RIP Jhoon Rhee(January 7, 1932 – April 30, 2018)

Jhoon Goo Rhee, the Father of American Taekwondo, passed away on April 30, 2018, in Arlington, Virginia, at the age of 86, after a long illness.

Bellator CEO Scott Coker was among the thousands who offered praised and respect on the social network.

https://twitter.com/ScottCoker/status/991057801970569216

Rhee was born on January 7, 1932, in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation, and began training in the martial arts at the age of 13, without his father’s knowledge. During the 1960s Rhee befriended Bruce Lee and is said to have significantly influenced Lee’s kicking style. Lee of course is considered by many to have been instrumental in influencing a generation of martial artists to the point where they were open to MMA.

He opened his first U.S. based studio in 1962 in Washington, DC, and over time expanded to 11 facilities in the DC Metro area. Rhee is well known in the Washington, D.C. area for a charming television commercial with a jingle by Nils Lofgren and features Rhee’s daughter uttering the catchphrase, “Nobody bothers me,” followed by his son saying “Nobody bothers me, either.”

In 1973, Rhee made his first martial arts movie, titled When Taekwondo Strikes. In 1980, Rhee starred in Return of Rhee, along with his best know student, world kickboxing champion Jeff Smith.

Smith defended his title vs. Karriem Allah (now known as Karriem Abdallah, and a sometime MMA promoter in New Jersey, as well as enormously influential martial artist in his own right) on the undercard of the Thrilla in Manilla, headlined by Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on October 1, 1975. It may be the most watched kickboxing bout of all time.

Lee was also friends with The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, who claimed to have learned a secret Accu Punch from the martial arts master.

Among Rhee’s countless major influences was his development of foam dipped safety equipment for the hands, feet, and head, that sparked the development of sport karate into a more contact-oriented direction, and more able to grasp the importance of MMA. The gear also led directly to the development of American-Rules kickboxing.

Rhee personally taught a generation of Federal Congressmen and Senators and was highly respect and well-connected politically by members of both parties, although his personal politics were conservative and faith based. His students on Capitol Hill included Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Mike Espy (D-MS, former Secretary of Agriculture), Pete Hoekstra (R -MI), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Gene Taylor (D-MS), Nick Smith (R-MI) , Bob Schaffer (R-CO), Howard Pollock (R-AK), Toby Roth (R-WI), Bob Borski (D-PA), James Jeffords (R-VT), and Gerry Sikorski (D-MN).

Rhee was also in tremendous physical condition, doing hundreds of push-ups and sit-ups daily. He famously did full splits and 100 push-ups on his 80th birthday.

His son Chun Rhee said funeral arrangements had yet to be finalized.

H/T Wiki…