Martial Arts Credentials of Mr. David Teitelbaum

David Teitelbaum began training in Tae Kwon Do from age 7 in 1976 under Master Nam K. Hyong, 7^th Degree Black Belt and owner of Hyong’s Martial Arts Academy in Champaign, Illinois. Master Hyong was affiliated with the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF) in Seoul, Korea. The WTF has since gained ascendency among the various competing federations and is now the body that governs the practice of Tae Kwon Do as an Olympic event.

Teitelbaum continued to train and earned his First Degree Black Belt in 1981 at age 12 under younger brother and 5^th Degree black belt Master Namsoo Hyong. He was one of the youngest students to achieve this rank at that time in WTF history. In 1982, Teitelbaum’s instructors made a philosophical break from the model of competitive martial arts, and devoted their practice instead to using martial arts training as a holistic way to develop the practitioner physically, mentally and socially. Originally trained as a competitor, Teitelbaum was among the first beneficiaries of this philosophical development, and assisted in the development of this program over the next decades.

Throughout college at the University of Illinois, where he studied Russian Language and Music Theory, he was Head Instructor of the Illini Tae Kwon Do Club, where he taught more than 1,000 students. In 1993 he was among the first wave of western martial artists to establish working relationships with colleagues in newly independent Russia. While a David L. Boren National Security Program Graduate Fellow in the Republic of Kazakhstan, he taught as a volunteer at Almaty City Orphanage No. 3, for which he received honors from the First Lady of that country in 1995. He ran a full-time academy from 1998-2003, and earned the rank of Fourth Degree Black Belt, Master Instructor. He developed an Instructor training program and trained more than 50 junior instructors. He introduced Martial Arts training to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After School All Stars program for homeless children in New York City in 2003. He has training also in Hapkido, Aikido, Taekkyeon and Jiu Jitsu.

Since 2006, he has worked for the U.S. Treasury, and has a Westbriar kindergartener, Maxine, who will be followed by little brother Arthur in a couple of years.

Source: David  Teitelbaum