Before you is the official participation badge and ribbon issued to members of the United States Team and to every competitor who took part in the 1975 World Taekwondo Championships. This artifact marks a defining moment in American Taekwondo history, as the 1975 delegation represented the first officially recognized United States National Taekwondo Team.
Earlier American teams had already demonstrated the nation’s competitive potential on the world stage. A notable example included a team led by the legendary Joseph Hayes, alongside Albert Cheeks, which achieved an impressive second-place team finish. However, these early teams were assembled before a formal national governing structure existed in the United States.
The 1975 team was different. For the first time, athletes earned their place through a clearly defined and historic pathway. Competitors first qualified by winning regional events, then advanced to the first National U.S.A./AAU Taekwondo Championships, where only the top performers secured a berth on the national team. That same year, the United States was formally admitted as a member of the sport’s world governing body, the World Taekwondo Federation, officially solidifying America’s presence on the global stage.
Members of the first official U.S.A. National Taekwondo Team were Bill Felton, Gerard Robbins Dennis Robinson, Terrance Watson, Clark Murphy, Robert Phillips, and John Holloway.
To understand the significance of this moment, it is important to look back to 1973. That year, a one-day qualifying tournament was held in Texas by Ahn Ye Mo, at a time when no national governing body for Taekwondo existed in the United States. The selection process was informal and unconventional. In fact, two American teams—an A Team and a B Team—were formed. In a surprising and unprecedented turn of events, a third delegation, often referred to as a “C” Team, entered itself into the 1st World Taekwondo Championships, catching both the A and B Teams, as well as other nations, completely by surprise.
This contrast between the improvised efforts of 1973 and the fully sanctioned process of 1975 highlights the rapid evolution of Taekwondo in the United States. The badge and ribbon you see here stand as tangible symbols of that transformation—from informal beginnings to an officially recognized national team competing on the world stage.