Martial arts mastery: Father, son duo make history in the Hall of Fame

Story by Jacob Hatcher 

Photos by Rachel Howard  

It all started when a young Charles Owens, Sr. wanted to be able to defend a classmate from a bully and found his skills inadequate for the task when facing a bigger, stronger opponent. This encounter led him to seek training to be better prepared the next time such an incident occurred. Owens sought out a variety of instructors until he was finally introduced to a South Korean Army veteran named Wan Yan Chung who was stationed at the Redstone Arsenal in the 1960s where he was introducing troops there to Korean Martial Arts, of which Chung was a master.  

“Master Chung was part of an elite force of soldiers for the South Korean Army, and he was one of the few Korean Masters that introduced Korean Martial Arts to the United States,” Charles Owens, Jr. Said. “My dad heard about him and pursued him and trained with him. Once they connected, Master Chung became my dad’s instructor for the rest of his martial arts tenure.” 

In time, Owens, Sr. became Master Chung’s top ranked student in his Jung Moo Kwan discipline. Upon Master Chung’s retirement in the 1980s, Owens, Sr. was given the opportunity to carry the torch for Jung Moo Kwan going forward.  

Once Owens, Sr. took over Jung Moo Kwan, he decided to use it not only as a way to teach martial arts to those interested, but he also began to see martial arts instruction as a ministry. Owens, Jr., who was named the president of U.S. Jung Moo Kwan Association in 2017 says that viewing martial arts training as an extension of ministry brings a lot of parallels to what is seen in the New Testament church, where more experienced, trained individuals would bring younger, less experienced people under their wing and train them up in the gospel.  

“When you think about the Great Commision we’re taught to go and make disciples, and martial arts has a parallel to that; it is a discipleship type activity where you start someone with the basics and then as they mature, they move on to the next set of techniques. It’s the same thing with the gospel; you share the gospel, and by the grace of God people accept that message and at that point you start teaching them the fundamentals and begin to teach them more and more about the faith.”  

Owens, Jr. goes on to say that martial arts has been a tool to continue the work of sharing the gospel and says he tries to utilize every avenue he can find to help minister to those in need, as well as spread the techniques and disciplines that his father began learning nearly 60 years ago.  

In addition to offering martial arts and fitness training to all ages by forming JMK Martial Arts and Fitness, Owens, Jr. is working with an animation company in Decatur called Brainy Pixel to produce a program called Righteous Warriors that will teach life skills and character development through animation.  

Due to the work they have done in martial arts through the years, the father and son duo. were inducted into the U.S Martial Arts Hall of Fame this summer. Owens, Sr. was given the Pioneer Award, which is awarded to someone that has been involved with martial arts for a significant amount of time that pioneered martial arts instruction. Owens, Jr. was acknowledged with the Life of Distinction Award for the work he has done over his life in martial arts instruction and the way he developed Jung Moo Kwan in North Alabama.  

“It was humbling to be recognized by the Hall of Fame and to be included with martial artists that have been recognized all over the world by that organization.” Owens Jr. said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity the Lord has provided for me and my family to be involved in this and I’m thankful for our community’s support.  

As long as the Lord allows it we are going to continue teaching and we love to help anyone in the community that wants to be a part of what we’re doing,” he said.