Hee Il Cho grew up in a harsh area of post war Korea in what was little more that a hut on the outskirts of South Po Hoang, like most, Cho's family were very poor. His father left too, when Cho was still young, to find a better life, which meant that Cho, being the eldest boy, had the responsibility of providing for himself , his mother and his 5 siblings at just 8 years old. His mother left long before sun rise every morning to search for a day's work in the city but was often unsuccessful.

Cho's Journey started when he was ten years old. He went to a local fair where four or five neighborhood boys beat him up so badly he thought he was almost half dead when they had finished with him. He felt stung with humiliation, crushed from defeat. For a long time after this fight a burning anger ate inside his heart. This anger was to also be the creator of his competitive spirit. He wanted to make sure that he would never again in his life be in a similar position. So it was, he started training in Kang Soo Do. One of several forms of Korean karate that are now largely referred to jointly under the name of tae kwon do.

It was hard training. Even though he was very young, they treated him with indifference to his age. Classes were two hours long every day. If you couldn't follow, too bad. Only the most fit and strongest managed to pass through the training.

Due to the depression after the war, his country was very poor at this time. The studio facilities consisted of a dirt floor and meager equipment. Despite these conditions he had to show respect to his studio; humble as it was it was treated like a palace. The head instructor seemed almost godlike to him at that age. A year passed before he even talked to him once. So it was, he learned humility and respect for his peers. The higher belts were very tough and gave him a hard time. He couldn't understand why then, and often returned to his home disconcerted, but he understands now. Besides his physical development, they were helping him with his mental attitude. He stayed with the studio for three years until he received his first degree black belt. Then he left the school because his family moved to Inchon which Is close to Seoul.

It was at Inchon that He came to know Tae Kwon Do. He found that Tae Kwon Do satisfied his mental growth as well as his physical development. He became a more complete person and martial artist through Tae Kwon Do. He knew by then that martial arts would be his life. In addition to his Tae Kwon Do training he enrolled in a boxing gym to develop his footwork and full contact techniques. When he was twenty one He had to serve his country in the army for three years. Since he was by then a fourth degree black belt, they enlisted him to teach the art of self defense to the Korean service men.

After he left the army, Cho made the decision to leave Korea, but at this time it was extremely difficult to gain permission to leave the country. He had only one option open to him; to enroll in a Tae Kwon Do instructors training center. The center was run by General Choi, Hong Hi, the man who created Tae Kwon Do. The students who graduated first and second from this course would have the chance to go overseas and work for the government as Tae Kwon Do instructors. Cho graduated first with honors. After training the Indian Special Forces in the desert he decided to set out towards the unknown, and head for America.

His journey continued after this taking him to India and Germany to teach armed forces. He then had an opportunity to go to the United States with a demonstration team. He had heard so much about the freedoms of the U.S. and the people of this country. He thought that if there was any place in the world that he could hope to achieve his goals, the United States was going to be the place.

So his journey was broadening; the horizons of his life were swiftly changing. He arrived in the U.S. thinking that life was full of endless possibilities, and it was. He gave his first demonstration in Chicago. While there he heard from one of his friends that a Tae Kwon Do instructor was needed in South Bend Indiana. He got the position as instructor in South Bend, working by day in a factory and by night as an instructor. Days were long fifteen hours of work a day. During this time he was thankful for his hard training in Korea. He knew that with patience and perseverance he would pass this moment in his life and move on to better times. He learned to apply his martial arts training to understanding his life and its many changes.

He was to travel during the next years to many different cities in the United States and to compete in many tournaments, always seeking to extend himself. He had a very strong competitive spirit which drove him onward as a fighter. There were many pressures on him because He was a sixth degree black belt; high ranking black belts just didn't fight in tournaments. An added pressure was the amount of prejudice there was against Orientals at that time. He was called 'snake eyes' and 'the yellow man' in newspaper articles. Sometimes it hurt, but he eventually turned a blind eye and knew that in time these attitudes would pass.

It was by competing in tournaments and being among other fighters he came to understand the Americans as people and martial artists. This helped him as an instructor. He realized that the type of training he had in Korea would have to be adapted in some areas to relate to the American way of life. In order to be a good instructor you have to understand your students. He had to understand the Americans and the difference between the cultures. He tried to take the best of both worlds and balance them in his teachings.

His travels were to take him to Rhode Island in the late 60's, early 70's, and it was there among those people that he was to settle and in time to build up seven schools. The people of Rhode Island are tough, strong, and proud. They work hard, but they know a good time also. They are also the most appreciative people he has ever met. He trained many young people in Rhode Island and received much satisfaction from them. A lot of his students especially at the high school age were experiencing the difficulties of being caught in the then extending drug scene, and an apathy of not knowing where their lives were leading them. He tried to show them how their Tae Kwon Do training would give them the courage and mental strength to overcome the changes in their lives, help them grow into responsible, joyful adults. Today many of those young men are teaching Tae Kwon Do in established schools and making their life's journey with Tae Kwon Do as he has. They in turn are training other young black belt instructors. They have competed as a professional full contact team, 'The Tae Kwon Do Tigers,' and also have fought both amateur and professionally Individually.

After six years in Rhode Island he found himself thinking about California. He never really had got used to the hard winters in Rhode Island and often longed for the sun during those cold months. It was not easy to leave so many friends, but his young instructors were well established spreading the Tae Kwon Do way. Cho decided to turn over his Rhode Island studios to his black belt students. And in 1976 he moved to California, where he opened a school on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles. Believe it or not, the school was sold to him by Chuck Norris as he was entering his movie career.

"Moving to California was like moving to a foreign country," Cho said, "so different are the people and the way of life. I had to make many changes in the way I taught class. My Southern California students seemed reluctant to free spar. They lacked the strong fighting spirit of my Rhode Island students, who are very competitive, innovative and ready to utilize new techniques in sparring.

"At first, I missed the involvement and strong attitude of my Rhode Island students. But in time I came to adjust to California. The people here have such a wide variety of leisure activities to choose from that they tend to take karate either for exercise or self-defense."

It was in the latter category, the category of self-defense that Cho was to gain, as he put it, his deepest insight into the contrast between his East and West Coast students. Because for Cho, the familiar situation of someone walking in off the streets and issuing a challenge is not unique to California.

"Even when I was in Rhode Island these types of incidents were occurring," he said. "But unlike my California students my Rhode Island students always escorted intruders out of my schools. And I'm almost tempted to conclude that they have more respect for me than my California students have, since they never allowed me to be put into a situation that could result in legal complications."

Even in his late 60's Grandmaster Cho still trains every day, and holds seminars worldwide. Grandmaster Cho's popularity is still rising and he has clubs teaching his unique style of martial arts in numerous countries worldwide.

Born Oct 13, 1940