Tiger Kim’s Academy (TKA) was founded in 1976 and has been located in Denver on the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Steele Street for many years. In addition to being one of Denver’s, Colorado’s and one of the country’s oldest martial arts schools providing training in Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do and Hapkido, Tiger Kim’s also operates a successful martial arts supply business.
TKA was founded by Grand Grandmaster Tiger Kim, 81, who moved to the United Sates in 1975 from South Korea as a World Taekwondo Federation missionary to help educate and provide Americans with training in traditional Korean martial arts and to help support the Olympic movement. Taekwondo became an official Olympic sport in 1988, and is the only martial arts sport represented in the Olympics.
Grand Grandmaster Tiger Kim got his name from his aggressive fighting style when he was a Captain for the Korean National Police and was called “Tiger Cop.” His also served as part of the Korean FBI. He won the All Asian Fighting World Cup in 1971, which is essentially the “Super Bowl of Martial Arts.” Recognized internationally by his peers, Grand Grandmaster Tiger Kim also trained movie star Bruce Lee in 1969 as a special request to come to Hong Kong and teach him Tiger style breaking technique.
Today, TKA is still a family business, owned and operated by father and son. Grandmaster Tiger Kim, who moved to Denver with his father at the age of three, is also an accomplished martial artist. Grandmaster Tiger Kim also currently serves as the AAU Taekwondo State President and Vice President of the Colorado State Taekwondo Association and is involved in hosting many martial arts tournaments in the Denver area. Grandmaster Tiger Kim also believes in giving back to the community, and thus, the school has offered free monthly women’s self defense classes for the past several years, which also raises money through donations for breast cancer research. TKA is also active in many public schools throughout metro Denver providing after school enrichment classes in Taekwondo to elementary students.
Thousands of students have been trained over the past 40 years at TKA, including many who have achieved the rank of Black Belt. Please see the attached news release about the 40th anniversary from TKA and recent Black Belt recipients as well as a proclamation from the Governor with additional background. For more information visit www.tigerkim.com.
