Master Michael Bou Daher
7th Degree Black Belt

The Power and the Passion...
...A brief history

Master Michael Bou Daher arrived in Australia when he was thirteen years of age. A hard young man from a hard life, he became interested in practicing martial arts for the sake of self protection. He enrolled in a Tae Kwon-Do school in Surry Hills in late 1972 under Master Young Ku Yun.

Michael was modestly active in training for the first five months of his career, but as his technique grew his talent began to emerge as something special. The harder Michael trained the more extraordinary his talent revealed itself to be. In the latter half of 1973 something in Michael clicked. His interest in self defence turned into a passion for the Art that burned so intensely, that his obsession translated into five hours of training, seven days a week! Michael was so committed that some of the people closest to him literally thought he should be. They threatened to have him taken for a psychiatric evaluation! His social life was non existent, and aside from working, sleeping and eating, Tae Kwon-Do was his life. This intense regimen lasted for seven years until his own family beckoned.

Michael rapidly rose through the grades. He was awarded an unheard of double promotion from red-tip (3rd Kup) to black-tip (1st Kup). His extraordinary dedication also made him the only colour belt to perform in a demonstration for the founder of Tae Kwon-Do, General Choi Hong Hi during his visit to Australia in 1975. Michael attained his black belt in that year and has maintained his commitment to technical perfection to this day. He travelled the world in attendance of General Choi’s seminars so as to sharpen his technique. Over the years he has gleaned first hand knowledge from the General’s revelations, and added his own insights to their meaning.

One thing that Michael discovered during his ascendancy was that he was gifted with another extraordinary skill - a special talent for imparting his knowledge to others. He naturally gravitated towards teaching and began his instructing career in 1978.

In 1985 he coached his first international squad for the Asia Pacific Championships held in New Zealand, bringing home a silver medal. He has since established himself as Australia’s most successful ITF coach bring home an unprecedented number of medals including Gold from the XII world Championships held in Riminy, Italy in 2001. Incidentally, Michael is slated to coach the Australian team for the XIII Championships to be held in Poland in 2003.

In 1988 Michael started his own club which he called Il Shim International Tae Kwon Do Academy. His organisation has grown rapidly and in less than ten years has become one of Australia’s biggest clubs. With 68 affiliated schools in Australia, the club shows no sign of stalling and has expanded overseas with schools affiliating in Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Argentina, United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Under the guise of ITF Australia, Michael has hosted scores of amateur tournaments earning his organisation the reputation of being fair and efficient, opening its doors to all who would compete under the agreed rules.

For many years now Master Bou Daher has been openly regarded as the greatest authority on General Choi’s technique in Australia by General Choi himself. Qualifying accolades come thick and fast with a quick perusal of his career history which follows in the resumé below. Fed up with the politics and petty power plays hampering the growth of his beloved Tae Kwon-Do, Michael resigned from ITF in 1995 to become an independent practitioner and instructor of the art, and is the only person in the History of ITF to have his resignation rejected by the founder and grand architect of the art, General Choi Hong Hi.

Michael’s skill as an instructor was officially recognised with his prestigious induction into Blitz Magazine’s “Martial Arts Hall of Fame” and award the “1996 Australian Tae Kwon-Do Instructor of the Year”. He has made numerous television appearances and features regularly in Australia’s top martial arts magazines in his tireless promotion of the Tae Kwon-Do technique. Michael travels incessantly conducting technical and instruction seminars Internationally and is recognised as the Prime practitioner of his art in the Indo Pacific region and Oceania.

Since the death of General Choi, Master Bou Daher has stepped into the light of his own primacy in the Art, being at the forefront of its Technical development and its promotion. Recent developments in his international stature combined with growing international affiliations to his own teachings (from the middle east right through the Asia-Pacific region) are a testament to the ever expanding radiation of his formidable reputation.

In the world today, there are few Masters of his rank who have the capacity to exhibit Master bou Daher’s lithe Athleticism and powerful technique. Not one to rest on his laurels, Master bou Daher is still developing his moves in the ever expanding search for perfection. He still attacks the floor with a devotional zeal and that can still shame cocky martial artists half his age.

It’s a long way to the top, and Master Michael Bou Daher knows what it takes to get there. His life has been dedicated to perfection and his future will be history.

“Dedication bordering on obsession engenders perfection in the winning spirit...”