History
of the Korean Academy of Tae Kwon Do
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to view a video of school history
The Korean Academy of Taekwondo was
founded in February of 1980 by Grandmaster Jae Kyu Chung.
His expertise in the Korean Green Berets, eight years of
teaching in Brazil, and the national and international titles
he had acquired gave our students some of the best instruction
out of Korea.
His first Taekwondo school was founded
in Aurora off Alameda Street, but he later moved this establishment
to 380 South Potomac Street, near the Gymnastics Institute.
He also rented a third building located at 13700 East Alameda,
near the Aurora Mall. During this time, Grandmaster Chung
served as the coach of the U.S. National Taekwondo team.
Master Chung expanded to two sister schools in Littleton
and Arvada. In the mid nineties, he transferred control
over the Aurora school to his student, Master Ghassan Timani.
Master Ghassan continued to exercise control over the Korean
Academy and Master Chung sold all three of the schools,
returning to Korea to pursue a career in politics. While
in Korea, he served as the head of security for Kim De Jung,
the former president of South Korea. Master Ghassan is the
highest student of Grandmaster Chung in the world.
In the fall of 1998, the third building
was torn down to make way for a freeway off ramp and so
the school moved again, this time to 16800 E Mississippi.
The school remained in that location for six years until
Master Ghassan built a new school across the street. The
new building is not part of a complex as other schools are
and was built as a free standing structure to provide an
intelligent layout, modern safety equipment, and the latest
digital media technology.
In 2004, the Korean Academy saw the
addition of Master Bill Pottle, one of the Korean Academy’s
highest ranking students. After getting his black belt from
the Korean Academy, Master Bill trained at Cornell University
and the University of Pennsylvania where he was pursuing
academic and professional interests.
In 2005, we had a special celebration
for our 25th Anniversary.
In 2006 the school was blessed with
the closing of the former United Academy of Taekwondo, as
over 30 of their top students transfered to KAT. Master
Yosvany Perez came to teach the competition sparring classes.
In Jan of 2007, Master Emelio Tio
moved to Texas where he opened up the independant KAT Texas,
branch. November of 2007, the school acquired the former
Garrett Taekwondo, and reopened the school as the KAT South
Branch.
Over the years thousands of students
have trained with the Korean Academy. We have had many state,
national, and international champions. In all of these years,
we have had an excellent safety record.
First Taekwondo School
Second Taekwondo School
Here's what is left
of the third taekwondo school after we all went crazy and
started kicking down the walls... okay, so it was really
knocked down for a freeway off ramp.
Meditation in the 4th School
See pictures of the Current
Facility
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