Taekwondo was first introduced into the U.S. in

the 1950s. From this time until 1973 there was

a broad diversity of teaching methodologies and

styles, which were brought from the six major

Kwan (schools) of Taekwondo in Korea. With

unification initiated by the World Taekwondo

Federation (WTF) under the leadership of Dr. Un

Yong Kim, instructors in the U.S. organized and

made possible the admission of Taekwondo into

the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1974. Under

this organization, all newly established

technical standards, sanctioned by the WTF,

were adopted into this official form of

Taekwondo in the United States. Its name was

changed to the National AAU Taekwondo Union on

September 9, 1984. On April 7, 1984, during the

House of Delegates Meeting of the U.S. Olympic

Committee, the U.S. Taekwondo Union was

unanimously approved as a "Group A" member of

the U.S. Olympic Committee.

U.S. Taekwondo Union is a non-profit amateur

sports organization that exists to develop

Taekwondo in the U.S. It is the National

Governing Body for Taekwondo, as well as the

sole representative of the WTF in the United

States. The U.S. Taekwondo Union is responsible

for development and competitive programs. It

sanctions U.S. tournaments and meets,

administers national championships and reports

to the World Taekwondo Federation and the U.S.

Olympic Committee as a National Governing Body

for Taekwondo in the U.S. Because of its

leadership, it is fast becoming one of the

largest athletic associations in the U.S. Its

success is evident in the growing popularity

Taekwondo has experienced in the past several

years. The 1991 U.S. Junior Olympic Taekwondo

Championships in Cincinnati attracted a crowd

of over 10,000 people.

With the support of the U.S. Taekwondo Union,

Taekwondo has become a licensed Junior Olympics

program, under the U.S. Olympic Committee,

which attracts over 3,000 competitors at the

national level from 50 state qualifiers.

Taekwondo has also become an official Pan

American sport (since 1983) and an Olympic

demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992. The sport

has attained medal status for the 2000 Summer

Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. This

increase in international and national

competitions has pushed the interest level in

Taekwondo to an amazing 5 million practitioners

in the U.S.

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