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A Tradition of Quality 

  At Rising Star Martial Arts Academy our mission is to provide our students with World Class instruction in traditional Tae Kwon Do.
  To assure such high standards are met, all our Rising Star blackbelts are certified through the World Taekwondo Headquarters, known as the Kukkiwon. Ownership of a Kukkiwon Dan certificate demonstrates international acceptance of as a blackbelt. The Kukkiwon is the highest-level certification available in the world today, and the only certification recognized by the International Olympic Committee.


  Kukkiwon’s goal is the unification of Taekwondo with a set standard of martial skill. Any school or individual can create their own organization and print fancy looking certificates and issue them; but they are devoid of any governmental or legal guidelines; these are without true value.
  Kukkiwon rank has the recognition and acceptance of the World Taekwondo Federation, affirmed by the International Olympic Committee, and sanctioned by the Korean government.


 Any student desiring to train seriously in TKD and achieve the proper credentials and the ability to compete on high levels must train under credentialed Masters and Schools.
  Grandmaster Dexter Grove, Rising Star’s Program Director, is a certified 7th Dan Grandmasters.   
  Master Brent Messmer, the head instructor at the Portage location, is a certified 6th degree blackbelts in the world. (Out of 12 million total blackbelts, he is 1/10th of 1%) With these credentials, the Kukkiwon allows Rising Star to independently test their students and submit their test applications to the Kukkiwon for official ranking in the World Taekwondo Federation.

   
  Because no individual school or private federation or organization will ever be allowed to qualify students for international rank. Rising Star endorses our blackbelts with the legitimacy of both the Rising Star and the Kukkiwon certifications. The Rising Star standards are more stringent than the set criteria for achieving the Kukkiwon rank, but the Kukkiwon is a worldwide accomplishment that is accepted anywhere and by the IOC. 
GRANDMASTER DEXTER GROVE,
7th DEGREE BLACKBELT, IS THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND HEAD INSTRUCTOR AT
​OUR MIDLOTHIAN LOCATION. 
HE HAS DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO TEACHING THE ART OF TAEKWONDO.  HIS LEVEL OF PRECISION AND EXCELLENCE ARE ONLY COMPARABLE TO THE LOVE THAT HE FEELS FOR HIS STUDENTS.
MASTER BRENT MESSMER,
A 6th DEGREE BLACKBELT, IS THE HEAD INSTRUCTOR ​AT OUR PORTAGE LOCATION.
PRACTICING ​FOR OVER 37 YEARS, MASTER MESSMER HAS CONTINUED TEACHING THE TRADITIONS OF EXCELLENCE THAT
​RISING STAR STUDENTS DESERVE.
Grandmaster Dexter Grove began his training in Bloomington in 1977, under Mu Gil Lee and Ki-Duk Lee.  In 1983, Master Grove, at that time was a third degree blackbelt and both a sparring and forms champion, opened up the Rising Star Taekwondo Academy in Dyer, Indiana.  In 1989, Grandmaster Grove began training under Master Michael Willoughby who completely revamped our system.  Master Willoughby brought us the muscle and bone alignment concepts as
well as other changes to our curriculum.  

                 Grandmaster Grove relocated Rising Star in 1996 to the Midlothian, Illinois park district.  He currently holds a seventh degree blackbelt and continues to train and develop blackbelts.  

                Master Brent Messmer has been mentored by Master Grove since starting his training, at age 12, in 1987.  Master Messmer received his first degree blackbelt in 1989 and continues to uphold the traditions of quality technique, skill and winning championships.  Rising Star II, in Portage, Indiana was established in 2008, with the goal of promoting effective Taekwondo and continuing with the legacy of quality.  ​Master Brent Messmer received his sixth degree certification in 2022.  

​
A Brief History of Rising Star Martial Arts
 
                Mu-Gil Lee started Taekwondo in the early 1950s, studying under Master Chung Chil Kim in the Sang Mu Kwan system.  He eventually earned the title of “First Instructor” with the Korean Navy and Marines from 1958 through 1966.  In 1970, he went to Europe to teach the NATO forces, which is where he met John George (a captain in the U.S. Army)  who brought him to Bloomington, Indiana, in 1972. 
At the time, Master Lee was a 7th Dan and one of the highest ranking black belts in Taekwondo in the United States. 
 
                Mu-Gil Lee opened the first Korean martial arts school in Bloomington, Indiana in the very early 1970s.  Mu-Gil Lee was greatly responsible for the spread of Taekwondo in Indiana.  Not only did he open a series of schools, but he also brought a host of other Korean instructors to Indiana.  He first brought over Il-Sik Kim and Ki-Duk Lee, but later brought over Masters Kwak, Ko and Sa as well.  
 He also helped Dexter & Patty Grove open a school in Dyer, Indiana, in 1983, which they named Rising Star.  Mu-Gil Lee himself was
last heard of in Austin, Texas, where he started the Master Martial Arts Academy in 1990.  In 1993, he returned to Korea to retire.



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  • Home
  • programs
  • schedule
  • Contact
  • who we are
  • Midlothian
  • Portage
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  • DUNES
  • legacy