About Grandmaster Shin

Grandmaster Hyun Jik Shin currently holds the highest ranking black belt, ninth degree, in the United States for Tae Kwon Do. There are less than twenty ninth degree black belts worldwide out of approximately fifty million practitioners. Grandmaster Shin is one of the foremost experts in martial arts in the world. Throughout his impressive career in martial arts, Grandmaster Shin has served as: Chairman of the World Martial Arts Union, President of the Korea Tae Kwon Do Association and Chairman of the Korea Moo Duk Kwon Instructor Association. In addition, Grandmaster Shin is currently a member of the United States Olympic Organizing Committee, Pan-American Tae Kwon Do Union, Korea Advisory Council on Democratic Peaceful Unification and the Korean Academic Research Foundation.

Grandmaster Shin was born in Seoul, Korea on July 31, 1937. He began his training Tae Kwon Do at the age of nine under Grandmaster Hwang Kee. Prior to his high school graduation in 1954, Grandmaster Shin received his 3rd degree black belt. He won his first national championship in 1957. He successfully defended his title the following year in 1958.

As a result of his unique fighting skills, Grandmaster Shin was chosen as a member of the Korean National Tae Kwon Do Demonstration Team. This elite team traveled extensively throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the South Pacific spreading the art of Tae Kwon Do. After, Grandmaster Shin served in the “Republic of Korea” army between 1959 and 1966. During his military service, Grandmaster Shin quickly earned the rank of Captain in the Korean Special Forces where he spent four of the seven years teaching “Hand to hand combat” to the newly enlisted members. From 1966 to 1969, Grandmaster Shin was also an instructor at the National Korean Police Academy.

In 1969, Grandmaster Shin opened his first school. As a result of his success, the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF) recruited him to be one of the first instructors to teach at the Kukkiwon (Headquarters for the WTF). Soon after (in 1973), Grandmaster Shin and his wife immigrated to the United States in hopes of giving their three children a better life and the opportunities they both never had.