NAC People

Bill Tuman


Bill Tuman has been practicing and teaching the Ji Do Kwan style of Tae Kwon Do since 1989 and holds the rank of Sam Dan (Third Degree Black Belt) from the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.  The WTF is based at the Kukkiwon in Seoul, South Korea and is the most widely recognized certifying body for Tae Kwon Do around the world.  He founded his school at the Northampton Athletic Club in 1997 and has been teaching here ever since.  Some of his black belt students have opened affiliated schools and teach students in Amherst and Boston, and in Andover, Vermont.

Before deciding to concentrate in Ji Do Kwan training, Tuman experimented with other martial arts schools, and he appreciates different approaches to martial arts practice.  He has made Ji Do Kwan his chosen discipline because it most closely fits his values and spirit.  Ji Do Kwan is a technically rigorous, noncompetitive style that is beautiful, physically demanding, and can be used as an effective form of self-defense.  The form was exemplified by Choi Bong Young, the Korean Master who brought his interpretation of Ji Do Kwan to the United States in the 1960s and taught for many years in a school in Oakland, California.  Tuman began his study with Daniel Hays in New London, Connecticut; tested for the rank of Il Dan with Jeffrey Waller in Springfield, Vermont; and is currently the student of Master Sean Owen of Idyllwild, California.

Outside the dojang (Tae Kwon Do practice studio) Tuman is interested in creative pursuits in many forms, primarily reading and writing literature, but also film/video, visual art, and music.  He is physically active and enjoys distance running, hiking, and weight training.  He has long dreamed of running the Marathon des Sables in Morocco or the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, but so far has settled for running marathons in Chicago and New York City.  He played competitive tennis in high school but now only plays once or twice a year, just often enough to fool himself into thinking he can still hit a decent second serve.

Tuman makes his living as a Website consultant and believes that a commitment to teaching Tae Kwon Do on a nonprofessional basis has given him clarity in following the Way of his teachers and others who have come before him.

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