American Tang Soo Do Association

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Grandmaster Richard Byrne founded the American Tang Soo Do Association in 1973 and the United Tang Soo Do Congress in 2006. He began his illustrious career in 1969, while stationed at Osan Air Force Base in South Korea. He obtained his 1st degree black belt in 1970, & after concluding his tour of duty, opened his first Tang Soo Do school, the Medford Institute of Korean Karate.

Grandmaster Byrne obtained worldwide recognition as an expert in board breaking. He held 3 world records, including 15 board with an elbow strike, 10 boards with a chop and 8 boards with an instep round kick. To this day, these records have not been broken. He shared his expertise with an international martial arts audience, through his book The Complete Art of Breaking (Ohara Publishing 1983). In 2001, Grandmaster Byrne authored and published This is Tang Soo Do, the definitive guide to Tang Soo Do.

Grandmaster Byrne passed away on September 4th, 2012. Grandmaster Marco Discipio then took over as Kwan Jang Nim.