Rest in Peace to Grandmaster Albert R. Cheeks, KWK-TMAA Founder and President

By Ben Sumner

Grandmaster Albert R. Cheeks, the founder and president of the Ki Whang Kim Traditional Martial Arts Association, a ninth-degree black belt, and one of the top U.S. taekwondo fighters of the 1970s, passed away on August 11, 2026. He was 74.

The announcement was made by Rev. Dr. Wallace Henry III, Senior Pastor at Inner Light Ministries UCC, which GM Cheeks founded in 1993. GM Cheeks had spent the last several months in a hospital.

Under the tutelage of Grandmaster Ki Whang Kim – one of the highest ranked Korean martial artists in the country at the time – GM Cheeks rose to prominence on the tournament circuit in the 1970s. He frequently won tournaments, including Henry Cho’s prestigious All American Open at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1973. He and teammate Mike Warren – also a Kim student – stormed their way through brackets and sometimes squared off against each other in the finals.

Insisting that he didn’t need more than three or four of his best moves in competition, GM Cheeks battled some of the best fighters of the era, mixing high kicks with strategy. Before plowing opponents with a jumping back kick, he’d frustrate them by showing up late to call-ins, dancing around, and even blowing kisses during the matches. At 170 pounds, he sometimes fought much bigger opponents, including Everett “Monster Man” Eddy, a 235-pounder who opened a tournament by jumping over the hood of a car and breaking cinder blocks.

“I wasn’t trying to knock him out, I was trying to outscore him, and piss him off at the same time,” GM Cheeks reminisced in a 2025 seminar with the Ki Whang Kim Traditional Martial Arts Association. “There’s a psychology in fighting.”

None of his trophies meant more to him than his bronze medal at the first World Taekwondo Championships, held in Seoul, South Korea in 1973. GM Cheeks and GM Warren helped the U.S. team win four of eight medals in the 19-country tournament. That year, Black Belt Magazine’s yearbook named him one of the top ten fighters in the country.

He wore many hats outside of martial arts, including a nightclub owner, a pastor, a counselor, and an activist. Despite the packed schedule, he always returned to his martial arts roots, as he continued teaching, hosting seminars, and presiding over promotional exams. In 2010, he founded the Ki Whang Kim Traditional Martial Arts Association, where he continued to promote and share the legacy of his instructor, Grandmaster Ki Whang Kim, who passed away in 1993.

Albert Rainer Cheeks was born March 20, 1952. His mother worked for the D.C. government as an office worker, while his father worked for Amtrak.

When he was 14 years old, he started training in Tang Soo Do with GM Kim at the 12th Street YMCA. GM Cheeks recalled being in class when the D.C. riots started after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Students explained the situation to their teacher, who dismissed the class and advised them to return home. GM Cheeks recalls staying behind with some of his friends so they could escort neighborhood residents to safety.

“So martial arts really blew up in the D.C. area,” GM Cheeks told the Smithsonian’s Sojin Kim in 2023 of his early years with GM Kim. “There weren’t as many schools then, because many people were still under their grandmasters at the time. And there might have been a school here or a school there; the Chinese had one or two styles going on, and in the Korean forms, there was Jhoon Rhee and Ki Whang Kim…. We had some of the best fighters and people in form competition right here in D.C.”

He is survived by his siblings, Celestia Tobe, Cornell, and Keith, and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his younger brother, Quentin P. Cheeks, also a martial artist, who passed away on July 3, 2026. 

GM Cheeks credited martial arts with helping him overcome many obstacles in his life, including racism, homophobia, and health issues. He often credited his breathing techniques – which he practiced in part to better absorb strikes in tournaments – with his positive attitude and survival. He was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame in 2007.

“For myself, the martial arts has given me a great respect for life itself,” GM Cheeks told The Washington Post in 1986. “But that can only be given if the correct mental discipline is there and the philosophy to back it up. Otherwise, you have an empty art.”

A celebration of life will occur Aug. 29, 2026 at 11 a.m. at First Congregational Church UCC at 945 G St., NW Washington D.C.