BUILDING A LEGACY
Grandmaster Sang Chul Lee is the founder and Chairman of the U.S. Taekwondo Center. He is living legend and authentic Grandmaster from South Korea. During his competition career in Korea in the 1960s he was a 13-time undefeated National Champion and is the creator of the Ax Kick in Taekwondo. After his retirement from competition he was inducted into the Korean Sports Hall of Fame in 1970.
DREAMING OF AMERICA
As a child in Korea he learned about American history and dreamed of moving to the United States to spead and grow Taekwondo. In 1975 he and his wife moved to New York City with only $800 of cash and unable to speak English. As an immigrant there were very few job opportunities and his first job was as a janitor in Staten Island.
U.S. OLYMPIC TAEKWONDO HEAD COACH
Grandmaster Lee’s first Taekwondo School (Dojang) was in Binhamton, NY. In 1979 he was selected as the U.S. National Team Head Coach. He served as the U.S. National Team Head Coach from 1979-1988. In 1986 he was selected by the National Governing Body of Taekwondo (USTU) to be the 1st Olympic Head Coach in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. He coached the team to an incredible 2nd overall finish in the world – the women’s team placed 1st and the men’s team was 2nd.
A CONTINUING VISION
Grandmaster Lee retired from coaching in 1988 as the most successful coach in United States Taekwondo history. After his retirement he focused on growing the Olympic Taekwondo movement in the United States and world. He served as the President of
USA Taekwondo (Formerly known as U.S. Taekwondo Union – USTU) from 1997-2004. He also served on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Olympic Committee and Vice President of The
World Taekwondo. He is currently the President of the
U.S. Taekwondo Committee, U.S. Kukkiwon, and Chairman of the U.S. Taekwondo Center. Grandmaster Lee is the Founder of the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship and the U.S. Open Taekwondo Hanmadang.
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