Welcome to the official United States Taekwon-Do Federation's (USTF)
Region 5 website. Region 5 is composed of five states: Illinois,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Indiana. Each state has
a State Director and the region has a Regional Director. The
Regional Masters, the Regional Director, and each State Director
reports to Sr. Master Stan Martin, President of the USTF. State
Directors oversee all USTF activities within their respective states
and the Regional Director oversees USTF activities within the region.
Region 5 has three master level instructors who provide valuable
input into the direction of Taekwon-Do activities within the region.
The masters include eighth dan Senior Master Earl Weiss, and seventh
dans Master F.M. Van Hecke and Master Braxton Miller. The
Region Director is fifth dan Dr. Steve Osborn. State Directors
include seventh dan Master Braxton Miller (Illinois), fourth dan
Mr. Jim Alger (Michigan), third dan Mrs. Jacqueline Karpinsky (Wisconsin),
and second dan Dr. Karen Larson (Minnesota). There is no
State Director for Indiana at this time.
The USTF was formed in 1973 and has been affiliated with the
International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) under the leadership of
Choi, Hong Hi, founder of Taekwon-Do. Grand Master Sereff
was a most loyal student of General Choi and he continues to uphold
the integrity of Chang-Hun Taekwon-Do. Grand Master Sereff
was the first non-Korean ITF master in the world and first ITF Grand
Master in the United States. He has served as Secretary General
and Vice President of the ITF. The USTF has the highest ranking
ITF female in the world, as General Choi awarded Senior Master Renee
Sereff her well-deserved eighth dan. Both Grand Master Sereff
and Senior Master Sereff have been on the cover of the prestigious
Taekwon-Do Times martial arts magazine. The USTF also
has within its organization Grand Master Mike Winegar, the first
person to achieve ninth dan status under the instruction of Grand
Master Sereff.
There are many non-USTF Taekwon-Do groups in Region 5; however,
members of the USTF are at a great advantage. First, the
USTF has members who are second to none in their history with the
founder of Taekwon-Do, in their character, and in their skill. The
USTF was the first federation in the United States to develop and
publish books and videotapes on the sequential content requirements
for rank advancement at the national level. The USTF was the
first federation to organize and publish at the national level detailed
information on Step-Sparring, Tournament Rules and Regulations,
and a summary Patterns book. The USTF is a national federation
with standardized requirements that promote the consistency and
integrity of Taekwon-Do. High standards of quality are also
promoted through certification requirements of USTF students. These
include: Instructor, Referee, and Hosin-Sul courses. The
USTF holds national level tournaments and World Camp (where participants
from various countries come together in fellowship and learning).
Another benefit of being a member of the USTF is the presence of
an external monitoring and governing body that validates rank and
prevents the questionable practice of internal self-promotion within
a group. The USTF is federation of committed individuals
who have strong passion for learning and growing together in a positive
culture of community.
