My journey with Taekwondo began long before I ever stepped onto a mat. I was 12 years old when I watched Bloodsport on VHS and immediately knew I wanted to train in martial arts. My mom found a Karate dojo nearby, but distance and schedules made it impossible to continue. So my childhood friend Johannes and I did what any determined kid would do: we practiced from books.
When my family moved to Bavaria after 7th grade, I finally got the real thing. I trained with two instructors, Andreas on Thursdays in Parsdorf and Uwe on Mondays in Zorneding, both teaching in elementary school gyms. Both had come from Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa’s Black Belt Centers but had since left and were loosely affiliated with Grandmaster Son Jong-Ho. In 1995, the Year of the Pig, I took my first formal test and received my 9th Gup under Grandmaster Son Jong-Ho.
My family moved again within the Munich suburbs, and I found another Black Belt Center, this time under then-Master, now-Grandmaster Angelika Stadler, who was part of Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa’s association. Training under her shaped a significant part of my foundational development.
Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa and the Black Belt Centers
To understand my lineage, it helps to know a little history. Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa arrived in Germany in 1965 as part of a five-person Korean government Goodwill Team that brought Taekwondo to Europe for the first time. The rest of the delegation returned to Korea. Kwon stayed. He founded the first German Taekwondo Federation and became chief instructor for Europe and the Middle East. His schools operated under the name “Black Belt Center,” a network of independent dojangs across Germany run by his students, connected through Kwon himself rather than through a formal federation structure. School leaders worked largely independently, with Kwon visiting regularly for seminars and examinations. Students also traveled to New York to train with him after he established schools there in the early 1970s, while he continued returning to Germany for teaching visits.
When Grandmaster Kwon gradually stepped back from active association work, ending his teaching activity in Germany in 2013, the school leaders began meeting to find a way forward. Around twenty of them stayed in contact, gathering in places like Wiesbaden and Freising. The result was the formal founding of the Traditional Taekwondo Centers e.V. (TTC), with Jürgen Sammler as the first president and founding members including Thomas Weiß, Hans Kaiser, Werner Meule, Adolfo Krunes, Hubert Weber, Martin Eichhorn, Sigrid Kraft, and Günther Witzig. The TTC adopted the 20 Hyeong as its core curriculum, without sine wave motion and with Ko-Dang retained rather than replaced by Juche, as a deliberate way to preserve what distinguished this tradition from the ITF mainstream. Today the TTC has over 50 schools in Germany, around ten in Austria, one in France, and four in the USA. In October 2024, the TTC organized a gala event titled “60 Years of Taekwondo in Europe” at the Circus Krone venue in Munich, a fitting tribute to Grandmaster Kwon’s legacy.
University Years and the Road Back
When I went to study Computer Science in Aachen, I trained occasionally with the WT group at the university. That was my first real exposure to Taegeuk Poomsae. I eventually switched to Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Bonn, and at 23 I honestly thought my martial arts days were behind me. Then I found a Black Belt Center near my apartment in Bonn, and everything changed again.
That school belonged to Grandmaster Thomas Weiß (8th Dan, TTC Grandmaster Committee, Taekwon-Do Center Bonn), and I fell back in love with the art. I trained there for many years, through my chemistry studies and into my PhD work. During that time I also taught Taekwondo in the university’s sports program alongside Grandmaster Jürgen Sammler’s school. Those years deepened my commitment to the traditional, martial approach to Taekwondo rooted in the Oh Do Kwan lineage.
Postdoc, Düsseldorf, and Chang Moo Kwan
After completing my thesis, I received a scholarship for a PostDoc position at the Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim an der Ruhr. My wife and I lived in Düsseldorf, where we trained together at Grandmaster Hardi Follmer’s school. Hardi Follmer also traces his lineage back to Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa, but later joined Chang Moo Kwan, one of the original nine Kwan (schools) of Korean martial arts. Through training there, I earned a Chang Moo Kwan black belt certification, and I am still listed as a member. While at the institute I also founded a Taekwondo group for employees, which was a rewarding way to share the art in an unexpected setting.
Cincinnati, the Ahn Taekwondo Institute, and Traditional Taekwondo Batavia
Since moving to the United States, two lineages have defined my practice. The first is Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa’s Traditional Taekwondo through the TTC. The second is Grandmaster Ahn Kyong Won’s Moo Duk Kwan lineage through the United Taekwondo Association, which I train in at Ahn Taekwondo Institute in Cincinnati under headmaster Kwang Jang Nim Jamie Hamilton. I serve there as a lead instructor, and Kwang Jang Nim Hamilton has encouraged me to share and teach traditional techniques and hyeong with students. Traditional forms such as Bassai and Rohai have been reintroduced into the Ahn TKD curriculum, bridging modern sport Taekwondo with its traditional foundations.
I also run my own private dojang in Batavia, Ohio, operating as Traditional Taekwondo Batavia. The school is a registered member of the TTC and operates under the umbrella of Grandmaster Thomas Weiß’s Dojang in Bonn. It is a private home dojang dedicated to authentic instruction in the classical tradition of Grandmaster Kwon Jae-Hwa, offering one-on-one lessons by appointment for adults and children.
A Family That Trains Together
Now 44 years old and living in Cincinnati with my wife and two daughters, we all practice Taekwondo together at Ahn Taekwondo Institute. Wherever we travel, we train. A work trip to Korea became a martial arts pilgrimage for the whole family. We trained with local groups wherever we could, including a session at ITF-Korea Yeonje in Busan. We visited the sites that connect Taekwondo to Korean history and culture, from Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon to Buddhist temples in the south. Bowing in dobok at a roadside memorial felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Korea
Milestones
In February 2026 I had the honor of training with Grandmaster Gerhard Brunner (9th Dan, Vice President of the ITF) in Tampa, FL.
In April 2026, I was awarded 3rd Dan by the Traditional Taekwondo Centers e.V. during the Österkick seminar at Dojo 44 in Avignon, France, tested and promoted by Grandmaster Thomas Weiß alongside Master Georg Reinartz and Master Lena Rothmann. I also had the honor of meeting Grandmaster Ahn Kyong Won in person during his visit to Ahn Taekwondo Institute ahead of the 50th Ahn Classics Tournament in Mason, OH.
Writing and Research
Beyond training, I channel my passion for the history and theory of Taekwondo into writing. I am the author of A Brief History of Taekwondo Patterns (second edition, 2026), which covers the history, evolution, and significance of Taekwondo patterns across all major traditions, including ITF, WT, TTC, and independent systems. My academic background is in Theoretical Chemistry (PhD), which perhaps explains my tendency to want to understand things from first principles, whether in the lab or on the mat.
I currently hold 3rd Dan rank, recognized in both the TTC (ITF-recognized) and WT traditions. If you are interested in traditional Taekwondo instruction in the Cincinnati area, visit Traditional Taekwondo Batavia for private lessons by appointment.