Master Yeon Hwan Park is an eighth-dan black belt in taekwondo. He runs seven taekwondo schools on Long Island, New York, and serves as the secretary-general of the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU). Park's extensive experience and accomplishments include more than 30 years of competition, teaching, coaching, and developing instructional materials for taekwondo.
Master Park coached the 1988 U.S. Olympic team and the 1991 Pan-American Games team. Since 1984 he has also been the coach of the U.S. National team. Park created a series of six videotapes and has written four other books on taekwondo. Besides his dedication to taekwondo, he enjoys golf and swimming. Park lives in East Meadow, New York, with his wife, Kanie, and their daughter Nina and sons Edward and Elliot.
In writing this book, Park was assisted by Peter Zirogiannis, a freelance writer and 1992 silver medalist in the New York State Taekwondo Championships. Zirogiannis is a longtime student and assistant instructor for Master Park. His wife, Marianne, is a black belt, a former gold medalist in the New York State Taekwondo Championships, and a student of Master Park.
Tom Seabourne, PhD, is a sport psychologist and director of physical education at North Texas Community College. He has authored hundreds of articles and three other martial arts books. A third-dan black belt in taekwondo and Shorinryu karate, Seabourne is a two-time Amateur Athletic Union and Pan-American Games taekwondo champion and a silver medalist in the World Taekwondo Championships. He is a two-time member of the U.S. National taekwondo team.
Seabourne is a member of the USTU and serves on its medical board. He frequently presents programs to clubs, schools, and industry on achieving peak performance. A world-class cyclist who holds four world ultra-distance cycling records, Seabourne has completed the Race Across America. He lives in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, with his wife, Danese, and their daughters Alaina, Laura, Julia, and Susanna and son Grant.