Traditional tae kwon do in chicago

**VICENTE** · Posted On: 5/26/2012 8:12pm

Can anyone suggest a traditional Tae Kwon Do school in Chicago that teaches old-school practical fighting and not the water-down Mc Dojo crap too many of us see to often ? Any suggestions and advice is both welcome and appreciated. Gracias

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 5/27/2012 12:38am

Originally Posted by VICENTE

Can anyone suggest a traditional Tae Kwon Do school in Chicago that teaches old-school practical fighting

I do not personally know Mr. Helman, but this school is under the Universal TaeKwonDo Federation. I learned Chung Do Kwan (TKD) from Han Cha Kyo in the early 1980's in Chicago. As I understand it, Mr. Han passed away and the association is now operated by James Langlas and Paul Irvin. The UTF was probably the least political and most traditional TaeKwonDo association in or around Chicago. Hopefully, this is still the case; I really enjoyed learning from Mr. Han. I can only hope that the students that he turned it over to carry on his tradition.

UTF at The JCFS
3145 W. Pratt
Chicago, IL. 60646
(773) 467-3700
Mr. Bruce Helman, 7th Dan helmantkd@comcast.net

**Miguksaram** · Posted On: 5/29/2012 9:21am

First off are you talking about learning in the city proper or are you located in one of the suburbs. What style do you want learn? KKW, ITF, ATA, UTA?

There is GM Earl Weiss who is an excellent ITF TKD instructor. He is in the city of Chicago. If you are looking for good KKW TKD, then I would recommend Mst. Roger Park's school or GM Park, Chang-seo's school. They are located in Wakegan, Buffalo Grove, and Morton Grove. There is also American Martial Arts Academy in Naperville, IL. As for ATA or UTA, I wouldn't be able to help you with any of those.

**eurojulie** · Posted On: 6/06/2012 12:22pm

Which part of the city do you live in and what are you looking for? Can't really help you if we don't know what you want...

**Earl Weiss** · Posted On: 9/30/2012 4:46pm

Originally Posted by Miguksaram

There is GM Earl Weiss who is an excellent ITF TKD instructor. .

Mr. Talbot,

Thanks for the plug, but I am not a GM. (Way too young for that:)

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 7:16am

Originally Posted by VICENTE

Can anyone suggest a traditional Tae Kwon Do school in Chicago that teaches old-school practical fighting and not the water-down Mc Dojo crap too many of us see to often ? Any suggestions and advice is both welcome and appreciated. Gracias

There is no such thing as traditional TKD.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 7:46am

Originally Posted by Bodhi108

There is no such thing as traditional TKD.

Would 'Old School' be a more appropriate term?

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 10:30am

Originally Posted by slamdunc

Would 'Old School' be a more appropriate term?

No, because we call that Dangsudo or Gongsudo.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 11:50am

Originally Posted by Bodhi108

No, because we call that Dangsudo or Gongsudo.

You got me there. I was thinking subak (taekkyeon) was old school, but you took it all the way back to the Chinese root. I've never heard of Gongsudo, but Dang / Tang is historical.
I learn a little something every day.

***DerAuslander*** · Posted On: 10/01/2012 12:51pm

Originally Posted by slamdunc

You got me there. I was thinking subak (taekkyeon) was old school, but you took it all the way back to the Chinese root. I've never heard of Gongsudo, but Dang / Tang is historical.
I learn a little something every day.

Dangsudo & Gongsudo are the Korean pronunciations of the two Kanji sets for Karatedo. Taegyeon & subak are too completely different combat sports, neither of which had any direct influence on the development of Taekwondo, especially Choi's Odogwan. Gukgi Taegwondo was later influenced by Taegyeon, as can be seen in Olympic Taegwondo, which once again forces us to question what people actually mean when they say "traditional" Taekwondo.

As much as it may pain some people to be faced with, when we look at what the concepts of KMA were before the Japanese occupation and Taegwondo systems that mirror that in modern day, Olympic Taegwondo is far closer to Korean traditional spirit than ITF.