Karpiuk's Black Belt Academies is a member school of the
World Traditional Taekwondo Union, WTTU The WTTU was founded
by Grand Master H.U. Lee in the fall of 1990.
The WTTU is a branch of the Songahm Taekwondo family that
also consists of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA)
and the Songahm Taekwondo Federation (STF). The ATA encompasses
member schools in the United States and the STF includes
member schools in South America. The WTTU covers the remaining
portion of the world.
At this time, the WTTU has schools in Canada, England,
Portugal, Germany, South Africa, Guam, Japan, Sweden, and
South Korea.
Through the Songahm Family, students at Karpiuk's Black
Belt Academies join over 30,000 students in 16 countries.
In 1973 the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) came into
existence. The first World Taekwondo Championships were
also held in 1973. In 1980 the World Taekwondo Federation
was granted recognition by the International Olympic Committee
(IOC). Then the adoption of Taekwondo as an official event
was followed by the World Games in 1981, the Pan-American
games in 1986 , and finally by the 2000 Olympics held in
Australia.
The Founder of the World Traditional Taekwondo Union,
of which Karpiuk's Black Belt Academies are a part, was
Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee.
.....................
Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee was born on
July 20, 1936 in Manchuria, China. One of the original
pioneers that brought martial arts to America, he founded
the American Taekwondo Association, the World Traditional
Taekwondo Union, and Songahm Taekwondo Federation, which
presides over 250,000 members worldwide including schools
in South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United
States. The students of Grand Master Lee include over 14,000
black belts and over 3,000 certified instructors in more
than 900 schools and clubs in the U.S. alone. He strived
to make the world a better place by teaching the values
of life through martial arts. Grand Master Lee passed away
on October 5,2000 after a hard fought battle with cancer.
He left his legacy to the hundreds of thousands of students
across the world.
