What does it mean to be a taekwondo master? In truth, it depends on the style of taekwondo. Most Korean styles like Tang Soo Do, Hapkido and WTF taekwondo attribute the English title master to a practitioner with a 4th Dan (4th degree black belt) or higher. The Korean term used is sabeom or sabeomnim (sometimes spelled “sabum” or “sabom”), which basically means coach or respected coach, respectively. The suffic “-nim” is an honorific that is usually added to denote respect.

Depending on the system a 1st to 3rd Dan is considered an assistant instructor, or junior instructor and a 4th Dan and higher level practitioner is considered a full instructor or master level instructor. In ITF taekwondo 1st to 3rd Dan practitioners are called boosabeom, meaning assistant instructor and a 4th Dan and higher is referred to as sabeom, meaning full instructor.

Actually, in Korean such differences as instructor, master and grandmaster are not made. In Korea all instructors are called sabeomnim or coach, regardless of their Dan. A special term, kwanjangnim, is used for instructors that own their own academies.

ITF taekwondo, however, does make a difference in Korean terminology between 1st-3rd Dan (boosabeom), 4th-6th Dan (sabeom), 7th-8th Dan (sahyeon) and lastly 9th Dan (saseong). In all cases the suffix “-nim” can be included for added respect.

To understand these terms better, it is useful to look at the Korean root words from which they are formed.

Sabeom (4th-6th Dan), meaning instructor, is made up of two root words, “sa” and “beom”. The first syllable “sa” comes from the term “kyosa” which means teacher. The second syllable in sabeom means “model”. The sabeom or coach, is therefore a teacher after which the student should model him or herself. In other words, the student should try to emulate the techniques of the instructor.

The prefix “boo” in boosabeom (1st-3rd Dan) literally means assistant. A boosabeom is therefore considered an assistant instructor in ITF taekwondo.

At master’s level (7th-8th Dan) in ITF taekwondo the term sahyeon is used. Again, “sa-” means teacher; however the syllable “-hyeon” means “a good person.” The implication is that the taekwondo master is not merely a technical teacher, but actually a moral-teacher as well. Hyeon can also mean “the present”. Understood philosophically, the taekwondo master is a teacher of the moment. This might suggest a Zen understanding, where the master teaches the practitioner to “be in the moment” or to bring the principles taught in taekwondo into their everyday lives.

Lastly, the 9th Dan grandmaster is called “saseong”. Once again “sa-” means teacher. “Seong”, here, means “sage”. A sage is a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics, with wisdom gained through age and experience. In ITF taekwondo, the grandmaster is not merely a technical teacher, nor just a moral teacher, but also a teacher of philosophy; someone that can guide you on your life journey and give you insight into the deeper truths in life.