Jhoon Goo Rhee

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Rhee Jhoon Goo

Born 7 January 1932
Korea
Residence United States of America Flag of the United States
Other names Jhoon Rhee
Martial art practiced Taekwondo, Chung Do Kwan
Teacher(s) Nam Tae Hi
Rank 10th dan taekwondo
Notable students Muhammad Ali
This is a Korean name; the family name is Rhee.

Jhoon Goo Rhee (1932–), commonly known as Jhoon Rhee, is a Korean taekwondo master widely recognised as the 'Father of American Taekwondo' for his work in introducing this martial art to the United States of America since arriving in the 1950s.[1][2] Rhee graduated from the Chung Do Kwan.[3] During the 1960s, Rhee befriended Bruce Lee.

Rhee is well known in the Washington, D.C. area for a television commercial that has a jingle by Nils Lofgren and features the catch phrase, "Nobody bothers me." In 2000, Rhee was the only Korean-American named amongst the 203 most recognized immigrants to the country by the National Immigrant Forum and the Immigration and Naturalization Services.[2]

Rhee was inducted into the Taekwondo Hall of Fame in 2007,[4] and he is listed as both the "Pioneer of American Taekwondo" and the "Pioneer of Taekwon-Do in Russia" there.[5]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Raghunathan, A. (2002): At 70, Master Jhoon Rhee is still getting his kicks; Taekwondo instructor says he's got a new mission: happiness (Originally from The Washington Post, 12 September 2002.) Retrieved on 28 July 2007.
  2. ^ a b Grand Master Jhoon Rhee returns home to serve as Youngsan Univ.'s Chair Professor The Seoul Times, September 2004. Retrieved on 28 July 2007.
  3. ^ Kang, W. S., and Lee, K. M. (1999): The Modern History of TaeKwonDo Retrieved on 14 October 2007.
  4. ^ Taekwondo Hall of Fame 2007 Banquet Retrieved on 12 January 2008. (Although the reference's address contains "2006," the event was actually held in 2007.)
  5. ^ Taekwondo Hall of Fame Retrieved on 12 January 2008.

[edit] External links

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