Your instructor: Mr. Dave Tindell was born in Germany and raised in Wisconsin. He began his martial arts journey in 2001 and was awarded his Taekwondo black belt by Master Duane Most in 2005. His study of Systema began in 2004 and he was certified as an instructor-in-training by Vladimir Vasiliev, chief instructor of Russian Martial Art in North America, in 2006.
Mr. Dave has competed in more than 30 tournaments in three states. At the 2004 Badger State Games he was a gold medalist in forms and silver medalist in sparring. He was runner-up in forms and sparring at the 2008 U.S. Metro Open. Mr. Dave has trained in the use of the martial arts weapons bo, nunchaku and tonfa.
By day, Mr. Dave works for the U.S. Government. His wife, Susan Tindell, owns and operates Travel Leaders in Rice Lake, WI. Their daughter Kimberly lives in Boston, MA, and their son Jim is a senior at UW-Milwaukee. Mr. Jim, who began his martial arts training at age 7, is a 2nd-degree black belt in Taekwondo and 1st-degree in Hapkido.
In addition to martial arts training, Mr. Dave enjoys studying foreign languages---German, Russian and Italian. His novel Revived was published in 2000, and his non-fiction work has appeared in various periodicals in the region.
Our TKD legacy...Chang Moo Kwan
What became the martial art of taekwondo evolved from the kwans, the various schools of Korean martial art that re-emerged in South Korea after the country's liberation from Japanese control in 1945. The five original kwans were Song Moo Kwan, Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan and Yun Moo Kwan. Blue Hills TKD's legacy is from Chang Moo Kwan, which was founded in 1946 by Byung-in Yoon, who had studied Chinese kung fu in the Chinese province of Manchuria under a Mongolian instructor. Later, Yoon trained in karate in Japan. As his training continued, Yoon created his own art, kwon bop kong soo do. Yoon fought in the Korean War and was missing in action. His top student, Lee Nam Suk, carried on his master's teachings. The current president of the kwan is Great Grandmaster Soon Bae Kim, one of the few 10th-degree black belts in the world as recognized by the Kukkiwon, the headquarters of taekwondo in Seoul, South Korea. One of his best students was Moo Yung Yun, who later emigrated to America and settled in North Dakota. Grandmaster Yun trained many students, among them Duane Most, who later moved to Cumberland WI and started training students in this area around 1990. One of Master Duane's top students was Eric Swan, who achieved his fourth degree black belt under Master Duane's tutelage. Mr. Dave began his taekwondo training under Master Eric in 2001. Thus, there is a direct lineage between Blue Hills TKD and one of the founders of modern taekwondo. Pictured below are Mr. Dave's son, Jim Tindell, with Great Grandmaster Yun.
