Grandmaster Vincent Paul Gonzales

ABOUT GRANDMASTER VINCENT PAIUL GONZALES

Grandmaster Vincent Paul Gonzales, 7th Dan (Jidokwan) was born in Oakland, California, USA. He began his martial arts journey in 1985 in Bok Fu Karate in Vallejo, CA and attended classes for about a month before discovering Taekwondo just down the street at William Kim’s Taekwondo Academy. In the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s, he was active in the competition circuit competing in local, regional, state and National Competitions in both Poomsae and Kyorugi. He began teaching in the early 90’s as an Assistant Instructor and by the mid 90’s was a full instructor under Grandmaster William K.W. Kim. It was also in the mid 90’s that he certified as a Referee under The United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) and continued to compete and referee until he joined the United States Navy in the early 2000’s where he served honorably attaining the rank of Chief Petty Officer with NEC 8425, Surface Force Independent Duty Corpsman. After completing his military service, he recertified as a referee under USA Taekwondo (USAT) and recently obtained Dual International Referee Certifications under World Taekwondo attending the 51 st WT International Poomsae Referee Seminar and the 125 th WT International Kyorogi Referee Seminars in Maputo, Mozambique. He currently serves as Vice Referee Chair for the California Unified Taekwondo Association (CUTA), and is a Kukkiwon Master Instructor and Poom/Dan Examiner.

Grandmaster Gonzales holds a 7th Dan Jidokwan, 6th Dan with the Chang Moo Kwan, a 5th Dan under Grandmaster William Kim (Hae Yong Kwan) and a 4th Dan under Kukkiwon and Chung Do Kwan. Due to his background, he is a candidate for receipt of the highest honor in Taekwondo, induction into the OFFICIAL TAEKWONDO HALL OF FAME® in the ceremony that will be conducted in Munich, Germany on August 23, 2024.