Won Kuk Lee
| Won Kuk Lee | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 April 1907 Seoul, Korea |
| Died | 2 February 2003 (aged 95) Arlington, Virginia |
| Style | Shotokan Karate, Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo, taekkyon |
| Teacher(s) | Gichin Funakoshi, Gigō Funakoshi |
| Rank | 10th degree black Belt in Tang Soo Do 4th degree black belt in Shotokan |
| Notable students | Duk Sung Son, Suh Chong Kang,Woon Kyu Uhm, Choi Hong Hi, Frank Massar |
Won Kuk Lee (Hangul: 이원국, Hanja: 李元國) (April 13, 1907 – February 2, 2002) was a Korean martial artist, who founded Chung Do Kwan. He introduced karate to Korea in 1944, creating his own style known as Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan style, which became Taekwondo as of 1955; instilling a profound influence in this martial art through teaching future masters and authoring the book “Tae Kwon Do handbook“ in 1968.
Won Kuk Lee was born on April 13, 1907 in Seoul, actual capital of South Korea, which was occupied by Japan and whose regimen regulated all of the population’s activities in the peninsula. It prohibited the practice or teachings of any martial arts, so those interested, had to go outside of Korea (either China or Japan) to learn the arts. Lee was interested in martial arts at a very early age, and he used to get together with the elders in his natal Seoul to listen to the old stories that narrated the practice of millennial Korean martial arts like the Taekkyeon,
It was a custom for very affluent Korean families to send their children to study in Japan, where they would learn the Japanese language and obtain the best education possible, and get to know the right contacts and improve their chances of success in a Japanese dominated society. In 1926 Lee travelled to Tokyo, where he attended high school and later attended the Chuo University specializing in Law. During his school years, he started training in the martial arts currently known as Karate-Do Shotokan style, under the tutelage of Gichin Funakoshi and his son, Gigō Funakoshi, who was the instructor in charge of the karate club of the Chuo University of Tokyo. It was there that Won Kuk became one of the first students of karate in Japan, obtaining the highest rank for a person who was not a Japanese national. After his graduation in Chuo University, he travelled Japan, visiting Okinawa and many other cities in China, including centers where Chuan Fa (kung-fu) was taught.
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