October 5, 2010, was the tenth anniversary of the passing of Haeng Ung Lee, founder of the American Taekwondo Association.
Lee grew up amid the hardships of the Japanese occupation of Korea and China.
In the mid-1950s, Lee spent his national service in the South Korean army, attached to an intelligence unit based on Baengnyeong Island.
After his discharge from the army, Lee eventually wound up in Osan, leading a Chung Do Kwan branch school near Osan Air Base.
At first, Reed trained on the air base under one of Lee’s assistants, but because of his ability and commitment was eventually brought to Lee’s school in Osan.
Eventually, Reed became one of Lee’s first two non-Korean black belts.
Reed, still in the military, was stationed in Omaha, so Lee joined him there and began to teach in the small school Reed had established.
After Lee settled in Omaha, he concentrated on growing his martial arts schools.
Due to Lee’s hard work, the MKF grew rapidly, and developed a reputation for being one of the best-organized martial arts groups in the country.
Lee’s success attracted the attention of General Hong Hi Choi, President of the International Taekwon-do Federation.
The General did spend four days with Lee, teaching him the first 16 of the Ch’ang Hon forms in the process.
As a sixth degree in his 30s, Lee was not even entitled to call himself “Master” at the time, and there already several higher-ranking instructors in the U. S. The problem was solved when Lee’s original instructor, Kang Suh Chong, was persuaded to relocate to the U. S. Kang was a senior eight degree with a significant resume: he had martial arts seniority as one of the first Chung Do Kwan black belts, he had spent 14 years running martial arts training in the South Korean military, and he was a Choi loyalist.
Lee’s position meant he essentially ran the ATA’s day to day operations.
The financial hardships of the early days in Omaha – in 1962, Lee’s school’s monthly gross was about $160 – had convinced Lee that a martial artist should not have to live in poverty to teach full time.
About the time he took over the ATA presidency, Lee sold his school in Omaha to one of his students, and moved to Little Rock.
Lee had long felt the Ch’ang Hon system of form patterns did not sufficiently emphasize kicking in the lower belt forms, and that there were too many complicated hand techniques.
So Lee outlined a nine step process to become grand master.
With the membership’s loyalty confirmed, Lee completed the remaining eight steps in the process, and was acclaimed Grand Master in 1990.
In June 2001, Lee was memorialized with a posthumous promotion to tenth degree black belt, with the title “Eternal Grand Master.” The promotion documents were signed by a number of legendary practitioners of Korean martial arts, such as Jhoon Rhee and Bong Soo Han.
So to honor the tenth anniversary of Haeng Ung Lee’s passing, we say, “Suseung-nim, khamsa hamnida.”
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