Founding Fathers - Part 1 - Grandmaster Won Kuk Lee

Now one thing which puzzled my young mind when I first pondered on the Greats of Taekwon-Do back in the early '80s was how come if it was only created in 1955 was it positively bursting at the seams with Masters and Grandmasters almost from the off?! Well to answer that will take many posts,but to quickly summerise - Taekwon-Do is the result of many diverse,yet similar Martial Art systems coming together under one umbrella in the mid - '50s.

Grandmaster Lee - Chung Do Kwan.

Back in the '40s and '50s many kwans (schools) opened , teaching various forms of Karate,Judo and Kung Fu. They refined these techniques to give them a distinct korean flavour and imbued them with their own moral codes.


So the first school to open up for business was the Chung Do Kwan - "The School of the Blue Waves" - in September 1944. This school was run by Grandmaster Lee Won Kuk ( pictured above ) , who had studied Taek Kyon , Kung Fu and Sotokan Karate ( Lee earned 4th dan in Shotokan karate, the highest dan aside from the founder at that time. ). The style they pracised was known as Tang Soo Do.

Grandmaster Lee ( centre with tie ) with students circa 1940s.

In the early days, Chung Do consisted of ten hand and eight kicking techniques all aim 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.

Grandmaster Lee ( centre front ) at National Police Dojang.

The belt system of the Chung Do Kwan under Lee was as follows: White (8th-5th Guep), Red (4th-1st Guep)and Black (1st to 7th Dan). Testing occurred every six months and students would jump two guep levels per test (8th to 6th guep for example). The first seventeen black belts of Chung Do Kwan were:

1. Yoo, Ung Jun
2. Son, Duk Sung
3. Uhm, Woon Kyu
4. Hyun, Jong Myun
5. Min, Woon Sik
6. Han, In Sook
7. Jung, Young Taek
8. Kang, Suh Chong
9. Baek, Joon Ki
10. Nam, Tae Hi
11. Ko, Jae Chun
12. Kwak, Kuen Sik
13. Kim, Suk Kyu
14. Han, Cha Kyo
15. Jo, Sung Il
16. Lee, Sa Man
17. Rhee, Jhoon Goo -- the Father of American Taekwondo


In 1951, due to his age, Lee, Won Kuk asked one of his senior students, Son, Duk Sung to take over as the chief instructor of the studio. Son, Duk Sung, accepted this offer and, thereby, became the second grandmaster of Chung Do Kwan.
Many of the Korean schools of martial art closed their doors during the Korean War. Chung Do Kwan was no exception. It did not reopen until 1953. By this point, however, Lee, Won Kuk rarely visited the school due to his advanced age. Son, Duk Sung and the instructors Son had personally trained, became the primary teacher's of the kwan.


As time progressed, several advanced students of Chung Do Kwan branched off and founded their own kwans. They include:

* Kuk Mu Kwan, founded by Kang, Suh Chong
* Jung Do Kwan, founded by Lee, Yong Woo
* Chung Ryong Kwan, founded by Ko, Jae Chun

* Oh Do Kwan, founded by Choi, Hong Hi and Nam, Tae Hi

Grandmaster Lee ( right ) with General Choi circa early '50s

Although the name "Taekwondo" was proposed in 1955 by Chung Do Kwan students, it was slow to catch on among other Kwan Heads (Kwan Jang).

Won Kuk Lee passed away in 1999 at the age of 92.

W .K. Lee: "I am the founder of modern Tae Kwon Do in Korea. I am happy that Tae Kwon Do has helped to reawaken national pride in many Koreans who had become alienated from their traditional culture. During the Japanese occupation many Koreans identified with the Japanese while others embraced Communist philosophy. We helped to keep Tae Kwon Do alive during the occupation by training in secret."


Tae Kwon!

Footnote:There is an interesting fact regarding the Chung Do Kwan. Son, Duk Sung was the instructor who provided General Choi, Hong Hi with his 4th Dan certificate. Son, details that this was an honorary degree. He later canceled this certificate, and revoked Choi's honorary Kwajang (Grandmaster) status when General Choi sent him a 6th Dan certificate which he insisted that Son must sign. Son also expelled Nam, Tae Hi, from Chung Do Kwan during this same time period.