943: Born in Korea.
- 1948: Began martial arts training, according to the published historical record.
- 1965–1967: Army Instructor in Vietnam.
- 1968: Completed the Special International Instructors Training Course.
- 1970: Formed the Manitoba Taekwon-Do Association and opened a school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
- 1970s–1980s: International demonstrations, instruction and organisational work.
- 1979: Move to Toronto.
- 1984: Elected ITF Secretary-General and Instruction Committee Chairman.
- 1990: Founded GTF.
- 11 April 2002: Passed away.
The legacy carried forward
Hon. GrandMaster Linda Park, his family, students and the wider Taekwon-Do community continue to preserve his teaching. He was honoured by the Taekwon-Do Hall of Fame.
This archive brings together the public record and personal memories. A memory need not be grand to matter. Sometimes it is an encouraging welcome, a careful correction, a joke at breakfast, or noticing what a young child needs. These small moments reveal the person behind the title.
Explore the legacy
Read more about GrandMaster Park’s life and contribution in the GTF founder biography and the Taekwon-Do Hall of Fame profile.
Have a memory, photograph or detail to add? Share it with us and help preserve the story for future generations.