Wim Bos

Wim Bos (born 11 November 1952 in Appingedam) is the most influential Dutch figure in ITF Taekwon-Do history—and one of the most technically complete practitioners the art has ever produced. In the sport, they call him the Johan Cruijff of ITF Taekwon-Do. The comparison fits: the same economy of movement, the same instinct for what the art is really about, the same ability to make the impossible look effortless. On 6 March 2010, he was promoted to 9th Dan Grandmaster. He started in September 1968, aged fifteen. Within two years, he was Dutch champion—a title he won seven times between 1970 and 1978. In 1976, he became European Champion in sparring under 63 kg. As national coach, he turned the Netherlands into one of the most feared Taekwon-Do nations on the planet, consistently producing European and world champions. In 1987, he founded the ITF Belanggroep—the direct predecessor of I.T.F. Nederland. He then moved to Italy. In 1992, he became Technical Director of the Italian Taekwon-Do Federation (FITAE-ITF) and held that position for 32 years. From his Bos Academy, he still trains athletes every day. Since 1993, he has chaired the ITF Tournament and Umpire Committee and has been the primary author of the official ITF competition regulations—the rulebook that governs the sport worldwide. He served as president of the All European Taekwon-Do Federation (AETF) from 2004 to 2006 and has led hundreds of referee courses and masterclasses across the globe. For most practitioners, his name is synonymous with one book: the Taekwon-Do ITF Patterns Manual. 388 pages, more than 2,000 photographs, every one of the 24 Tul documented with surgical precision—technique, Korean terminology, step by step. It is the reference work the ITF world had needed for decades. Even now, at an age when most people have long since stopped kicking, he demonstrates at international IIC courses with a flexibility that makes younger black belts question their life choices.