Looking for Master Yun Kil Kim

[IcemanSK]

I received my 1st Dan from him in 1985 in Carpentersville, IL. He then bought a school in Louisville, KY. He has since moved on & we've lost contact. The folks at his old school only said, "He moved East."

Any help you can be is greatly appreciated. (He is not the Y. K. Kim from Florida)

 

[terryl965]

I know a Master Kim in Rochester N.Y. I really do not know his first name, I'll try to see if I can find his website for you.
Terry

 

[IcemanSK]

I know a Master Kim in Rochester N.Y. I really do not know his first name, I'll try to see if I can find his website for you.
Terry

Thanks Terry. I know Kim is not exactly an unusual name in Korea. His wife's name is Donna & their kids (now adults) are Emily & Samuel. If that helps.

 

[IcemanSK]

Thanks Terry. I know Kim is not exactly an unusual name in Korea. His wife's name is Donna & their kids (now adults) are Emily & Samuel. If that helps.

He also used to work as an X-Ray tech at one point. If that helps anyone. I've tried a lot of different ways to find him. But it's like finding a guy named Bob Smith.:boing1: When I last saw him (in 1987) he was a 6th Dan (Kukiwon) & in his mid 30's. Any suggestions on how to find him, I'd appreciate.

 

[IcemanSK]

I'm bumping this thread to see if any new folks have heard of him. I have new info that may or may not be true. I've heard that he is now divorced & possibly remarried & living in the Philly area.

 

[IcemanSK]

I figure I'd bump it one more time. Since there are newer folks on the board.

Thanks!

 

[IcemanSK]

I figure I'd bump this again & give an update of what I found out.

Through this thread, I found another instructor who was also looking for Master Kim. That got me searching for one of Master Kim's BB's who I'd heard runs a school in Georgia. I contacted him & he told me that (now GM) Kim no longer teaches & lives in Hawaii. Old phone numbers do not work. So, 3 former students are now trying to get in contact with GM Yun Kil Kim.
I guess there is strength in numbers.

 

[IcemanSK]

I thought I'd bump this thread again. 3 former students are searching for GM Yun Kil Kim. Last I have heard (about a year now) he lives in Hawaii & teaches golf. (I know how odd that sounds). I'm hoping that some of our Hawaiian MT friends may have run across him somewhere.

Thanks!

 

[Miles]

I suggest contacting the PGA and finding out if they know of GM Kim. If he is teaching golf, I presume he'd be a member of the PGA. If they won't give out info (perhaps due to privacy concerns), I suggest contacting a local golf pro in Hawaii and asking about GM Kim.

Good luck!

 

[terryl965]

I thought I'd bump this thread again. 3 former students are searching for GM Yun Kil Kim. Last I have heard (about a year now) he lives in Hawaii & teaches golf. (I know how odd that sounds). I'm hoping that some of our Hawaiian MT friends may have run across him somewhere.

Thanks!

All golf instructor are register with the PGA so they have a list of teacher per course, if you go directly though them and say you are looking for him to teach you golf you may get somewhere. I know it is not great to be a little idshonest but maybe just this once. Best of luck to you Iceman.

 

[MasterWright]

First of all I hope that you finally connect with Master Kim Iceman.

The golf thing got me laughing though. I tested for my first Dan with a GM from New Brunswick Canada. This fellow (Grand Master Won Kap Chung)was Hosting the Junior nationals in Toronto that year, so he was staying at his brothers house nearby.

I went there with my imediate Instructor, from the city to meet him and test. First of all, we had to wait until he finished his golf game, so I carried his clubs around. We walked into his brothers condo and there was no furniture in the living room as had been planned, i guess.

He goes and has a shower and tells me to warm-up and get ready. He proceeds to put me through the test in as professional a manner given the circumstances. I won't go into all things that were part of it but it was not what I expected, that's all.

My instructor gets a call from his wife at the hospitol saying that she's having a baby, so we have to go, right away. On the way out the door Master Chung says goodbye and rushes to his car to go back for another round of golf.

Just thought I would add that, with me it's fishing

 

[IcemanSK]

First of all I hope that you finally connect with Master Kim Iceman.

The golf thing got me laughing though. I tested for my first Dan with a GM from New Brunswick Canada. This fellow (Grand Master Won Kap Chung)was Hosting the Junior nationals in Toronto that year, so he was staying at his brothers house nearby.

I went there with my imediate Instructor, from the city to meet him and test. First of all, we had to wait until he finished his golf game, so I carried his clubs around. We walked into his brothers condo and there was no furniture in the living room as had been planned, i guess.

He goes and has a shower and tells me to warm-up and get ready. He proceeds to put me through the test in as professional a manner given the circumstances. I won't go into all things that were part of it but it was not what I expected, that's all.

My instructor gets a call from his wife at the hospitol saying that she's having a baby, so we have to go, right away. On the way out the door Master Chung says goodbye and rushes to his car to go back for another round of golf.

Just thought I would add that, with me it's fishing

Ha, that's great! Every year, GM Park, Hae Man comes to a national conference of our organization. Every year, there's straws chosen to see which master "get's to" take him golfing. I'm glad I'm still a 3rd Dan & under that radar. Besides, I don't know how to golf.:uhyeah:

 

[MasterWright]

Ha, that's great! Every year, GM Park, Hae Man comes to a national conference of our organization. Every year, there's straws chosen to see which master "get's to" take him golfing. I'm glad I'm still a 3rd Dan & under that radar. Besides, I don't know how to golf.:uhyeah:

Oh..... Not a problem, Sir. You're not suposed to win anyway, This way you won't be faking it like the shmooozers. Ha, Ha Ha!

 

[clncollier]

My instructor, Grandmaster Young-Sun Kang taught Master Yun Kil Kim. Master Kim moved to Louisville, KY back in the 80's he and I became very good friends, he treated me as a son. he took me to the Pan-American Game Trials in Indiannapolis in 1987. I understand he eventually went to Guam, and San Jose, CA to help a friend with his school. I of course am a student of Grandmaster Kang's, he is now retired back to Korea and I am a student of Grandmaster Young-Shik Choi who is a direct decendant of Won Kuk Lee, Chung-do Kwan founder.

 

[IcemanSK]

My instructor, Grandmaster Young-Sun Kang taught Master Yun Kil Kim. Master Kim moved to Louisville, KY back in the 80's he and I became very good friends, he treated me as a son. he took me to the Pan-American Game Trials in Indiannapolis in 1987. I understand he eventually went to Guam, and San Jose, CA to help a friend with his school. I of course am a student of Grandmaster Kang's, he is now retired back to Korea and I am a student of Grandmaster Young-Shik Choi who is a direct decendant of Won Kuk Lee, Chung-do Kwan founder.

Thanks for the info. I went to visit Master Kim in Louisville in '87 or '88 during my college Spring break.

In late 2007, I spoke to BB who used to help run his school in Chicago in the early 80's, who said GM Kim was in Hawaii as of 2007. When did he move to San Jose, CA? Do you have current info? Thanks!

 

[IcemanSK]

After more than 3 years of searching, I'm glad to report that I've finally found GM Yun Kil Kim. I spoke to him a few hours ago. He is living in Hawaii & teaching golf as I had heard. It was as if the 22 years since we had spoken were mere weeks. It is a tremendous blessing to reconnect with him.

Thanks to all of you who have helped & been on this journey with me!

 

[terryl965]

After more than 3 years of searching, I'm glad to report that I've finally found GM Yun Kil Kim. I spoke to him a few hours ago. He is living in Hawaii & teaching golf as I had heard. It was as if the 22 years since we had spoken were mere weeks. It is a tremendous blessing to reconnect with him.

Thanks to all of you who have helped & been on this journey with me!

Glad it finally worked out for you Tom.

 

[Miles]

That's awesome news!

 

[Shastadaisey]

After more than 3 years of searching, I'm glad to report that I've finally found GM Yun Kil Kim. I spoke to him a few hours ago. He is living in Hawaii & teaching golf as I had heard. It was as if the 22 years since we had spoken were mere weeks. It is a tremendous blessing to reconnect with him.

Thanks to all of you who have helped & been on this journey with me!

Thank you for this thread! I practiced under Master Kim (age of 4) from 1986 until 1994 in Louisville KY @ Kim's Tae Kwon Do. He was my hero! The school was originally in Hikes Point but later moved to J-town. I had, at that time, two older brothers (Cannon) and all three of us became 2nd and 3rd degree blackbelts under Master Kim. I would like to add in response to a post above, our school was not Kukkiwan at that time, but another affiliation. Later in my 20's I briefly practiced under GrandMaster Lee (Master Kim's previous Master in Korea) before he passed away, later his youngest son briefly took over, and later a previous student did. We would wear the old school uniforms that had to be securely tied in two places lest your chest would be exposed. This style later changed when Olympic TKD became popular and the V neck style was adopted. There was something special about the old Do-Baks, seeing that red or black stripe go all the way down the corners.
Master Kim wasn't the tallest person, but he was rock solid, and his techniques were awe inspiring. He was also really funny, though English wasn't his first language. As a child, if we weren't completely paying attention, he would say, "Thinking about chocolate?", in a funny manner. He was never mean, but always focused, and would sometimes walk around with a bamboo sword and lightly hit areas we need work on, such as, our Yup Cha Gi, our pla ted toes weren't pointed back towards the wall at a 90 degree angle, which gives increased power to the kick.
Our practices were tough, even as children, which included kicking candles off eachother's heads, walking on broken glass, running through snow, and obviously bare knuckle push-ups on concrete and hardwood floors. It was no joke. We had many great instructors including Mr. Artuneon (forgive misspelling), Miss Pam, Mr. Kyle, and Mr. Wisdom. They were all apart of our childhood and the nostalgia is still very much alive. I came across this thread after waking up from an amazing dream. In the dream were many of the previous students and teachers all together and we were at a reunion. There was celebration but also many were putting their uniforms on to begin practicing and I was so excited to see everyone that I woke up. It's making me tearful just thinking about it. I'm sure many I'm thinking of will never see this, but just incase, thank you for the amazing memories together and wonderful childhood. XOXO

 

[Dirty Dog]

I'm guessing you didn't notice that the last post in this thread was in 2009...