Hee Il Cho

Cho Hee-il (born October 13, 1940) is a prominent Korean-American master of taekwondo, holding the rank of 9th dan in the martial art. He has written 11 martial art books, produced 70 martial art training videos, and has appeared on more than 70 martial arts magazine covers. and is its President. Cho is a member of both Black Belt magazine's Hall of Fame and Tae Kwon Do Times magazine's Hall of Fame. Korea, on 13 October 1940, during the period of Japanese occupation. He was the eldest of three brothers. He began training in the martial arts when he was around 10 years old. In an interview, he commented on his childhood in Pohang, Korea: "Although they were not really gang members, young people used to roam from town to town and beat up kids and take away their toys. One time, I was beaten up by some boys around 12 or 13 years old. At the time I thought it was pretty bad, so I wanted to protect myself."

Career In 1962, at the age of 22, Cho entered the Korean army for compulsory military service; during that time, he taught taekwondo to special forces in the Korean, Indian, and US armies. He initially moved to Chicago, but did not stay for long, moving through South Bend, Cho was based in Los Angeles for around 25 years, before moving to Albuquerque, and a few years later, to Hawaii. Cho later commented in an interview: "All this has created a great conflict within me, for if I cannot use my skill to protect myself from any person who walks in off the street and demands a fight, how can I hope my students will retain confidence in my ability to teach them this skill? And yet, if I use my skill and hurt someone, even in self-defense, have I not betrayed the spirit of what martial arts are all about?" The Complete Tae Kwon Do Hyung (1984; three volumes covering the Chang Hon patterns), The Complete Tae Geuk Hyung WTF (1988), and The Complete One & Three Step Sparring (1988).

During the late 1980s, Cho was also Senior Grading Examiner of the Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain and of Ireland, and was subsequently involved in Global Tae Kwon-Do International in the early 1990s. The association sponsors various championships in Europe. Notable students include Philip Ameris and John D'arcy.

Personal life Cho has two brothers, Kuy-ha Cho (Vice-President of AIMAA) and In-kyu Cho (Chairman of AIMAA), who are also martial art masters. and Jasmine, who also trains in taekwondo. and currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.