Kyongwon Ahn

Kyongwon Ahn, ninth dan (Kukkiwon), is a South Korean taekwondo expert who established the United Taekwondo Association (UTA) in the United States. 

Ahn was conceived in 1937 in Seoul, Korea, and started preparing in the hand to hand fighting started when he was 12 years of age. He served an entry level position with his teacher, Chang Bok Lee,as the Master Instructor for the South Korean and American armed forces from 1955 to 1967. In 1962, Ahn accomplished his Juris Doctorate (Civil Law) from Kangwon University. In August 1967, he emigrated to the US and started showing tang soo do at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He has likewise held instructing and counseling positions at the Miami University (in Ohio) and Xavier University. Ahn established the International Martial Arts Federation, now the United Taekwondo Association in 1971 with an end goal to institutionalize taekwondo instructing techniques.

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In 1974, Ahn was an establishing individual from the Amateur Athletic Union's Taekwondo Committee. The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) recompensed Ahn his Master Instructor affirmation in 1977. He got ninth dan positioning from Kukkiwon in 1990. Through the 1980s, Ahn worked inside the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) and at last served as the affiliation president USA Taekwondo. He served as an individual from the Board of Directors for the United States Olympic Committee and attempted to convey taekwondo to the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games. In 2000, Ahn was one of the organizers of the United States Taekwondo Won (USTW). From 2003 to 2005, he served on the WTF's Legislative Committee. In 2005, the Republic of Korea honored Ahn the National Sport Merit Award in acknowledgment of his work in advancing taekwondo and helping it to end up a full decoration Olympic game.