The 2026 Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame: Every Honoree, and the Night in Jersey City
Fifty-five martial artists from six continents were recognised by the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame® on 15 August 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, with the Manhattan skyline filling the windows behind the head table. Chuck Norris was inducted posthumously. So were a founder of Chang Moo Kwan and a family of six. Below is the complete list of honorees by category, the welcome letter from the organisation’s founder printed in full, and a plain account of which claims around the evening are documented and which are not.
Disclosure. Grand Master Stephen Oliver, publisher of this magazine, was one of the 2026 Lifetime Achievement honorees. Grand Master Jeff W. Smith, who spoke at the ceremony, serves as Chief of Instruction for Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, which Oliver founded. This article was written and edited by the magazine rather than by Oliver, and the honoree list is reproduced from the Hall of Fame’s own official release without addition or subtraction.
What happened, and where
The Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame® held its 2026 induction ceremonies in the New York and New Jersey area on 14 and 15 August 2026, with the main evening at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson waterfront. Grandmaster Suk Jung Kim served as master of ceremonies. Grandmaster Chong Su Kim, a senior Tang Soo Do pioneer from Pennsylvania, delivered the welcoming address.
The organisation was founded by Grandmaster Gerard Robbins, 9th Dan, who held its first induction ceremony in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on 6 April 2007. Robbins trained under Grandmaster Dong Keun Park and Grandmaster Yeon Hee Park, and in 1975 became the first Taekwondo black belt named an AAU All-American.
An important distinction for readers
There are two organisations using very similar names, and they are not the same body. This article is about the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame® at taekwondohalloffame.com — the private international organisation founded by Gerard Robbins in New Jersey, whose first ceremony was in 2007. World Taekwondo also operates its own hall of fame, approved at its General Assembly in Manchester in May 2019 and inaugurated in 2021 at the Wuxi World Championships. A school owner reading a bio that mentions a “Taekwondo Hall of Fame” induction should establish which one is meant.
The welcome letter, in full
Grandmaster Robbins’s letter to guests and honorees, dated 15 August 2026, is reproduced here in full at the Hall of Fame’s request.
Distinguished Guests & Honorees:
It gives me great pride to welcome all of you to the official TAEKWONDO HALL OF FAME® CEREMONY while recognizing the sacrifice you have made to be here.
As you are aware, the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame® is a nonpolitical international entity comprised of national directors who are members of every major Taekwondo organization.
While based in the United States of America, our national directors are located in all parts of the globe. They are leaders, world champions, coaches and officials who have volunteered their time and energy to seek out, identify and recommend (for Induction or Special Recognition) those persons or groups who have significantly contributed to the development, growth and advancement of our martial art and global sport. The Taekwondo Hall of Fame was created to serve as neutral ground where Taekwondo leaders and novices can assemble to learn and to grow through the sharing of experiences and exchange of ideas regardless of organizational affiliation or geographic boundary.
Through its national directors, the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame® not only compiles the competitive records of athletes and the biographies of pioneers but also collects and displays artifacts of historical nature in its virtual museum. The Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame further strives to correct, preserve and disseminate through its official website the rich history of Taekwondo “the martial art” while doing so in a non-biased all-inclusive manner.
In closing, I sincerely thank all of you who have made a great sacrifice to gather here on this momentous and historic occasion, and I look forward to your continued support and participation in the future.
Sincerely yours,
Gerard Robbins, 9th Dan
President & Founder, Taekwondo Hall of Fame®
The 2026 honorees
Fifty-five individuals across eight categories, as listed in the Hall of Fame’s official 2026 release. Names and titles are reproduced as published.
| Category | Honorees |
|---|---|
| Humanitarian | Senior GM Russell Macarthur · Dr. Joseph Tamer |
| Lifetime Achievement | Chuck Norris (posthumous) · GM Johnny L. Birch Jr. · GM John Bussard · GM Hugh Eagling · GM James Gordon · Master Shane Evan Nixon · Dr. Adrian A. Hitch · Dr. John Kfoury · GM Markus Mikael Karvinen · GM Christina Kang · GM Larry McClure · GM Vicente Morales · GM Anthony Morris · GM Mark Nathanson · GM Stephen Oliver · Master Kevin M. Roberts · GM Ivan Tejeda · GM Dana Vallancourt · GM Michael Johan Kohnen · Master Lee Jeng Yen · GM Kruno Juric |
| Taekwondo Family of the Year | The Iskandar family — GM Hasan Iskandar · Master Sabah Iskandar · Master Mirna Iskandar · Master Kedar Iskandar · Master Inaam Iskandar · Master Youssef Iskandar |
| Pioneer | Supreme GM Nam Suk Lee, Chang Moo Kwan (posthumous) · GM Kyong Tai Lee, pioneer in Toronto · GM William D. Baldwin, U.S. Armed Forces TKD Team |
| Outstanding Leadership | GM Martin Zamecnik · Master Daniel H. Osorio · Dr. Habib F. Zarifeh · Master Melhim Bedreddine · GM Antonio Ortegon · Master Vicente Jose Perez Gonzalez |
| Outstanding Instructor | Senior Master Jeremy D. Selch · Sbn Nassy De Anzorena Caneseco · GM Yuro Mendoza Card · GM Lawrence Tiger Chang · Sbn Susana Cota Guajardo · GM Eric San Jose · GM Jeremy Kempka · Master Hakan Manav · GM Francis Pineda · Master Muhammad Adil Sarwary · Master Curtis Stock · Master Liliana Del Rosario Angulo Wong |
| Outstanding Referee | Master Eric H. Barry · GM Milton Perez, Aruba |
| Outstanding Champion | Master Bobby Leach · Master Keith Otto · GM Yan Too Sang |
Two names worth pausing on
Supreme Grandmaster Nam Suk Lee, honoured posthumously as a Pioneer, is listed as the founder of Chang Moo Kwan. The history is slightly more particular than that, and worth stating correctly: the kwan began as the YMCA Kwon Bop Bu, established by Yoon Byung-in at the Seoul YMCA in 1946. After Yoon went north in 1950, Lee took over as head of the kwan and renamed it Chang Moo Kwan around 1953, then led and expanded it for decades. He was born 28 June 1925 and died 29 August 2000, aged 75. His 10th Dan was conferred posthumously.
Chuck Norris was inducted posthumously, and his black belt was formally enshrined during the ceremony. We cover that induction, and Stephen Oliver’s, in a separate article.
A death in the same week
Four days before the ceremony, on 11 August 2026, Great Grandmaster Albert Cheeks died in Washington D.C. at the age of 74. He was a member of the United States team at the first World Taekwondo Championships in Seoul in 1973, where he took bronze in the heavyweight division, and he is a significant figure in the Hall of Fame’s own museum collection.
Readers should know he is the same man as Bishop Kwabena Albert “Rainey” Cheeks, the name under which the Washington Post and WTOP reported his death, and the name on our memorial profile of him. The martial arts world and the wider world knew him by different names. A celebration of life was held on 29 August 2026 at First Congregational Church UCC in Washington.
What a school owner should take from this
Recognition is a legitimate business asset, and it is also a thing readers and prospective parents can check. Two practical points follow from this ceremony.
Name the awarding body precisely. “Taekwondo Hall of Fame” on a website bio is ambiguous, because at least two organisations answer to it. Naming the one you were inducted into, with the year, costs you nothing and protects the claim.
Recognition is downstream of contribution, and it is recommended, not applied for. The Hall of Fame’s stated process runs through national directors who identify and recommend candidates. That is worth understanding before anyone treats an award as something to be pursued.
Frequently asked questions
When and where was the 2026 Taekwondo Hall of Fame ceremony?
The Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame held its 2026 induction ceremonies on 14 and 15 August 2026 in the New York and New Jersey area, with the main ceremony on 15 August at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, overlooking the Manhattan skyline.
How many people were inducted in 2026?
Fifty-five individuals across eight categories: Humanitarian, Lifetime Achievement, Taekwondo Family of the Year, Pioneer, Outstanding Leadership, Outstanding Instructor, Outstanding Referee and Outstanding Champion. Twenty-one of those were Lifetime Achievement honorees.
Who founded the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame?
Grandmaster Gerard Robbins, 9th Dan, is its founder and president. Its first induction ceremony was held on 6 April 2007 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Robbins trained under Grandmaster Dong Keun Park and Grandmaster Yeon Hee Park.
Is this the same as World Taekwondo’s hall of fame?
No. They are separate organisations with similar names. The Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame is a private international body founded in New Jersey, first ceremony 2007. World Taekwondo’s own hall of fame was approved at its General Assembly in May 2019 and inaugurated in 2021 at the Wuxi World Championships. Anyone citing a hall of fame induction should specify which.
How does someone get inducted?
According to the organisation, candidates are identified and recommended by its national directors, who are described as leaders, world champions, coaches and officials drawn from every major Taekwondo organisation and located around the world. It is a recommendation process rather than an application.
Who was the Taekwondo Family of the Year in 2026?
The Iskandar family: Grandmaster Hasan Iskandar with Masters Sabah, Mirna, Kedar, Inaam and Youssef Iskandar.
Related reading
- Chuck Norris and Stephen Oliver: the 2026 Lifetime Achievement inductions
- Inside the United States Taekwondo Museum
- Chuck Norris, 1940–2026 · Allen Steen · Jhoon Rhee, 1932–2018
- In Memoriam — our archive of researched memorial profiles
- The Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame: taekwondohalloffame.com
Sources, and what we could not confirm
Sourced to the Hall of Fame directly: the honoree list, the welcome letter, the venue, the running order and the roles played by Grandmasters Suk Jung Kim, Chong Su Kim, Keith D. Yates, Helen Chung Vasiliadis and Jeff W. Smith all come from the organisation’s own official release and its published account of the evening, supplied to this magazine along with photographs. The organiser is a legitimate primary source for its own event, and readers should know that is what this is.
Independently confirmed: that the 2026 ceremonies were held in New York and New Jersey on 14 and 15 August 2026, reported by Croatia Week in coverage of a European honoree; Gerard Robbins as founder and president; Nam Suk Lee’s dates and the Chang Moo Kwan succession; the first World Taekwondo Championships in Seoul, 25–27 May 1973, 19 nations, with the United States placing second and Albert Cheeks taking bronze; the death of Albert Cheeks on 11 August 2026, reported by the Washington Post and WTOP; and the existence and separate history of World Taekwondo’s own hall of fame.
Not established: we could find no independent record of the 2026 ceremony beyond the Hall of Fame’s own materials and one European news item, which is normal for an industry awards evening but is worth saying. Two claims that circulate around the organisation are self-sourced and we have not printed them as fact: that its 2011 Kukkiwon ceremony was the first presented there by a non-Korean organisation, and the keynote attribution for that event. The organisation’s own materials also date its inaugural ceremony inconsistently in one place; we have used 2007, which is the better supported date.
Names as printed. Two entries in the official list are ambiguous as published and we have reproduced them rather than guessed: “GM Milton Perez Aruba”, rendered here as GM Milton Perez, Aruba, and “GM Yuro Mendoza Card”. One name appears as “Krono Juric” in the release and “Kruno Juric” in European coverage; we have used the latter. Corrections are welcome.
Photographs were supplied by the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame and by the publisher, and their subjects are identified as supplied to us.
Corrections. This magazine corrects errors of fact promptly and in public. See our editorial policy.
