Grand Master Jhoon
Rhee Returns Home to Serve as Youngsan Univ. Chair
Professor
Date:
Thursday, March 10
Topic: JhoonRhee
Speaks
 Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, who rose to international
fame as the most well-known grand master of Tae Kwon Do in the
US, will become a professor in a country where he was born and
grew up — South Korea.
The 73-year-old Tae Kwon Ddo
expert will be appointed as chair professor of Youngsan
University in Busan as of Sept. 15, 2004, the university
announced Sept. 14, 2004.
Rhee has been highly
credited both at home and abroad for his contribution in
propagating the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do in the US
and many parts of the world.
Rhee, who is currently
living in the US, will arrive in South Korea around the end of
September or early October. He is widely respected as the
grand master who promoted Tae Kwon Do the most in the US.
The university said Grand Master Rhee will offer
special seminar on Tae Kwon Do three or four times per year.
Rhee will be in charge of international exchanges regarding
the university's plan for international Tae Kwon Do business.
In particular, Jhoon Rhee will serve as a bridge
between South Korean and Europe in promoting Tae Kwon Do to
the Continent. Around the end of September Youngsan University
is expected to form an agreement with British and German Tae
Kwon Do association, respectively, for that purport. Jhoon
Rhee will also participate in a project to set up "World Tae
Kwon Do Park" in Busan.
A native of Asan in South
Chungchoeong Province he moved to American in 1959. The
world-renowned holder of 10th degree black belt soon became to
be known as "the Father of American Tae Kwon Do."
In
1960s Grand Master Jhoon Rhee befriended the legendary Kung Fu
star Bruce Lee. He taught Bruce Lee Tae Kwon Do kicking
whereas he learned from the greatest martial artist-movie star
how to use hands.
He was appointed to National Council
on Vocational Education in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan for
a four-year term. In 1988 he was also appointed as special
advisor to the President's Council on Physical Fitness &
Sports by President George H. W. Bush.
Jhoon Rhee's
high-profile students included Muhammad Ali, Jack Anderson,
George Allen Sr., Bob Livingston, Tony Robbins, Jack Valenti
and over 300 US Senators and House Representatives.
Jhoon Rhee has over 60 affiliated Tae Kwon Do studios
in the US and 65 in the CIS (former Soviet Union) countries.
Jhoon Rhee's numerous awards include American
Immigrant's Achievement Award (1999), and NAPMA's Life Time
Achievement Award (1999).
In the year 2000, he became
the only Korean-American who made one of 203 most recognized
American immigrants by the National Immigrant Forum and the US
Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). Among the 203
honorees were Albert Einstein and Alexander Graham Bell.
He is currently a member of the President's White
House Commission on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Grand Master Jhoon Rhee's website can reached at http://masterrhee.com/
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