Charles Sereff
founder - trainer
🌍 American🥊 USTF founder, first Western ITF master, IIC instructor pioneer🎂 01-01-1933- 01-01-2022
Charles E. Sereff (1933–2022), universally known as Chuck Sereff, was one of the most important non-Korean figures in ITF Taekwon-Do history—a direct confidant of General Choi Hong Hi who opened the art to Western practitioners and built its largest non-Korean organisation.
He began martial arts training in 1961 and made contact with General Choi in 1965. He went on to become the first non-Korean in history to hold the ITF titles of International Instructor (1973) and Master Instructor (1989)—milestones that proved the art’s highest technical standards could be achieved outside Korea.
In 1974, at General Choi’s request, he helped establish the United States Taekwon-Do Federation (USTF). Elected president in 1979, he built it into one of the largest ITF organisations in the world, with tens of thousands of members. He served as Secretary-General of the global ITF and was a member of the World Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team.
In June 1996, he became the first non-Korean master officially authorised to teach an International Instructors Course (IIC)—a watershed moment in the internationalisation of the art’s highest-level instruction. In December 1997, shortly after the promotion of Grandmaster Rhee Ki-ha, General Choi promoted him to 9th Dan Grandmaster—making him one of the first recipients of that rank outside Korea.
He later received the unique honorary title of Honourable Grand Master (HGM), a distinction created specifically to recognise his lifetime of service. Chuck Sereff’s legacy is proof that ITF Taekwon-Do’s highest ideals were never Korean property—they belonged to anyone willing to dedicate a lifetime to them.
He began martial arts training in 1961 and made contact with General Choi in 1965. He went on to become the first non-Korean in history to hold the ITF titles of International Instructor (1973) and Master Instructor (1989)—milestones that proved the art’s highest technical standards could be achieved outside Korea.
In 1974, at General Choi’s request, he helped establish the United States Taekwon-Do Federation (USTF). Elected president in 1979, he built it into one of the largest ITF organisations in the world, with tens of thousands of members. He served as Secretary-General of the global ITF and was a member of the World Taekwon-Do Demonstration Team.
In June 1996, he became the first non-Korean master officially authorised to teach an International Instructors Course (IIC)—a watershed moment in the internationalisation of the art’s highest-level instruction. In December 1997, shortly after the promotion of Grandmaster Rhee Ki-ha, General Choi promoted him to 9th Dan Grandmaster—making him one of the first recipients of that rank outside Korea.
He later received the unique honorary title of Honourable Grand Master (HGM), a distinction created specifically to recognise his lifetime of service. Chuck Sereff’s legacy is proof that ITF Taekwon-Do’s highest ideals were never Korean property—they belonged to anyone willing to dedicate a lifetime to them.