The Legacy of Master Robert J Clark

The legacy of Master Robert J. Clark is significant on the spread of Taekwondo in the United States, yet most modern practitioners have never heard his name. Born in 1913 he was a scholar and athlete, having earned a spot on the 1932 US Olympic Swim Team. Dr. Clark was a military trained man, and in his travels came to be acquainted with Grandmaster Duk Sung Son, the world renowned Chung Do Kwan master. The two men formed an unusual friendship, which would solidify the place of Taekwondo in the United States. In the 1960's Clark became one of the 1st nine Black Belts issued by Grandmaster Son in the United States. Dr. Clark went on to write two English textbooks, called "Korean Karate: The Art of Taekwondo", and "Black Belt Korean Karate." As a professor and economist he traveled the United States, and the world, teaching, literally, thousands of students the ancient Korean art before his passing at 95 years of age. Taekwondo Life's Editor-in-Chief, Marc Zirogiannis, discusses the life and legacy of Dr. Robert Jenkins Clark in this episode, as well as his personal experience training under Dr. Clark, in the 1980's in New York. Clark died on December 28, 2008Support the show (https://squareup.com/store/tae-kwon-do-life-magazine/item/podcast-support-donation)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.