Greatest taekwondo fighter?

[Heroic Wolf]

Judo has its Masahiko Kimura, BJJ has its Rickson Gracie, Shotokan has its Hirokazu Kanazawa. However, I haven't been able to find out if the taekwondo world has a dominant fighter that everybody looks up to and popular opinion holds to be the best there ever was for that particular martial art. On wikipedia, somebody named "Yong Soo Do" was briefly listed as the "best taekwondo fighter ever", but I couldn't find him anywhere else on the internet. Any ideas on who the taekwondo world sees as the best tkd warrior there ever was?

[rhee]

In WTF or ITF taekwondo? There is so many good champions. In WTF i think good is S. Lopez.

[Heroic Wolf]

I'm curious about ITF and WTF

[tenthousandkick]

well, there is always Joon Rhee, people call the father of Taekwondo, who brought it to America, and of course General Choi.

[high kicks]

I know I am really late coming in on this one but just seen it and have to put in my to cents worth Master Dan Simard, 7th degree and world champion. I have met him afew times what a great guy

[Tom Yum]

IMHO, the greatest full-contact fighter at present times is Serkhan Yilmaz.

He's fought full-contact against A-level kickboxers (lost a decision draw to Musashi and Ludwig) and has knocked out B-level kickboxers in K-1. I'm making my judgement based off of the men who were his competition.

Interms of WTF/ITF fighting circuit, I do not know.

Most deadliest? ROK Army LTG Jae Myung Shin and the South Korean men who served along side US Marines/SF and South Vietnamese Army


ROK Marine influence on the US MCMAP - Military Photos

Tae Kwon Do in the Vietnam War

In response to appeals for international support, the Korean Government dispatched 10 tae kwon do instructors and a mobile Army surgical hospital to South Vietnam on 13 September 1964, the first increments of Seoul’s lengthy and significant commitment to the Republic of Vietnam.10 The instructors taught South Vietnamese servicemen from all military Services. The tae kwon do detachment would be the longest serving unit in Vietnam—by 1973, 647 tae kwon do instructors had served in Vietnam.11 The arrival of combat forces in 1965 would further demonstrate the value of martial arts training by friend and foe alike.

The first commander of ROK Forces Vietnam, Army LTG Jae Myung Shin, was an early pupil of MG Choi, earning a fifth-degree black belt.12 A devoted practitioner of tae kwon do, he practiced 30 minutes daily, and visitors were apt to find the general leading his entire staff in martial arts training in front of his headquarters.13 Similar activities occurred at the headquarters of the Capital and White Horse Divisions and the Blue Dragon Brigade.

The knowledge of the Korean’s martial arts prowess, fueled by frequent unit-wide demonstrations, quickly spread to allies and adversaries. Allied servicemen envied this skill, believing that the Koreans were the most feared opponent on the battlefield. Captured enemy documents confirmed this suspicion. Viet Cong commanders ordered their troops to avoid contact with the Koreans “at all costs, unless a Viet Cong victory is 100% certain.”14 Should they come into contact, the Viet Cong were advised to retreat rather than fight.15

Because the Viet Cong were hesitant to engage them, the Korean units were able to restore stability within their assigned areas of responsibility. By 1966, 8 months after the Capital Division arrived, the Tigers had secured the port of Qui Nhon and Highways 1 and 19 in Binh Dinh Province, a feat that neither the South Vietnamese nor the French had been able to accomplish in over 20 years.16 And the actions of a single company of Marines from the Blue Dragon Brigade would make a small hamlet at Tra Binh Dong a place that would become synonymous with Korean military and martial arts prowess.

[high kicks]

Master Simard began training in martial arts at the age of five. He has had a long and successful career with many accomplishments including:
"World Champion" (Athens Greece 1987)
"World Champion" (Barcelona Spain 2003)
8 times Canadian Champion
2 times Pan-American Champion
He retired Undefeated North-American Champion in five weight divisions.

[tkdhof]

Judo has its Masahiko Kimura, BJJ has its Rickson Gracie, Shotokan has its Hirokazu Kanazawa. However, I haven't been able to find out if the taekwondo world has a dominant fighter that everybody looks up to and popular opinion holds to be the best there ever was for that particular martial art. On wikipedia, somebody named "Yong Soo Do" was briefly listed as the "best taekwondo fighter ever", but I couldn't find him anywhere else on the internet. Any ideas on who the taekwondo world sees as the best tkd warrior there ever was?

MIKE WARREN IS CONSIDERED BY MANY TO HAVE BEEN THE BEST TKD PLAYER OF ALL TIME. SEE HIM IN THE TAEKWONDO HALL OF FAME WEBSITE www.taekwondohalloffame.com