Tim Elliott is a native of Arizona and was born in the city of Phoenix. He is happily married to his wife Susan who is a native of South Korea, and has two teenage sons, Jonathan and Paul. Tim was introduced to the arts of self-defense through a neighbor in 1970. After a few years of searching for the right martial art for himself, Tim had attended a local martial arts demonstration where he first saw the world famous Lee brothers of the Korean Art of Hwa Rang Do^®.

It was the year 1974 when Tim had the opportunity to enroll into the local Hwa Rang Do^® Academy operated by the Lee brothers. It was there under their direct supervision that Tim realized that it was the art of Hwa Rang Do^® that he would stay with and learn all he could.

By the time Tim had graduated from high school, he had attained a high level of proficiency in Hwa Rang Do^®. Soon after, Tim had enlisted into the United States Army as a Combat Military Police which took him to South Korea for a tour of duty at the 38th parallel on the DMZ. During his off hours from duty, Tim had the chance to travel down to the capital city of Seoul to visit and train at the Seoul Central Headquarters for Hwa Rang Do^® under the supervision of Dr. Lee’s brother-in-law who was the Master Instructor of the Seoul Academy. Tim also took the time to visit many places in Korea to learn of the culture and the customs of the Korean people. During this time, Mr. Elliott had realized that the heritage of the Hwarang warriors and their Martial Art skills were held to a high esteem in the eyes of the Korean people. This experience made the art of Hwa Rang Do^® more special to him.

Soon after his military service, Tim was chosen to train and further his studies through a special scholarship program offered by the World Hwa Rang Do^® Association. And, after completing the scholarship under Dr. Lee in 1982, Tim had permission to open a Hwa Rang Do^® Academy in the Phoenix area. This would bring him full circle by returning to his Martial Art roots and being able to offer the Martial Art of Hwa Rang Do^® to future generations in Arizona. Mr. Elliott has been operating the Hwa Rang Do^® Phoenix Academy since 1982 and opened a second academy in the North West valley in 2004.

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