50 Years of Taekwondo in Europe

Photo Reportage of meeting Master Kwon Jae-Hwa

In 1965, the korean government sent out six Taekwondo Masters on a mission to spread the knowledge of Taekwondo into the public. One of the members of the "National Taekwon-Do Goodwill Team" was Master Kwon Jae-Hwa, who decided to make it his personal mission to teach Taekwondo in Europe. In June 2014, Kwon Jae-Hwa came back to one of the first destinations of the Goodwill Team to celebrate the anniversary of 50 years of Taekwondo in Europe.

Master Kwon (photo: second from left) opened up many schools in Europe and is currently based in New York, USA. He announced his retirement from his work one year after the anniversary event in 2014. He is known for teaching a non-aggression style of Taekwondo that focuses on a strong body, mind & spirit. His motto:

ONE LIFE. ONE BODY. ONE MISSION.

As a Taekwondo Practitioner myself (But Kukkiwon Tradition) it was a great privilege to be asked to photograph this important anniversary event. I have to give thanks to Kwon Jae-Hwa's Master Student Shin Gyu-Kang, who asked me to follow him to Garmisch-Patenkirchen where Students of Master Kwon and their Taekwondo schools would come together from all over Europe to meet Master Kwon and take part of in their last workshop with him. The images I was able to capture where gifted to Master Kwon and his Archive. A special thanks also goes to Ricoh Imaging who supported this Project by lending me a Pentax 645Z System to use as a tool alongside my own camera equiptment. Feel free to contact me via mail for licensing or printing services.

2014, Garmisch Partenkirchen / Photo: Khoi Chau