GM David Ippen was born and raised in Germany. He studied Philosophy in Munich, Germany and is a licensed Physiotherapist. He has been studying traditional Taekwon-Do since 1990 and currently holds the rank of 6th Dan. He has been teaching Taekwon-Do since 1995. In February 2009 he opened the Traditional Taekwon-Do Center Honolulu. His Dojang (school) focuses exclusively on teaching traditional Taekwon-Do. In addition to his martial arts training, GM Ippen studied Kahuna Bodywork under Kahuna Abraham Kawai'i and Ho'okahi Ho'oulu. This style of bodywork and its principles are based on Hawaiian martial arts.

He has extensive training in the recognition of and balancing of energies in people, land, building structures, and generating Mana.