I spent a lot of time at Grandmaster Kwon’s office. We worked together on USTU business and championships. I went to him for advice about everything from problems with my own students to my personal troubles. I wanted to expand my business and give others an opportunity to grow. He showed me how he had opened new schools and what new problems to expect.

   In 1992, I married the woman whom I had been in a committed relationship with for three years. She too fell in love with the art of taekwondo. Even before we   married, she helped me see my strengths and encouraged me to trust my God-given talents. I have always said that it was taekwondo that brought us together and it is taekwondo that has helped keep us close. I think that most taekwondo masters and grandmasters will agree that our love for the art(not to mention the demands of being self-employed) can add stress to any marriage. It helped that we were both so involved in taekwondo. Over the years my wife has taught classes and operated her own dojang. Even as our lives continue to change, she still finds creative ways to remain involved in taekwondo. I am proud that she was the first of my black belts to be promoted to the rank of 5th dan. Her loyalty as a student is above reproach and sets the standard high for others to follow.

   Grandmaster Kwon was an honored guest at our wedding. As a matter of fact, He has been to other family functions like birthday parties and funerals. I do not even have to ask him to come. Grandmaster Kwon seems to know when I need his support. There were many times that my own mother or siblings were not there for me, but I’d see the door open and there Grandmaster stood.

   It was this father/son relationship that has improved my own parenting skills to our son. He is twelve years old and earned his first degree black belt in June of this year. Our son is already an exceptional teacher’s assistant, and is looking forward to traveling to the taekwondo events that will take him all over the world. Teaching his own classes is one of his future goals.

   There came a time when Grandmaster Kwon saw the need for a new organization to better promote taekwondo and support its members. When he began   the development of the United States National Taekwondo Federation(USNTF), I was proud to help out. More long trips were made to Chicago. The time I spent with him was rewarding. I shared my childhood dream of training in Korea. I was like a child   too, always asking when I could go with him to Kukkiwon. I have always had this vision of the official training facility - high on a mountain top - surrounded by trees - far away from the crowded city streets. I guess he got tired of me nagging him. Grandmaster Kwon organized the 1st USNTF Educational Tour of South Korea in 1998. AT LAST! My lifelong dream is coming true! I was going to share this experience with my taekwondo teacher and father. To top it off - my wife was going too.

   With much preparation and anticipation - the fourteen hour flight landed in Seoul, South Korea. Before boarding the bus at the airport parking lot, I fell to my knees and literally kissed the ground - the land that I had dreamed of. As the bus drove up the narrow entrance to Kukkiwon, my eyes locked onto the building that was pictured on my certificates and banners. The building definitely stood out from the rest of the stores, apartments, office high-rises and other structures that almost blocked the view of Kukkiwon. Only my wife knew my disappointment to see that Kukkiwon was right smack in the middle of a business district of Seoul. It was not where I had envisioned it to be. I was not about to let that affect my experience of official dojang. I still entered the training facility with the same reverence as a place of worship. We trained for two days. The history - I could not begin to imagine who all had the privilege to train on the gym floor. Who had sat in the special seating area of the bleachers? Even in the offices - the hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of names that came across the desks. My information is recorded somewhere in this building.

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   Thomas Eugene Perry
   Date of Birth: Jun 24, 1953
   Country: USA
   Kukkiwon Seventh Degree Black Belt

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