Nguyễn Văn Bình

Nguyễn Văn Bình (born 29 February 1936) is one of the most extraordinary pioneers in ITF Taekwon-Do history - an Olympic athlete, 7th Dan judoka, and the man who trained over 60,000 students in Vietnam before fleeing Saigon and rebuilding his life's work in Texas. On 1 March 2002 General Choi Hong Hi promoted him to 9th Dan Grandmaster (certificate number A-9-2), placing him among the final select group to receive that rank directly from the founder. His martial arts roots run three centuries deep. From age five his father trained him in traditional Cong-Fu, a family tradition spanning 300 years. In 1953 he moved to Judo, rapidly becoming national champion of South Vietnam and representing his country as a lightweight judoka at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He eventually earned his 7th Dan in Judo. In 1962 he began Taekwon-Do training under Master Nam Tae-hi - the Father of Vietnamese Taekwon-Do. From 1967 he worked closely with General Choi Hong Hi, who renamed his central school in Vietnam the official Oh Do Kwan branch. Before the fall of Saigon in 1975 he had opened nine major martial arts schools across Vietnam and personally trained more than 60,000 students. During the Vietnam War he also served as a translator for the US Army. After the fall of Saigon he fled to the United States and settled in Houston, Texas. There he founded the Van Binh Self Defense Academy - teaching Taekwon-Do, Judo, Aikido and Tai Chi - and became the founder and president of ITF-USA, building the official American branch of the federation. Across his entire career he has taught more than 70,000 students worldwide and personally awarded over 1,500 black belts. As chairman of the ITF Masters Promotion Committee he remained a stabilising force in the international ITF community well into his later years.