{{short description|South Korean taekwondo practitioner}} {{family name hatnote|Han||lang=Korean}} __NOTOC__ {{Infobox martial artist | name = Han Cha-kyo | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = 20 July 1934 | birth_place = Seoul, Korea | death_date = {{Death year and age|1996|1934}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, USA | martial_art = Taekwondo | teacher = Won Kuk Lee, Nam Tae Hi, Duk Sung Son, Woon Kyu Um | rank = 9th ''dan'' taekwondo (UTF), 8th ''dan'' taekwondo (ITF) | students = | url = http://utf.whsites.net/{{dead link|date=May 2025}} }}

'''Han Cha-kyo''' (20 July 1934&nbsp;– 1996) was a South Korean master of taekwondo,<ref name="CKHan1">[http://www.hanstkd.com/han-cha-kyo.php Han's Tae Kwon Do: Grandmaster Han Cha-kyo] Retrieved on 22 February 2009.</ref><ref name="CKHan2">[http://www.hanstkd.com/about-hans.php Han's Tae Kwon Do: About Han's Tae Kwon Do] Retrieved on 22 February 2009.</ref><ref name="Madison">[http://www.utfmadison.com/gm_han.php Universal Taekwon-Do Federation Madison: Grandmaster Han Cha-kyo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110117031851/http://www.utfmadison.com/gm_han.php |date=2011-01-17 }} Retrieved on 13 January 2010.</ref><ref name="PITKD">[http://www.pitkd.com/taekwondo-alliances.php Pacific International Taekwondo: World Taekwondo Alliance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324160146/http://www.pitkd.com/taekwondo-alliances.php |date=2010-03-24 }} Retrieved on 13 January 2010.</ref> and one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association.<ref name="ITF1972">Choi, H. H. (1972): ''Taekwon-Do: The Korean art of self-defence''. Mississauga: International Taekwon-Do Federation.</ref><ref name="OriginalMasters">[http://www.itfnz.org.nz/ref/documents/masters.htm A tribute to the original masters] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525230014/http://www.itfnz.org.nz/ref/documents/masters.htm |date=2010-05-25 }} (c. 2007). Retrieved on 13 June 2007; link has expired, as at 1 July 2011.</ref> He held the rank of 9th ''dan'' in taekwondo.<ref name="CKHan2"/> Following a career in the South Korean military, he emigrated to the United States of America in 1971 with his wife and newborn daughter Nancy Han. He later had another daughter, Catherine Han. After teaching taekwondo for many years in Chicago, he died in 1996.

==Early life== Han was born on 20 July 1934 in Seoul, Korea,<ref name="Madison"/><ref name="Spiegel1995">Spiegel, A. B. (1995): [http://www.hanstkd.com/tkdt-0195/ Grandmaster Han Cha-kyo: The humble giant] ''Tae Kwon Do Times'' (January 1995). Retrieved on 22 January 2010.</ref> during the period of Japanese occupation. He trained under three martial art masters: Nam Tae Hi, Duk Sung Son, and Woon Kyu Um.<ref name="CKHan1"/><ref name="Madison"/> From 1950 to 1959, Han served as a martial art instructor in the Korean military forces.<ref name="CKHan1"/> Through the 1960s, his career continued with both military assignments and leadership of demonstration teams overseas.<ref name="CKHan1"/> In 1965, Han was ranked 6th ''dan''.<ref name="TH">[http://www.taekwondo-homepage.de/hintergrundwissen/geschichte-des-taekwondo/ Taekwondo Homepage: Geschichte des Taekwondo] {{in lang|de}}. Retrieved on 5 January 2010.</ref>

==United States== In 1971, Han emigrated to the United States of America and settled in Chicago.<ref name="CKHan1"/> Together with his brother Han Min Kyo, himself a 9th ''dan'', he developed the Han method and obtained patents for his exercises.<ref name="Spiegel1995" /> He founded the Universal Tae Kwon Do Federation around 1980.<ref name="CKHan3">[http://www.hanstkd.com/history.php Han's Tae Kwon Do: History of Tae Kwon Do] Retrieved on 22 January 2010.</ref>{{ref_label|A|a|none}} He had a wife and two daughters who were both trained in Tae Kwon Do by their father. Han died in 1996.<ref name="CKHan2"/>

Han appears on Chang Keun Choi's list of taekwondo pioneers.<ref name="Choi">Choi, C. K. (2007): [http://www.taekwondopioneers.com/pioneers.html Tae Kwon Do Pioneers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312111930/http://www.taekwondopioneers.com/pioneers.html |date=2008-03-12 }} Retrieved on 15 March 2008.</ref>

==See also== * International Taekwon-Do Federation * List of taekwondo grandmasters

==Notes== {{refbegin}} '''a.''' {{note_label|A|a|none}} Han's Universal Tae Kwon Do Federation is not the same as the Universal Taekwondo Federation based in the United Kingdom. {{refend}}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== * [http://utf.whsites.net/ Universal Tae Kwon Do Federation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411071341/http://utf.whsites.net/ |date=2018-04-11 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Cha-kyo}} Category:1934 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Martial arts school founders Category:Martial artists from Chicago Category:Martial artists from Seoul Category:South Korean male taekwondo practitioners Category:20th-century South Korean sportsmen