Duk Sung Son
| Duk Sung Son | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 June 1922 Seoul, Korea |
| Died | 29 March 2011 (aged 88) Newport, Rhode Island |
| Style | Chung Do Kwan, Tae Kwon Do |
| Teacher(s) | Won Kuk Lee |
| Rank | 9th dan Tae Kwon Do |
Duk Sung Son (Hangul: 손덕성, Hanja: 孫德成) (June 17, 1922 – March 29, 2011) was a martial artist, Grand Master, 9th degree black belt, Co-Founder of the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do, successor of Won Kuk Lee and leader of the Chung Do Kwan school (1950–1959). He was also the chief Instructor of the South Korean Army and the Eighth U.S. Army, founder and president of the World Tae Kwon Do Association and author of the books "Korean Karate, the Art of Tae Kwon Do” and “Black Belt Korean Karate ".
Duk Sung Son, was born in Seoul, in what is now known as South Korea, on June 17, 1922. At that time South Korea was under the Japanese regime.
He started practicing boxing at the age of 16, and after gruesome training, he rose quickly towards becoming a national champion in his category. Back then, it was very common for him to return home each night, with his face all bruised up and cuts all over it that kept him from eating; therefore his parents decided to forbid him from practicing boxing. It is then, in 1944, that he decided to start his Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan style training (School of the Blue Wave), under the supervision of Won Kuk Lee, who was just returning from Japan. As Duk Sung Son would later remember:
“It was a different world. In the boxing Gym, people would steal your shoes, or your towel, and the place was always dirty. But in the Chung Do Kwan School, everyone was kind; there was an atmosphere of camaraderie and friendship; we all worked out together. The style was of no contact, so no one was beaten or hurt.”
After arduous years of training, he obtained his first degree black belt; becoming part of the first generation class of the Chung Do Kwan School, among Woon Kyu Uhm, Yong Taek Chung, Suh Chong Kang, Hyun Jong Myun, and others.
At the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was involved in several military, political and social conflicts that forced Won Kuk Lee to immigrate to Japan in 1951. These conflicts made Won Kuk Lee officially retire from teaching, leaving Duk Sung Son as his successor. During the Korean War, Duk Sung Son took over the leadership role at the Chung Do Kwan School, gathered some school members and kept teaching and promoting the Chung Do Kwan style through tournaments, exhibitions and press articles.
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