Sondrestrom Taekwondo Club

The first Taekwondo class at Sondrestrom 1984

From left (back) Cho Woon Sup, Ture, Jan, Knud, Graig, Michael (me)

From left (front): Poul, Ivan, Jørgen, Denise, Kim

The second Taekwondo Class at Sondrestrom 1985

From left (back) Cho Woon Sup, Eisensee, Niels, Knud, Poul, Ivan, Michael (me),

From left (front): Per, John, Dorte, Karoline

July 1984   TAE-KWON-DO    A six degree Black Belt Cho-Woon-Sup from Korea made a visit to the Base Gym, on July 17th, to overlook the graduation of the Tea-Kwon-Do class here on base. Every member of the Sondy Tae-Kwon-Do team graduated and Sondy now has a first-degree Black Belt, chief printer and trainer for the team, Michael Pedersen.      Mr. Knud Larsen graduated for the Green Belt; and the other 8 members, Ture Sorner, Jan Pedersen, Graig Heinselman, Poul Hansen, Ivan Skov, Jørgen Lundtoft, Denise Rust and Kim Petersen all graduated for the Yellow Belt.      Congratulations to the whole team from The Sun Staff!

Sports

February 10, 1985             8

Korean art form taught at Sondy by Michael Pedersen, DAC   On January 19th approximately 70 people, at the base gym had the opportunity to watch a Tae Kwon Do demonstration performed by members of the Sondrestrom Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts class and Master Cho Woon Sup a seventh degree master instructor from Denmark. The students demonstrated defensive skills learned during training while Master Sup demonstrated years of training and concentration as he broke a stone with his hand.   Tae Kwon Do is a martial arts form that has been in existence for at least 2,000 years. This technique, which was developed in the Republic of Korea, requires the use of 20% of your hands and 80% of your legs. Today there are about 15 million Tae Kwon Do students 140 countries who are all members of The World Tea Kwon Do Federation in Seoul, Korea.   Cho Woon Sup, 33, teaches Tae Kwon Do at one of the biggest martial arts school in Copenhagen. In Denmark there are 70 Tae Kwon Do schools with an enrollment of approximately 6,000 members.   Tae Kwon Do was first introduced at Sondrestrom in May 1984. Classes here are taught by Michael Pedersen, a first degree black belt, who began Tae Kwon Do training in 1980.   Fifteen people are presently enrolled in Pedersen’s’ class. The classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 - 8:30 P.M., in the base gym. For addition information about enrolling contact the base gym personnel at ext 684.

Sondy’s Tae Kwon Do students demonstrate the precision and patience needed for mastering this martial art form that was discovered in Korea 2000 years ago. (U.S. Air Force Photo by 1lt Llelwyn F. Grant)

Base Gym 1985: Master Cho found a stone on the base, and broke it with the edge of his hand.

Today, Grandmaster Cho Woon Sup has a 9th Dan (9 degree black belt) and is a member of the board at the worlds Taekwondo Headquarter, Kukkiwon, in Korea.

Cho Woon Sup now lives in Norway where he founded The Traditional Taekwondo Union (TTU) in 1996

Michael (me) in 1987

Me, I got the 2th degree black belt (2. Dan)  in 1987 and continued training Taekwondo until 1994.

After returning to Denmark in august 1986 I became the chairman of my old club in 1987 (Rødovre Taekwondo Klub).

In 1989 we where 35 members who broke out and founded our own club. Vestegnens Taekwondo Klub (now called Islev Taekwondo Klub).

From 1992-1993, I had a small Taekwondo Club on Thule Air Base, Greenland.

After 15 years with no training,

I started again in 2009 with my tree children, in Copenhagen,

Tan Gun.

Michael (me) in 2010

25 years later

You might visit my private website about my life with taekwondo:

www.dojang.dk