The story of our school began with Grand Master Jae H. Kim moving to Boston in 1971 to attend MIT. He started teaching Taekwon-do at area universities, where his classes quickly filled with eager students as people took notice of Mr. Kim’s unique teaching style. They instantly recognized the value of Mr. Kim’s approach, which combines an analytical approach acquired through his academic studies at Western universities, with special expertise developed in the East by Taekwon-do masters.

When Mr. Kim’s Taekwon-do classes at the universities could no longer hold the burgeoning number of students coming to him from all over the Boston area, and with encouragement from General Choi who wanted Mr. Kim to establish an exemplary Taekwon-do school in Boston for the world to see, Mr. Kim decided to open a Taekwon-do school of his own, where his students could practice under his supervision day and night. Thus, the Jae H. Kim Taekwon-do Institute was born on July 15, 1974, on Brookline Avenue in Boston. The school has flourished at that location ever since, attracting Taekwon-do students of all ages and backgrounds, from around the world. The institute now operates 15 schools in the U.S., Singapore, Korea, Ireland, and China.

Headed by Ms. Gailyn Perrin, who was personally trained by Grandmaster Kim.  Our Branch is proud to carry on the tradition of Taekwondo excellence established by Grandmaster Jae H. Kim.

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you to our Seattle website.  Our Seattle school is being managed by Ms. Gailyn Perrin.  Gailyn was already an accomplished athlete in her field when I first met her in Boston.  She had served on the US National Rowing Team, and she was in Boston to work as coach of the Boston University rowing team.  She fell in love with Taekwon-Do when she walked into our school, and she has been one of our most dedicated practitioners since then.

Gailyn excelled in Taekwon-Do as well, becoming one of only two women to have received Jung Yeh Dan honors from this institute in the past 37 years.  This is quite an accomplishment, especially considering we have over 3,000 active practitioners in our network.

Instructors from the Boston school and the Korea school are also assigned to teach at our Seattle school along with Gailyn, providing our students with the best quality of martial arts instruction available from both sides of the Pacific.  I hope you will take advantage of having such an excellent school in your area, and become part of our first Tae Kwon Do family on the West Coast.

Sincerely,

 Jae H. Kim