Why Join The American Jidokwan Association?

Author: Bret Gordon

Joining the American Jidokwan Association offers a myriad of benefits for martial arts instructors seeking both personal growth and community connection. With a rich history and lineage, the AJA is renowned for its dedication to preserving and promoting the art of Jidokwan, fostering an environment where practitioners can refine their skills and deepen their understanding of martial arts philosophy.

As members of both the World Taekwondo Jidokwan Federation and the World Tang Soo Do General Federation, our members can enjoy an unbroken connection to the deepest origins of Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. All of our certified members receive their international certifications, ranks, and licenses directly from Korea. But aside from certifications, what separates us from any other organization? Why should any instructor specifically join our group? 

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The simple answer is that it all comes down to standards. We are far from being the only source to register your rank with the WTJF or WTSDGF, and our membership process is one of the most strict. Recently, we announced our 3-tier membership program (click here for more info), which I'll briefly break down here:

Class A Membership - Exclusive to active practitioners of both Jidokwan Taekwondo and our personal system of American Jidokwan Tang Soo Do. All ranks and licenses must be tested for in-person by a designated examiner or representative of the AJA. Eligible for both WTJF and WTSDGF certification. 

Class B Membership - Exclusive to active practitioners of Jidokwan Taekwondo. All ranks and licenses must be tested for in-person by a designated examiner or representative of the AJA. Eligible for WTJF certification. 

Class C Membership - Open to any Taekwondo practitioner, regardless of style (Kwan, Kukkiwon, ITF, etc.). Class C Members do not receive any Jidokwan rank or licensing, but may receive a certificate of recognition with verification of their rank from a legitimate source.

There are additional benefits to each membership class as well, however notice that should anyone seek certification directly under our organization, or from our affiliations in Korea through us, they must be tested in-person by us. We simply do not, and never have, certified or promoted anyone that we have not trained with. The only exception to this rule, and even then they are not certified by us but awarded Class B or A status, is when someone joins our organization that is already certified by the WTJF in Korea.

But now, what does that testing process actually look like? Due to our extensive private security and executive protection experience, where our lives quite literally depend on our training at times, self defense and combatives are an essential part of our requirements. As such, all instructors are subjected to a rigorous physical exam that includes scenario-based responses, pressure testing against non-compliant opponents, edged weapon survival, firearm defenses, and full contact sparring. Of course, they must be able to demonstrate the required techniques and forms for their rank (see here), but if they cannot adequately defend themselves and do not teach practical self defense, they are not teaching true martial arts in our opinion. Of course, we are willing to help and guide practitioners that have never trained in such a manner, but these standards are non-negotiable for certified members of the AJA.

This is a large part of why we do not certify practitioners we have never met. We firmly believe that to be an instructor is to be responsible for the lives and safety of your students. Once certified, we regularly hold regional trainings and seminars for continued education. In 2025, we are launching our inaugural Masters Course (click here for more info) where participants will get the opportunity to learn the Jidokwan system and test for Jidokwan Dan ranking if they do not currently hold it, as well as earn their International Masters License from the WTJF.

There have been numerous instructors that have sought membership with the AJA and failed to meet these standards, and while our numbers would probably be significantly larger had we waived them, we believe our integrity in preserving traditional Korean Karate is far more important. If these values are important to you too, consider joining the American Jidokwan Association. 

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