Grandmaster Kim's Journey with Tajikistan
Grandmaster Kim's Journey with Tajikistan
Grandmaster Kim’s Journey with Tajikistan
In 1995, after several months of demonstration training in Korea in preparation for a short-term mission, Master Kim joined a demonstration team and visited Dushanbe and Khujand, Tajikistan during the summer.
During a week of Taekwondo demonstrations and programmes, he witnessed the local people’s passionate interest and sincere desire to learn Taekwondo. Even after returning to Korea, requests from Khujand for a Taekwondo missionary continued without pause.
When the originally assigned instructor withdrew, the head of the World Taekwondo Mission Team named Master Kim as the most suitable person. After three months of reflection and prayer, he made a faithful decision with the words, “I will obey,” and returned to Tajikistan on 12 December 1995.
What began as a short-term assignment grew into a 23-year journey of calling. Master Kim laid the foundations for Taekwondo education, moral training, and leadership development across Sughd Province—including Khujand, Chkalovsk, Gairakkum, Gafurov, and the Presidential School.
This journey became more than just Taekwondo—it became a mission of building people and bridging generations and nations.
Tajikistan and the Path of the Grandmaster of Sunmin Taekwondo
Grandmaster Kim has walked the path of a leader who teaches character over technique and inner discipline over competition.
Though the journey has never been easy, he personally experienced how Taekwondo can transform a person’s life and serve as a tool to instil responsibility, self-control, and respect within a community—especially among local youth.For Grandmaster Kim, the role of a head instructor was never just a position, but a calling.
Taekwondo was not merely a means of physical training—it was a way of life (Do), a path of building people and conveying sincerity.
That philosophy continues to live on today in his training and leadership.
In 1995, as a member of a short-term missionary demonstration team, I first visited Seonmin Church in Khujand, Tajikistan. Through a week of Taekwondo demonstrations, I witnessed the passionate response of the local people—what began as a small encounter soon led to a greater path of calling.
After returning to Korea, continued requests were made for the dispatch of a Taekwondo missionary. At the decision of the team leader, I was appointed to return to Tajikistan. Although the assignment had already been announced locally without my full consent, I ultimately chose to accept the calling after three months of deep reflection.
Upon arriving, I was entrusted with the weighty responsibility of serving as the head of Sunmin Taekwondo. Based at Seonmin Church, I began leading full-scale Taekwondo instruction in four regions: Khujand, Chkalovsk, Gairakkum, and Gafurov.
Sunmin Taekwondo was not simply a sports organisation—it was a name embodying faith, character, and order. It represented an effort to live out Taekwondo as a form of spiritual discipline.
Taekwondo Mission Begun on the Steps of Brotherhood
In October 1996, when Master Kim’s older brother visited Khujand, Tajikistan, the shared journey of Taekwondo mission between the two brothers began.
In April 1997, his brother settled in the capital city of Dushanbe, and Master Kim joined him in the local ministry. While preparing to open a dojang in the nearby city of Tursunzade, they encountered an armed threat from soldiers, forcing them to relocate the mission field to the northern city of Chkalovsk for safety.There, the two brothers named the school Philadelphia Taekwondo, drawing from the biblical meaning of brotherly love (Phileo + Adelphos).
They handcrafted the logo with dyed paint on fabric, marking the beginning of Taekwondo not merely as a martial art, but as a mission-driven and philosophically rooted community education.Initially, they were rejected by the Seventh School in Chkalovsk.
However, with the warm welcome of the principal of the Third School, official training began. What started with around 30 students soon grew to such enthusiasm that 50 candidates participated in the first promotion test.This early period became the root and living seed of all Taekwondo mission work that followed.
It was the defining starting point where Master Kim’s Taekwondo philosophy—centred on self-discipline, brotherhood, and calling—was first planted.
The Birth of Philadelphia Taekwondo
A Step Halted at Gunpoint – The Turning Point Toward Settling in Chkalovsk
Establishment and Activities of the Philadelphia Taekwondo Federation (1998–2012))
An Official Taekwondo Federation Grown with the Local Community
On December 25, 1998, Grandmaster Kim and his elder brother founded the Philadelphia Taekwondo Federation in Chkalovsk, Sughd Province, Tajikistan. The federation was officially registered with the local Sports Department and began its activities as a government-recognised Taekwondo organisation.
The name "Philadelphia" carries the biblical meaning of brotherly love, and true to its spirit, the federation focused on Taekwondo education rooted in love, discipline, and perseverance.
From the early 2000s, the federation expanded to establish clubs in approximately 10 areas across Sughd — including Khujand, Chkalovsk, Gairatkum, Gafurov, Histevarz, Obchikalacha, Gozion, and the Presidential School. Through consistent training, leadership education, promotion tests, tournaments, and demonstrations, Taekwondo evolved beyond sport and became a vital tool for character education in the local community.
As the Chief Examiner of the federation, Grandmaster Kim personally oversaw and conducted all promotion tests from the 1st to the 12th. On May 11, 2012, he concluded his 17 years of dedicated service and returned to Korea.
His educational philosophy and spirit continue to resonate in the local culture to this day, remembered and carried on by Taekwondo practitioners throughout the region.
Taekwondo Instruction at the Presidential School in Chkalovsk (2010–2011)
From 2010 to 2011, for a period of approximately two years, Master Kim was appointed as a Taekwondo instructor at the Presidential School (Maktabi Prezidenti) located in Novi Kvartal, Chkalovsk, in the Sughd Province of Tajikistan. He conducted regular physical education classes and led Taekwondo as an extracurricular activity after school hours.
The Presidential School is a national elite educational institution where top-performing students—considered the future leaders of the country—are gathered. At this school, Taekwondo became more than a physical discipline; it was recognised as a character-building programme focused on developing leadership and integrity.
Based on a structured curriculum, Master Kim taught dozens of students in each class, covering fundamental techniques, advanced skills, dojang etiquette, and the spirit of community. Through regular demonstrations and belt promotion tests, he motivated students and instilled pride in their progress.
Training during this period emphasised core Taekwondo values such as self-control, respect, responsibility, and perseverance—helping students to cultivate both strong character and a healthy body.
This experience of teaching Taekwondo in a state-run educational institution became a formative chapter in Master Kim’s journey, deepening his sense of calling as an educator and affirming the transformative potential of Taekwondo.
Philadelphia Taekwondo Demonstration Team – The Dignity of Taekwondo Delivered on Stage
Grandmaster Kim established the Philadelphia Taekwondo Demonstration Team, not to merely display techniques, but to present Taekwondo as a stage of philosophy and beauty.
Each year, the team earnestly prepared for dozens of demonstration requests held at school events, national holidays, local sports competitions, Taekwondo promotion tests, and tournaments. They showcased advanced techniques, group choreography, self-defence, and breaking performances—building both recognition and trust for Taekwondo within the local community.
For Grandmaster Kim, a demonstration was never just a performance. It was the culmination of disciplined training and a silent yet powerful language that moved hearts and conveyed the true value of Taekwondo.
Kicks that earned respect through skill and left impressions through sincerity still resonate deeply in the hearts of many to this day.
