In 1969 Master Hee Il Cho came to New England and began teaching his art. Eventually there were seven schools in the New England area all under the Direction of Master Cho.

In 1975 Master Hee Il Cho decided to pursue a movie career and moved to Los Angeles leaving his chain of schools to his senior black belts.

The New England Tae Kwon Do Center, currently in Coventry RI, was established on September 3, 1974 by Raymond C. Lannon, Jr.. In June of 1971 Mr. Lannon joined Master Cho’s Tae Kwon Do Dojang on Washington Street in Providence, R.I. Mr. Lannon attained his black belt in 1973. One year later, in 1974, he opened his first school in Coventry. The Dojang was run under Master Cho.

The New England Tae Kwon Do Center is the longest running original school remaining.

It has produced over 85 Black Belts in it’s 30 plus years. After 22 years Mr. Lannon sold the business to William J. Leahy but still today can be seen teaching classes and working out on a regular basis. In 1996, Mr. William J. Leahy purchased the current location in Coventry RI and has assumed the position of Chairman of the Eastern Tae Kwon Do Federation Board of Examiners.

Mr. Roger D. Fontaine began training at New England Tae Kwon Do in 1985 at the Bakers Corner location in Seekonk, MA. This school was run under Peter Morell.

The school was a branch location of the Briarwood Plaza Location run under Lenny Mills Jr. who was a student of another original school run by Tommy Bakalakis. This school eventually closed and Peter Morell took ownership of the Briarwood Plaza location, were Mr. Fontaine continued his training for years to come.

Eventually Mr. Fontaine would go off to school, change jobs, and had to discontinue his training. The Briarwood Plaza location eventually closed. Mr. Fontaine never stopped training in Tae Kwon Do, always practicing Hyungs, bagwork, etc. Over the years Mr. Fontaine trained with various instructors in Tae Kwon Do, most if not all, originally tied to Master Cho, but never stayed with any one instructor for any long period of time.

It took his daughter Kayla’s interest in the Art to spark a return for Mr. Fontaine himself. Finally finding a home at the New England Tae Kwon Do Center in Coventry RI and obtaining his black belt in 2003 and his second degree in 2005. Mr. Fontaine still trains actively today at the Coventry RI location.

Recently Mr. Fontaine moved his family to Brooklyn, CT. Traveling back and forth to RI for his children to train in Tae Kwon Do was not effective thus creating the need for the new location.