I had stopped by the facility one day because my son expressed an interest in competing in Taekwondo. I talked to Master Hong, who seemed to be a very nice, and informative person. However, something just didn't feel right. He was trying very hard to get me to sign something that day, but as always, I needed to talk this over with my husband first. I left, got home and started to make some phone calls. Something was still bugging me, I just didn't know what it was.
Master Hong had mentioned to me that he taught at the local Colleges, so I started calling to do some checking. One that he had mentioned was Saint Mary's College, but they said that he does not have any affiliation with them. One of the other ones was the University of Notre Dame, a very reputable University. After getting rerouted a few times, I finally spoke to someone in the athletic department that said that he did not teach there either, that some of the students there just had a club and once in a while he would stop in and talk to them.
Of course, this started raising some flags, so I also checked on a competitor that he supposedly coached. Kay Poe, who is one of the Taekwondo competitors on the U.S. Olymic team. I called down to the school that Kay Poe has attended since she was 7 years hold, and I talked to the Master of that school who informed me that he doesn't know Master Hong and that he is the one who has trained Kay Poe from day 1. He just stated that Master Hong may have coached her at one or two events, but it would have been something that he is unaware of. Now I don't know about you, but that is not enough for me to warrant someone making it sound like they were the Olympic team coach. Something here is just a little "fishy". I think he needs to get is facts straight. They seem a little exaggerated. Just thought the public should know.
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