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To many of us
involved with Iowa State University Martial Arts now, in the 21st
century, the program seems like a venerable institution on the ISU
campus. Certainly Grand Master Pak has become an institution. However, we
have our predecessors to thank for this esteemed position. Thanks to
the research of Jim Pfieler (Judo), we have the following history to
report. And, since we've grown so much, ISU Martial Arts clubs
(Hapkido, Judo, Taekwondo) and their members are always making history.
In March of 1963, Dr. Jack King and Mr. Hong Sik Park founded the ISU
Judo Club. This was the first appearance of martial arts at Iowa State
University (ISU). The club enjoyed immediate success and acceptance on
campus with an initial enrollment of over 300 participants. However,
due to the rigors of the sport, attendance soon dropped to around 180.
The club did so well under the management of Dr. King and the
instruction of Hong Sik Park that it won the state team competition in
that same year. The Judo Club continued at ISU under various
instructors and was one of the founding clubs of the Sports Club
Council in October of 1969. In that same year, Mok Tokko, a third
degree Black Belt in Judo, became the head instructor. Mok Tokko was
instrumental in the development of a strong Judo Club at ISU and
contributed greatly to the Midwest Judo Association. In April of 1970
he began to send competitors to the NCJA Championships. Mok Tokko and
ISU are also attributed with writing one of the first instructional
booklets for the Midwest Judo Association.
In 1973 the martial arts at ISU took a quantum leap forward when Master
Yong Chin Pak came to Ames to be the instructor of the ISU Judo Club.
The ISU Hapkido Club was formed and admitted into the Sports Club
Council. As a member of the faculty of Health and Human Performance,
Grand Master Pak also began teaching PE classes in Judo and Hapkido.
His
Hapkido classes included some elements of Taekwondo. Taekwondo was a
sub-group of Hapkido until a third club was formed in March of 1975 -
the ISU Taekwondo Club. In 1974 Grand Master Pak hosted his first
Martial Arts
Awards Banquet. The Banquet has become a tradition and every year up to
500 alumni return for the event. Judo and Taekwondo continued to send
teams to their respective NCJA and NCTA Championships. Also, each club
has been actively involved in the Sports Club Council (SCC) with many
of our past members from all three clubs serving on the executive
council of the SCC. In 1984 the ISU Collegiate Taekwondo Team began its
record of placing in the top three teams at the National Collegiate
Taekwondo Association (NCTA) Championships. The team placed first in
1985, 1988, and 1998. Also in 1984 the ISU Hapkido Club began its
tradition of teaching self-defense to sororities and women's dormitory
floors on campus. In this way, ISU Hapkido has reached well over 3000
women with self-defense clinics. Pak family Hapkido members have also
conducted many demonstrations and participated in exchange programs
throughout the years. Alumni from the Clubs and Pak family martial arts
have gone on to represent the United States in several international
events. Carol Schied represented the U.S. in Judo for several years.
From Iowa and the Pak family, Lance Farrell, Troy Kasma, Tim Weigand,
Bonnie Harrison, Miranda Hinrichs, Sam Hill, Trent Tompkins, and Chris
Thompson have represented the U.S. in Taekwondo over the past 20 years.
The martial arts clubs at ISU continue to grow in popularity and number
under Grand Master Pak's direction.
The Pak martial arts family has grown to include over 40 local clubs
that operate under the instruction of a Pak family alumni. Grand Master Pak
is still serving the U.S. Taekwondo community as President of the NCTA
and the President of the State of Iowa Taekwondo Association (under the
USTU). The ISU Martial Arts program has had the opportunity to be
involved in the hosting of the 1995 NCTA Championships, the 1998 United
States Taekwondo Union Senior Nationals/Golden Seniors/Junior Black
Belt Festival, and the 2000 NCTA Championships in Ames, Iowa.
Grand Master Pak has been regularly recognized for his commitment to the
martial arts and the ISU and Ames communities and this recognition
reflects back on the Clubs and his students. Grand Master Pak received the
Amoco Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award from ISU's College of
Education in 1983 and the 1993 Faculty Citation. Grand Master Pak was also
named Advisor of the year in 1989-90, 1994-95 and 1998-99. He was
inducted into the Ames Convention and Visitor's Bureau Hall of Fame in
1997. Grand Master Pak's impact has been tremendous and under his direction
the tradition of martial arts at ISU continues to flourish and will do
so for years to come.
The martial arts at ISU remains a strong entity on campus and, with the
three clubs available to offer diversity, we have something to offer
for everybody. The above history in no way sums up all of the
achievements of the past, but has merely been an attempt to enlighten
people about the intriguing history of these three great clubs. |
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