| Robert Howard snr | |
|---|---|
R. Howard snr September, 2011 |
|
| Born | 29 November 1938 Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| Residence | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
| Style | Taekwon-do |
| Rank | Black belt 9th degree taekwondo (ITF) |
Robert Howard known as Grandmaster Howard is an Irish martial artist specialising in taekwon-do. He is a 9th-degree black belt and is the only European to have been promoted to Grandmaster by the International Taekwon-Do Federation. Born in Mountjoy Square, Dublin1, in the Republic of Ireland he was raised in the Whitehall area of Dublin 9, before moving to the Santry, Dublin, where he resides now.
He has three daughters, one son and nine grandchildren. In total Taekwon-Do is practised by three generations of the Howard family. Grandmaster Howard's son (also called Robert) is himself well known in Ireland as a senior taekwon-do martial arts expert in his own right. Dr Robert Howard jnr is a Master of Taekwon-Do 7th Degree Black Belt. He has been practising Taekwon-Do since 1979 and trains and assists with teaching in Grandmaster Howard's classes in Cabra, Dublin, as well as being an examiner to Athlone and Galway schools. More details on his achievements can be found here. He also has a son in-law and daughter in-law whom are 2nd-Degree Black Belts and three of his grandchildren also practise Taekwon-Do.
Robert is now retired but was a roofer by trade and is well known for apt demonstrations of smashing roof tiles. He has appeared on Ireland's most popular TV show RTE's The Late Late Showon two occasions, most recently following his promotion, where he undertook a demonstration of tile breaking, and originally in 1976 where he famously broke his hand live on the show when he was undertaking a demonstration of block smashing.
Robert was at the forefront of establishing Taekwon-do in the Republic of Ireland. More details on the growth of the taekwon-do martial art in Ireland can be found on the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-do Association's website. Since the early 1970s he has represented Ireland in taekwon-do all over the world and has had a distinguished martial arts career with many international achievements., initially as a competitor where he won two silver medals in the World Championships in Oaklakoma, US and later as an Umpire in competitions and more recently as VIP at the Taekwon-Do World Championships in Pyongyang, North Korea
When Grandmaster Howard first became involved in martial arts, in the early 1960s, Taekwon-Do was unheard of in Ireland. He therefore started his training in Karate in 1966 in Gardiner Place, Dublin. After several years, a Korean instructor (Yung Wu Kwon, a third degree) arrived in at the club and began teaching them after he had moved to Ireland to look for work. Kwon was Grandmaster Howard's first introduction to the Korean martial art of Taekwon-Do. Mr Howard (as he was then) and his early classmates (Liam Dandy, Frank Matthews, and Paul Kavanagh) had never seen techniques like these before and were extremely impressed. Later, another Korean instructor, Chang Ho Cho 5th-degre, started to teach and train in the hall. Mr. Cho graded Mr Howard, Mr Dandy and Mr Matthews to red belt, but shortly afterwards he had to leave for the U.S. in search of work.
The class continued to train together and after a while they heard of another Korean Black Belt who had just arrived in England from Singapore, Mr. Rhee Ki Ha (then a 5th Dan), whom they contacted and arranged to visit him in Coventry where he was living. Mr. Rhee agreed to come to Dublin and watch them train after which he travelled to Dublin on a monthly basis to instruct and train the Irish students for a whole weekend at a time.
In May 1971 Mr Howard's, Mr Dandy's and Mr Matthews's techniques and skills were rigorously tested for their black belts in Oxford, England. As a test of power they were required to break two inches of timber with various kicks, punch ten tiles and finally chop a house brick. Mr Howard, Mr Dandy, and Mr Matthews passed to become the first Irish Taekwon-Do black belts. On their return to Dublin they set in motion a programme to establish a strong Taekwon-Do presence in Dublin. One year later, in 1972, with the help of Master Rhee, the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association was established. The members of the R.I.T.A. then travelled the country performing demonstrations in order to boost develop public awareness of the martial art with result that further Taekwon-Do schools were established throughout Ireland. In June 1973, Mr. Howard, Mr. Dandy and Mr. Matthews were awarded their second degrees in Dublin, which coincided with the first home international against Turkey.
On this first occasion, Ireland were the gallant losers, but it did not take long before success was to come. At the 1974 World Championships, held in Canada, Ireland came third overall, with Mr. Dandy taking the title of Best Fighter.
In 1975 Ireland then beat England in an international contest. Three years later at the 1978 World Championships held in Oklahoma, U.S.A., Mr. Howard won two silver medals while Mr Dandy took home a gold.
In 1979 Mr. Howard (along with Mr. Dandy) received his fourth degrees, after which he ceased being an international competitor but continued to travel abroad to tournaments as an international umpire.
In recognition of their efforts to strengthen I.T.F. Taekwon-Do in Ireland, Master Rhee presented Mr. Howard and Mr. Phelan with awards for their indomitable spirit. At the same time, Master Rhee honoured Mr. Howard by bestowing upon him the position of president of the R.I.T.A.
In 1995 both Mr. Howard and Mr. Phelan received their seventh degrees and became the first Irish men to become Masters in Taekwon-Do. At the time of their awards there were only two other Europeans to hold such a title. In 1999 and 2000 respectively, Master Liam Dandy & Master Francis Barrett were also promoted to Masters 7th Degree.
Master Howard and Master Phelan were promoted to 8th Degree in 2002 and Grandmaster Howard was promoted to 9th Degree in 2011.