History of Greensboro Black Belt Academy
Dr. Jin Bang Yang founded the Greensboro Black Belt Academy or GBBA in 1991 when he came to the United States from Seoul, Korea to pursue his Ph.D. in Exercise and Sport Science at UNCG. In Korea he was the head of the research and education at the Kukkiwon, the World Tae Kwon Do Federation Headquarters.
Some of Master Yang’s international accomplishments include being on the organizing committee for the 9th World Championships and the 1988 Olympics, conducting International Referee seminars worldwide, helping Russia develop the art and sport of Tae Kwon Do, and its first national governing body. One of his biggest credits came when the Peoples’ Republic of China asked him to develop the country’s first Tae Kwon Do program. He trained the athletes, coaches, and officials, as well as helped organize the national governing body, taking them to their first world championship.
While in North Carolina, Master Yang was the Head Coach of the state team. Under his guidance North Carolina became a national power, with over 15 of his players earning a National Championship and 4 of them going on to make the US National Team.
After finishing his Ph.D. in 1996, Dr. Yang was called back to Korea where he is involved in the further development of Tae Kwon Do internationally.
Head Instructor Michael King began his martial arts training in high school, and after meeting Master Yang at UNCG while taking his Tae Kwon Do class. While earning a teaching degree in Exercise and Sport Science, Master King trained to become an instructor under Master Yang. In 1993, he took over as instructor of Greensboro Black Belt Academy on West Market Street. After 6 years of instructing, the opportunity arose to merge the 2 locations together as one at the original site on Battleground Avenue when Master Keith Krotish pursued other interests. In 2000, Master King and Master Bob Martin united the two schools.
The Greensboro Black Belt Academy came to the Spears Family YMCA in July of 2002 as a small program, and in September of 2003 there was the opportunity to move our entire program to the Spears YMCA. Now Greensboro Black Belt Academy has programs at the Spears, Bryan, Ragsdale, and Hayes-Taylor YMCAs.
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During the history and development of the school, our instructors and students have had many local, state, national, and international accomplishments in and out of competition. We have had State and National champions and we serve on the North Carolina Tae Kwon Do Associations, but one of our best accolades is our family atmosphere.
