Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee
10th Degree Black Belt
Founder of Songahm Taekwondo

 In the early 1960's a young airman named Richard Reed began his Taekwondo training just outside of Osan Air Base in Seoul, Korea. A young Korean, known simply as "Mr. Lee", would become his instructor and close friend. This friendship would prove to be one of the most important parts of each man's life.

One evening after class, Mr. Lee drew a circle in the dirt-training floor and drew in a large number of little dots. He explained to his young student that the circle symbolized the United States and that each dot represented a school he would someday open. The young student fought back his laughter and tried to explain how difficult it would be to make his vision a reality. Mr. Lee looked the young American in the face and shared with him five simple words that would come to symbolize Mr. Lee's life, "Today Not Possible...Tomorrow Possible."

In 1969, the American Taekwondo Association (ATA) would be established. It would come to be known around the world as the leader in all martial arts. Now "Master Lee" would establish the first complete training curriculum from white belt to black belt. More importantly, he would introduce the first ever Instructor Development Program. This program would efficiently produce instructors needed to make those dots on the dirt-training floor a reality. The ATA would soon add affiliates around the world. The first of these would be called Songahm Taekwondo Federation (STF) and be established in South America. This was followed by the World Traditional Taekwondo Union (WTTU) and the circle on the dirt-training floor would now grow to represent the world. Today, almost 400,000 people from over 20 different countries have taken part in Songahm Taekwondo training.

On the 9th day of June 1990, Master H.U. Lee introduced to the world, the first martial arts curriculum that could take students from white belt beginner to black belt, Instructor and even to Master. Master H.U. Lee would, that evening, perform one of the most dynamic martial arts demonstrations ever. This historical demonstration, combined with the many achievements of his now worldwide organization, would place him as the first Grand Master of Songahm.

Grand Master H.U. Lee would, in his lifetime, train the President of the United States, be recognized by numerous government officials, celebrities, as well as kings and leaders of foreign countries. With all of his success, Grand Master Lee never forgot that it was his duty to serve his students. He truly believed that each student should be given every chance to succeed and, if they did not, then no matter who their instructor was, he had let them down.

Eternal Grand Master Lee's example should remind all of us who have made Songahm Taekwondo a part of their lives, to give each day their best and together we can build a better world, one black belt at a time.