6th dan Hanmudo, 4th dan Taekwondo
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“Bob Banham was born on April 10,
1953 in Oxford, England. At the age of one, Bob and his parents moved to
Norfolk. At age fourteen, Bob started down the martial arts road when he joined
the local Judo club. His first instructor was Mr. Jimmy Wegg, 1st kyu. It was here that Bob was first introduced to Karate. One of
the Judo club's members, Mr. Richard Cox, also held a black belt in
Kyokushinkai. Mr. Cox agreed to teach the youngsters Karate after the evenings Judo lessons had
ended.
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Bob soon realised that
Karate was what he wanted to learn most and when the opportunity arose, he began
training in it full time. A short time later, a Korean instructor, Mr. Kwon
Young-Woo who held a 3rd Dan Black Belt in the Taekwondo, began
teaching in nearby Norwich. After watching one of Mr. Kwon’s
demonstrations, both Bob and Mr. Cox began training in Taekwondo.
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In 1972, Mr. Kwon, now a
6th Dan returned to Korea leaving Mr. Cox, who had been awarded his 4th Dan, and
Bob, who had been awarded his 2nd Dan, in charge of the school. Later Richard
Cox began focusing his efforts towards full contact competition while Bob
continued teaching and studying traditional Taekwondo for the next twenty years.
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During this time, Bob
began researching other styles and instructors and subsequently graded to 3rd
and 4th Dan in WTF Taekwondo. He also pursued studies in shiatsu, acupuncture and herbal medicine
and began a career in natural healing which he found to be totally compatible
with his martial arts training. After spending seven years working at the
largest acupuncture clinic in Norwich, Bob decided to go abroad for the purpose
of studying martial arts and traditional healing systems. Bob spent six months
training and studying in Thailand, The Philippines and Australia. After
returning to Norwich, he re-established his Taekwondo school and married Nicola
Millings, one of his students.
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Then, in 1992 an
advertisement for Han Mu Do in Taekwondo Times re-ignited the spark that had
started way back in 1967. Bob called the headquarters and was informed that he
would be very welcome to attend a seminar to be held shortly in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.
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Bob says that taking up
that invitation was the single most important thing that had happened to him in
his thirty years of studying the martial arts. Meeting Grandmaster Kimm was a
breath of fresh air and Bob knew he had at last found the teacher that he
had so long been searching for.
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