Tae Yun Kim
| Tae Yun Kim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | South Korea |
| Nationality | Korean-born U.S. Citizen |
| Other names | Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim |
| Occupation | Author, Chairman & CEO, Motivational Speaker, Life Coach, Teacher, Martial Artist |
| Known for | Publications, martial arts, business |
| Notable work | Seven Steps to Inner Power, The Silent Master |
| Website | taeyunkim.com |
Tae Yun Kim is an established motivational speaker, lecturer, author, and world renowned Martial Arts Master. Dr. Kim incorporates her dedication to excellence, high energy and “can do” spirit into the business philosophy. Being at the forefront of the technology boom, Dr. Kim created her first company in 1985 when she realized that computers were soon going to be an integral part of life in the future.[1]
Background
Dr. Tae Yun Kim was born in South Korea on February 2, 1946,[2] and came from the humblest of circumstances. She was not born in a hospital, instead she was born in a small shack. Tae Yun Kim was born in a place where she had to endure both physical and mental abuse. She was cast away and was often left to starve, simply because she was a girl in the male dominated society in South Korea. At the start of the Korean War, she was left alone at the young age of 5.
She began practicing TaeKwonDo at age 7, later becoming the first female ever to reach the level of Grandmaster in TaeKwonDo. Kim came to America when she was in her early 20s and started the Jung SuWon discipline of martial arts and founded the Jung SuWon Martial Art Academy.
Kim has authored self-help and self-improvement books which are published in over 15 languages.[3] She is also the CEO and Chairman of Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions, a manufacturer of particle measurement instruments and real-time contamination monitoring systems.[4] She started the computer company in 1982 and moved to California in 1985.[5]
She titles herself as Dr. Tae Yun Kim as she received an honorary doctorate from a university in South Korea in 2003.
Martial Arts Background
Dr. Kim has been practicing different forms of martial arts for over 60 years. A big key to her success is her belief that martial arts are not just a physical form of activity and protection, but when combined with meditation it can be a powerful tool for the body and mind. Tae Yun Kim gets her inspiration from her students at the Jung SuWon Martial Arts Academy. Dr. Kim's martial arts lifestyle may have started from TaeKwonDo, but she has since founded a new discipline called Jung SuWon.
TaeKwonDo
Dr. Kim first fell in love with TaeKwonDo when she caught sight of her uncles training in the martial art of TaeKwonDo. She was fascinated and knew that this is what she wanted to do. She begged her uncles to teach her but they laughed at her. Girls were meant to cook and sew and produce twelve sons, not train in the martial arts. But she was persistent and didn't give up. Finally, one uncle agreed thinking that she wouldn't be able to keep up with the hard training and all the bruises that were a natural part of the martial arts. To his surprise, she continued and excelled.
Though her parents increased their physical abuse in the effort of stopping her, Tae Yun Kim did not waver from her dream and she trained hard to become the first female black belt in Korea, then the first female Master, then the first female Grandmaster in the martial arts in over 5,000 years.[6] Achieving these levels of mastery is challenging enough; achieving them as a young girl in a male-dominated society is nearly impossible. Dr. Kim was inducted into the TaeKwonDo Hall of Fame in 2009,[7] becoming the first ever woman to do so.
Jung SuWon
Jung SuWon uses the same moves as TaeKwonDo but is less about the competition, and emphasizes more the unifying of body, mind and spirit. Dr. Tae Yun Kim opened her own academy in 1985. Kim, referred to as Grandmaster by her students, is the founder of the Jung SuWon Martial Art Academy, the only place in the country which teaches Jung SuWon, a gentler form of the Korean martial art of taekwondo. The number of participants in TaeKwonDo in this country has doubled in the past decade to about one million. About 1,100 schools are registered with the United States Taekwondo Union, the sport's governing body situated in Colorado Springs, according to Sheri Boyd, the organization's administrative secretary, although there are probably triple that number scattered throughout the country. Unifying Body, Mind and Spirit
Darren Lewis, formerly with the San Francisco Giants, took a special training class with Grandmaster Kim, where he learned how to visualize and focus his mind as he was playing baseball. In the same year of his program, he set a major league record by playing his 243rd consecutive errorless game, and carried through until June 30, 1994 with 391 consecutive errorless games. He won a National League Golden Glove Award in 1994.
Darren is not the only person she has helped overcome mental blocks, another example is Rocco Pochy, a 51-year-old software engineer from Milpitas whose legs were paralyzed in an accident 40 years ago. After the accident, he enrolled in Kim's academy at a particularly stressful point in his life. "I initially got into it for the mental aspect," he said. "Then a year ago, I felt I needed some physical workout." Pochy quickly began punching exercises, as well as some leg routines. He has become proficient enough in Jung SuWon to attain a green belt, a fourth-level degree, at the academy. "It challenges you so you're doing things you don't think you can," he said. "I'm really surprised at where I am right now." Since receiving his green belt, Pochy added, he has gone skiing and spelunking—exploring caves—for the first time.[8]
Contributions to the Community
Tae Yun Kim has been a part of United Nations Articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She participates in events all over California and the US in the hopes of ending female discrimination. Her charity acts lead to her 2015 CEDAW Award for her Entrepreneurship and contributions to those in need.[9] Dr. Kim continues to be a part of the movement towards gender equality. Tae Yun Kim works closely with senators and lawmakers, most notably the Californian Senator Mark Leno (also a CEDAW award winner), to help pass legislation ending inequality for women in the workplace.
Books
Tae Yun Kim is a well established author, and has books available on Amazon, Smashwords, GoodReads, and even Google Books. She is known for her inspirational and motivational lectures & writing, with the hopes of helping all those that she comes across. In addition to motivational/inspirational writing, she also has published books about the Jung SuWon discipline of martial arts. Here is a list of some of her most famous pieces of literature:
- The First Element: Secrets to Maximizing Your Energy (February, 1998) ISBN 978-0965695909
- The Silent Master: Awakening the Power Within (May 1, 1994) ISBN 978-1880032411
- They Call Me Success (Korean)
- Golden Key of the CEO (Chinese version of They Call Me Success)
- Seven Steps to Inner Power (1st printing 1991, 2nd printing-September 30, 2011) ISBN 978-0931432705
References
- ↑ "Martial Arts Biography - Tae Yun Kim". www.usadojo.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "Achievements & Accomplishments - Dr. Tae Yun Kim". Dr. Tae Yun Kim. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "Jung SuWon". Jung SuWon. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ About Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions
- ↑ "AsianWeek". Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "Tae Yun Kim 1/3 Asian American Wonder Women GoldSea". goldsea.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "Grand Master Dr. Tae Yun Kim Chairs Most Prestigious Ceremony in the History of Tae kwon do - Taekwondo Hall of Fame ® Induction Ceremony". www.lacancha.com. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
- ↑ "SPORTS LEISURE; Kicking the Fear Out of Your Life". The New York Times. 1991-10-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
- ↑ "FRIENDS of the Commission on the Status of Women - 2015 Awardees". www.friendscosw.org. Retrieved 2016-04-20.