Taekwondo Pioneers:

Won Kuk Lee

By Craig Willits

In an era when millions of people practice taekwondo, it's easy to forget that this martial art would not have
evolved to where it is without the effort of a small group of courageous and determined pioneers. In the 1940s,
these instructors began to re-introduce martial arts training to Korea, where it had had been banned during
nearly 50 years of Japanese occupation. One of these pioneering instructors was Great Grand Master Won Kuk
Lee (1907-2003), who founded the first Korean school of what would later become known as taekwondo.

Won Kuk Lee was born and raised in Korea in relatively affluent circumstances. In his teens, he became
interested in martial arts, but due to the Japanese ban he could not find formal training. The restriction on
Koreans learning martial arts did not apply outside Korea, however, so when Lee went to college in Japan in the
mid-1920s, he began studying Shotokan karate with Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of the Shotokan system. After
graduating from college, Lee settled in Japan. Although he cross-trained in other Asian martial arts, Shotokan
remained Lee's primary focus, and he eventually reached the rank of fourth degree black belt (at the time, the
highest rank was fifth degree, which only Funakoshi himself held).

After being absent from Korea for nearly 20 years, Lee was forced to leave Japan in early 1944 due the ongoing
American bombardment of Tokyo. He settled in Seoul, and immediately applied to the occupation government
for permission to start a martial arts school. The Japanese had allowed Koreans to study arts such as judo and
kendo under Japanese instructors beginning in 1943, but they were cautious about approving a school led by a
Korean, and Lee was refused twice. His third application was accepted, however, and in September 1944 Lee set
up operations in what would be the first of many locations: a school gymnasium in Seoul's Seodaemun district.

Lee named his new training hall Chung Do Kwan (Cheongdokwan, "School of the Blue Waves"). According to
some sources, the name symbolized the student as calm and controlled until disturbed, at which point destructive
power is unleashed. The original curriculum was Shotokan karate, although Lee called his art Tang Soo Do
(tangsu do was one Korean pronunciation of the Japanese characters kara te). According to one source, "In the early
days, Chung Do [Kwan's curriculum] consisted of [nine] hand and [four] kicking techniques, all aimed at the vital
points of the body. The hand techniques were punch, spear-hand, palm, knife-hand, inner ridge-hand (between
thumb and forefinger), twin fingers, single finger, back fist and tiger fist. The kicking techniques consisted of
front, side, round, and back kick and these were aimed at various levels of the body."1 Lee was concerned that
many Koreans associated martial arts with organized crime, so he would not accept troublemakers or criminals
into the Chung Do Kwan, and enforced a strict code of conduct on his students.

From the beginning, Lee was a popular instructor, and the Chung Do Kwan grew rapidly. However, his long
residence in Japan and the fact that he had run a Japanese-sanctioned organization during the war caused many
to view him with suspicion. In 1945, he was charged with being a Japanese collaborator. Although was
acquitted, and his popularity remained relatively unaffected, the allegations of collaboration would be used
against him later.

By the late 1940s, the Chung Do Kwan had over 5,000 students. Lee had relocated his facility to Seoul's Jongno
district, not far from the Korean National Police headquarters, and he had attracted many police officers as
students. His popularity as an instructor and his strong ties with the police caught the attention of Yi Seungman
(South Korea's first postwar president), who offered Lee the position of Minister of Interior. Lee refused, feeling

1
"Lee's Taekwondo," Frank Massar and Adrian St. Cyrien, TKD & Korean Martial Arts, April 1997.
this was an attempt to force him to endorse the party in power, and fearing his students would be pressed into
service as "muscle" for the regime. In retaliation, President Yi resurrected the old charges of collaboration with
the Japanese. Lee was declared an enemy of the state and imprisoned. Released in 1950, Lee fled to Japan, where
he lived as a political refugee. When he left Korea, he left the running of the Chung Do Kwan to his senior
students. In 1976, he immigrated to the United States, where he continued to teach taekwondo and was
eventually promoted to tenth degree black belt.

Won Kuk Lee left a broad legacy. Many of his students went on to found their own kwans in Korea. Some, like
Jhoon Rhee, were directly responsible for bringing taekwondo to other countries. Lee's students were major
players in the founding of both the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwon-Do Federation.
In the United States, such major organizations as the American Taekwondo Association and the United States
Chung Do Kwan Association have direct roots in the Chung Do Kwan. From the founding of that one small
training hall in 1944, Won Kuk Lee's influence has extended to literally millions of taekwondo practitioners,
making him a key figure in the art's establishment and growth.

Craig Willits has been teaching traditional martial arts since 2001 and reality-based self-defense since 2003. He is the owner and chief
instructor at Spotsylvania Martial Arts in Fredericksburg VA. Spotsylvania Martial Arts offers training in the following areas:

 Tiny Tigers (Martial Arts Pre-Skill Program for Ages 4-6): Physical and Mental Agility, Focus, Awareness, Child Safety
 Martial Arts for Children (Ages 6-12): Better Grades, Self-Discipline, Respect, Enhanced Focus, Kids' Self Defense
 Martial Arts for Teens & Adults (Ages 13 and Up): Self-Discipline, Physical Fitness, Goal-Setting, Self Defense

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4100 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg VA 22408
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Phone: 540-891-9008 Website: spotsybba.com

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