Judo master inducted into Hall of Fame at Little Rock ceremony

Dr. He-Young Kimm has done a lot in his 71 years.

The South Korean helped win the Seoul National High School Yudo (Korean Judo) Championships in 1958.

He became a marine lieutenant.

And in 1963, he arrived in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to teach Judo at a local college. He hardly spoke a lick of English, and was the first east Asian many people in his town had ever seen. Small kids, brimming with curiosity, followed him in the streets.

Kimm stayed in Missouri, eventually becoming one of the United States’ best Judo teachers. He’s visited dozens of nations and written eight books on Korean martial arts and philosophy.

But until Friday, he had never been inducted into a Multi-Ethnic Hall of Fame. That changed at the Arkansas ceremony of, well, the Multi-Ethnic Hall of Fame. This was the second time the international organization had been held in Little Rock, which is also headquarters of the worldwide American Taekwando Association.  (Kimm’s taekwando colleagues were partly responsible for the adopted Missourian’s inclusion into the Arkansas ceremony).

Check out Kimm’s induction speech below.

 http://youtu.be/SJevVEjvv5k

Facebook Comments

Leave a Comment