The UC Martial Arts Program Endowed Director, Dr. Russell Ahn has been reappointed as the Vice Chairman of Youth and Collegiate Committee of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).  The founding director of the UC Martial Arts Program, Dr. Ken Min served as the Collegiate Committee Chair from 1981 until 2008.  Dr. Ahn has served as the Chairman of Collegiate Committee of the WTF from 2009 until 2010.  After taekwondo became a core sport of the Youth Olympics, the committee expanded to become the “Youth and Collegiate Committee” and Dr. Ahn has continued to serve as the Vice Chairman of the committee. Thus, Dr. Ahn has succeeded Dr. Min’s mission of university taekwondo development in the international community through WTF. Currently, Dr. Ahn is also serving as the president of the US National Collegiate Taekwondo Association and serves on the board of directors for USA Taekwondo, the national governing body for taekwondo in the United States.

Dr. Ahn will continue to pursue his goals and visions on the educational values of taekwondo and the academic development of taekwondo.  As the director of the University of California Martial Arts Program (UCMAP), he has been working hard to promote UCMAP’s mission through his involvement with the campus, community, national governing bodies and international organizations of taekwondo.

“It is the purpose of the Martial Arts Program to preserve the philosophy, techniques, and traditions of martial arts and to develop a scientific understanding of the physical and spiritual implications of human performance.”