Taiei Kin facts for kids

Kin Taiei (Korean: 김태영, romanized: Kim Taeyong) is a famous Korean-Japanese martial artist. He was born on July 8, 1970. He is known for his skills in karate, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts (MMA). He has competed in major fighting events like K-1 and DREAM.

Before he started MMA, Kin Taiei was a very respected fighter in K-1. Other famous fighters like Peter Aerts and Ernesto Hoost even called him the best fighter to come from Asia.

About Kin Taiei

His Early Life

Kin Taiei (金泰泳) was born in Amagasaki city, Hyogo prefecture, Japan. This was on July 8, 1970. He was the oldest child in his family and has a younger brother. His parents worked long hours. So, they sent him to a karate dojo, which was like a training hall, that also helped look after him.

When he was in fourth grade, he became very interested in soccer. He stopped his karate training in sixth grade to focus on soccer. He even won the Japanese national championship for junior high schools in his third year.

When he was a student at Kobe Korean Senior High School, he wanted to try boxing. But his parents strongly disagreed. So, he joined his school's karate team instead. Because of this, he also joined the karate team at Korea University in Tokyo.

Starting His Professional Journey

During his time at university, Kin Taiei took part in a full-contact karate championship. This is a type of karate where fighters make full contact with each other. He lost a match to Nobuaki Kakuda. Even though he lost, a famous person named Kazuyoshi Ishii was very impressed by him. Ishii invited Kin to join Seidokaikan, which is a type of karate organization. After he finished university, Kin became a student at Seidokaikan in Osaka.

On January 31, 1993, Kin Taiei competed in "The 2nd Towa Cup Karate Japan Open Tournament." He made it to the final match but was defeated by Masaaki Satake. Later that year, on June 25, he fought against Changpuek Kiatsongrit from Thailand. This fight was for a championship title, but Kin lost the match.

Working as a Trainer

From 2006 to 2007, Kin Taiei worked as a trainer for another famous fighter, Hong-man Choi. He helped Choi a lot with his K-1 career. Choi got much better while Kin was helping him. They worked together for almost two years. During this time, Choi had nine fights, winning six and losing three. Kin even helped Choi change his fighting style to improve his defense.

Achievements and Titles

Kin Taiei has won many important titles throughout his career:

• 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix in Seoul finalist
• 1996 WMTC World Junior middleweight champion
• 1995 Karate World Cup champion
• 1995 K-3 Grand Prix runner up
• 1994 UKF World Light heavyweight champion
• 1994 Karate Japan Open finalist
• 1993 Karate World Cup 3rd Place
• 1993 Karate Japan Open finalist
• 1992 Karate World Cup finalist (he lost to Andy Hug)

See also

• Seidokaikan
• List of K-1 events
• List of male kickboxers