Instructors

GRAND MASTER CHONG
GRAND MASTER INSTRUCTOR (10TH DAN)
Master Chong has served as the head instructor of the University of Michigan Taekwondo Club since 1968. He is a former President of the United States Taekwondo Union, a former member of the WTF council, and has served as head of the US National Taekwondo Team. His students have included Olympic Gold Medalist Lynette Love and Bronze Medalist Han Wan Lee. In addition to being the U of M Master Instructor, Master Chong is formerly a Lecturer in the Division of Kinesiology, and taught the Beginning Taekwondo and Advnaced Taekwondo courses for the U-Move Program.

MASTER INSTRUCTOR (6TH DAN)
MASTER BUSCH
Master Busch is the Master Instructor of the U of M Taekwondo Club and has been involved in Taekwondo for over 30 years, starting at the University of Michigan in 1987. After serving as a club officer, he became an instructor in 1991 and served in that capacity until 2002, when he relocated to South Bend, IN. Master Busch then became an instructor at Hong's USA Taekwond where he taught advanced classes and sparring. His students included the. University of Notre Dame Taekwondo club. Master Busch returned to the area in 2005 and resumed teaching at UM. Master Busch is a certified referee.

RUSS GALE
HEAD COACH (6TH DAN)
Master Russell Gale has trained in taekwondo for over 30 years. He spent several years competing in Olympic style taekwondo earning medals in state, national and international competitions. He has since turned his competitive energy towards his coaching career. He has developed several athletes from his team to surpass his own accomplishments in the ring. He has seen his athletes make national teams and travel the world in pursuit of ranking points in their quest for an Olympic opportunity. Master Gale is also on staff with the USAT, the organizing body of Olympic Sport Taekwondo in the United States. With the USAT he helps organize and run the US National Championships and the US Open.

SPARRING COACH (4TH DAN)
DAVID REITZ
David Reitz is a seasoned competitor hailing from Master Russell Gale's school in Plymouth, MI. David's recent accomplishments have included winning gold at the 2017 USAT National Championships in the men's black belt featherweight division. He is currently ranked #2 in the nation for this division.
Officers
Rishi Merchant
(he/him/his)
PRESIDENT
SUKI ZHAO
(she/her/hers)
VICE PRESIDENT
Jennifer Kim
(she/her/hers)
TEAM CAPTAIN
Michelle Cai
(she/her/hers)
SECRETARY
Hyoung Cho
(he/him/his)
CO-TRAVEL COORDINATOR
ALICIA WANG
(she/her/hers)
CO-TRAVEL COORDINATOR
Kyra Kurtz
(she/her/hers)
TREASURER
Nuala Kennedy
(she/her/hers)
MEDIA EDITOR
Kerra Hinrichs
(she/her/hers)
WEBMASTER
McKendra Perry
(she/her/hers)
EQUIPMENT MANAGER
Bella Jakubczak
(she/her/hers)
SOCIAL CHAIR
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