Master Ruben D. Suarez: Head Instructor of Queens Taekwon-Do Center in Queens, New York, was born on March 28, 1957 in Cali, Colombia (South America). Mr. Suarez started his Taekwon-Do training around 1973 under the instruction of Sabonim Jorge L. Avendaño one of the Pioneers of Taekwon-Do in Colombia who was under the supervision of General Choi Hong Hi during the ITF expansion in South America. Mr. Suarez initiated the practice of the only and original Taekwon-Do created by General Choi and since that he has maintained his practice to the present. Lead by the direction of his instruchtor, Mr. Suarez developed admirable physical conditions typical of a Taekwon-Do Practitioner. His dedication as a student made Mr. Suarez a good competitor. He was also part of his state team for national competitions.

In the mid eighties, he focused himself in the instruction of Taekwon-Do. By that time, Mr. Suarez was already an III Dan when he initiated his major in physical education and health at La Universidad del Valle. The knowledge acquired in his major plus his dedication, took Mr. Suarez to better the quality of his instruction. In 1985 he became the head Instructor of Taekwon-Do at La Universidad del Valle. His enthusiasm took Mr. Suarez's students to achieve state, regional and national titles. In 1989 Mr. Suarez competed in the second Pan-American Taekwon-Do ITF en Honduras and achieved 3rd place in Third Dan Pattern Competition. While performing as an instructor in his town, the competition level improved so much that the practitioners in his Taekwon-Do Studio as well as in La Universidad del Valle placed positions for regional and national trials. Mr. Suarez commitment to teach Taekwon-Do took La Universidad del Valle to conquer several National titles in male and female competition for five years. In the nineties, he was part of the Colombian team to represent his country in the VII World Taekwon-Do ITF Championship in Canada. In this event, he achieved 3rd place team pattern competition and Third Dan individual pattern competition. 

While in Montreal, Mr. Suarez tested for Fourth Dan under the supervision of Master Tran Triue Quan. During his arrival in the US, he joins the United States Taekwon-Do Federation in California. In 1992, Mr. Suarez flies to New York to join his family and open a Taekwon-Do Studio in Queens New York, which he named Queens Taekwon-Do Center (QTC). Him and his students continued participating in Taekwon-Do events such as the 1993 USTF National Championships in Massachusetts where he achieved First place in Black Belt Senior Sparring competition. In the 1999 USTF Nationals he accomplished in the senior division First Place in Pattern Competition, Third Place in Sparring, and Second Place in Power Breaking. In the USTF Nationals of 2001 he achieved also in the senior division First place in Sparring, Second place in power breaking and Third place in Patterns.

As part of his education, Mr. Suarez has also attended several national and international ITF Taekwon-Do Seminars, with the only purpose of enriching and spreading an unanimous ITF knowledge. He has also hosted several Taekwon-Do seminars under the guidelines of the USTF (United States Taekwon-Do Federation) and of course of the ITF.

With his continuous dedication and lost of efforts, he has been able to host the only official ITF Taekwon-Do Tournament in New York since 1996. The ITF New York Taekwon-Do Tournament has developed into a big event due to the increased number of competitors. It is usually held in the month of October in Queens, New York.

As an instructor, Mr. Suarez is a very dedicated trainer. During the year his school attends about two or three local and regional events and about two to three International events including competition in Canada and Puerto Rico. Through dedication, he has been selected USA National Coach for the World Championships in Argentina 1999 and Italy 2001. In 2002 he participated as breaking referee in the VI World Junior Taekwon-Do Championship in Puerto Rico. In this opportunity four of his students had secured a spot in the USA team through hard training and competition. Mr. Suarez has also taken part of the 2000 and 2002 USTF World Camps and also International Seminars as follow:

International Seminars with General Choi Hong Hi: 
· Tegucigalpa, Honduras 1989; 
· Santa Barbara, California, February 1995
· Broomfield, Colorado, February 1999
· Toronto, Canada, April 2001
· Vienna, Austria, January 2002 
· Broomfield, Colorado, April 2002 (Last seminar with General Choi)

Seminar with Grand Master Sereff: 
· Miami, June 1995
· Massachusetts, November 1997
· San Lois, Missouri, April 2001

Semiars with Master Benny Rivera 
· Cali, Colombia 1988 
· Queens, New York 2003

Seminars with Master Choi Hon Hwa
· North Heave, CT 2000

Seminar with ITF Technical Committee
· Montreal Canada December 2003
· Queens, NY, November 2004

04/1974 - 09/1976 White Belt through Black Stripe
5th Degree - ITF #A-5-77

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