Rhee Taekwon-Do, also known as Rhee Tae Kwon-Do, Rhee Tae Kwon Do, or Rhee Taekwondo, is a martial art school in Australia teaching the Korean martial art of taekwondo. Its full name is "Rhee International Taekwon-Do (Australia)". Chong Chul Rhee, one of the original masters of taekwondo, founded the school in the mid-1960s. Two of Rhee's brothers, Chong Hyup Rhee and Chong Yoon Rhee, later came to assist him in the 1970s. C. C. Rhee claims the title 'Father of Australian Taekwondo' and Rhee Taekwon-Do is widely publicised as being Australia's first and biggest taekwondo school. It has at least 294 publicly listed dojang (training halls) in Australia, with perhaps around 1,400 dojang in total at its peak. Several Australian martial art school founders received their foundational taekwondo training in Rhee's school. Rhee Taekwon-Do is an independent martial art organisation. It was once affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), but has had no relation to the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

Founding

Chong Chul Rhee, 8th dan, is the founder and head of Rhee Taekwon-Do. He holds the title 'World Master' and claims the title 'Father of Australian Taekwondo.' Rhee is one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo selected from the South Korean military to develop taekwondo under Choi Hong Hi in the Korea Taekwon-Do Association (KTA). Rhee is a former unarmed combat instructor in the Korean Marines, and helped introduce taekwondo to Southeast Asia (notably in Malaysia and Singapore) before becoming the first taekwondo master sent to Australia by the Republic of Korea. Rhee has worked towards the reunification of Korea, serving as a member during the third through ninth terms—and as Chairman for the eighth term—of the Oceania Division of the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification. He has also served as Chairman of the Seoul Olympics Supporting Committee and founding President of the Korean Community Hall Construction Supporting Committee. The Republic of Korea awarded Rhee the Dongbaeg Medal (동백장) in 2003 for promoting taekwondo and Korean culture over the past 33 years. Two of Rhee's brothers, Chong Hyup Rhee and Chong Yoon Rhee, also hold the title of 'Master' in Rhee Taekwon-Do and assist him in managing parts of the school. Chong Hyup Rhee, 7th dan, is in charge of operations in Melbourne. He appears on the right in the school's logo. C. H. Rhee is also one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo, and helped introduce the art of taekwondo to Malaysia and Singapore before arriving in Australia in 1970. He conducts grading examinations in Melbourne and Darwin. Chong Yoon Rhee, 9th dan, is in charge of operations in parts of Sydney. He trained under Nam Tae Hi during the late 1950s, served as a South Korean army officer, and helped introduce the art of taekwondo to Vietnam in the late 1960s. C. Y. Rhee retired from military service at the rank of Major, and moved to Australia in January 1976. C. C. Rhee and C. H. Rhee are listed as pioneers in Asia (1950s and 1960s) and Australia (1970s) in Chang Keun Choi's list of taekwondo pioneers, while C. Y. Rhee came to Australia some time later.

Significance

Rhee Taekwon-Do occupies a prominent place in Australian taekwondo history. This is reflected in three key claims: (1) Chong Chul Rhee is the Father of Australian Taekwondo, (2) Rhee Taekwon-Do is the first taekwondo school in Australia, and (3) Rhee Taekwon-Do is the biggest taekwondo school in Australia. The school has widely publicised these claims since at least the 1980s.

Father of Australian Taekwondo

Numerous claims have been made on who was the father of Australian Taekwondo by other martial art masters: Cheah, Kim and No would have been in the lower dan ranks, and would not yet have held the title of 'Master,' when they were invited to teach in Australia. A biography of No indicates that he had four years' training when he arrived. Rozinsky and Walsh would have held 1st dan ranking in the 1960s. Both Rhee (KTA) and Yun (ITF) would have been in the middle dan ranks and held the title of 'Master' when they arrived, as they were sent to Australia by their respective Korean governing bodies.

First taekwondo school in Australia

Rhee Taekwon-Do was the first Australian martial art school founded by a Korean master and using the name of taekwondo. Rhee's school was also the first nationwide taekwondo school in Australia, having operated in South Australia from its founding in the mid-1960s, Western Australia from at least 1970, Victoria from at least 1970, the Australian Capital Territory from 1971, Queensland from at least 1973, New South Wales from 1973, and Tasmania from at least 1983. The first Rhee Taekwon-Do class was held in the Adelaide YMCA centre. Rhee Taekwon-Do's position as the first taekwondo school in Australia might be challenged by the Melbourne Taekwondo Centre (originally the Shuto Karate Club), as tang soo do was one of the arts taught there. Such status would, however, involve recognising tang soo do as taekwondo retrospectively. The Melbourne Taekwondo Centre incorporated taekwondo into its name in the 1970s.

Biggest taekwondo school in Australia

Rhee Taekwon-Do's position as the biggest taekwondo school in Australia is supported by independently verifiable listings of dojang. It has at least 294 publicly listed dojang in Australia, with perhaps around 1,400 dojang in total at its peak. The claim might be disputed if the Australian member schools of the ITF and the WTF were considered as 'schools' as a whole, whether in terms of numbers of dojang or numbers of members. Rhee Taekwon-Do is, however, a single school under the direct leadership of Rhee while both the ITF and WTF are groups of schools (each with its own head) under a larger governing body.

Ex-Rhee members

At least 25 founders of Australian martial art schools (and at least one in New Zealand) received their foundational taekwondo training in Rhee Taekwon-Do or are former Rhee Taekwon-Do instructors. Of these ex-members, the highest-ranked was a Rhee Taekwon-Do 6th dan instructor when he left Rhee's school.

International Taekwon-Do Federation

Ex-members who founded ITF schools include some of the most senior ITF instructors in Australia. Peter Barbour, 8th Dan, was a 2nd Dan instructor in Victoria, under C.H. Rhee in the '80's. Ming Tuck Low, 8th dan, was promoted to Rhee Taekwon-Do 1st dan in 1971, and was a Rhee Taekwon-Do instructor at the University of Western Australia in 1972. Peter Wong, 7th dan, trained in Rhee Taekwon-Do in Western Australia in the early 1970s. Jamie Moore, 8th dan, commenced Rhee Taekwon-Do training in Queensland in 1976. Several other ex-members have founded ITF schools across Australia.

Other taekwondo styles

Ex-members who founded non-ITF taekwondo schools include some of the more expansionist instructors in Australia. John Ivanov, 9th dan, was a Rhee Taekwon-Do regional instructor in Queensland in 1995. Robert Frost, 7th dan, was a Rhee Taekwon-Do regional instructor in New South Wales in 2003. Lesley Hicks, 6th dan, commenced Rhee Taekwon-Do training in the late 1970s, and was a Rhee Taekwon-Do 3rd dan regional instructor in New South Wales in 2003. Vernon Low, 7th dan, was the Rhee Taekwon-Do State Master Instructor of South Australia, was the first Rhee Taekwon-Do instructor promoted to 5th dan, and had been ranked at 4th dan as early as 1974, prior to establishing his own school. Neville Creevey 6th dan, was a former Student of C.C Rhee in the 1970s, would later become a regional Instructor for Russell Fallon’s K.A.T.O. Several other ex-members have founded non-ITF taekwondo schools.

Other martial arts

Ex-members who founded schools teaching martial arts other than taekwondo include three instructors with an eclectic martial arts history. Hans Fricke, 8th dan, first met Rhee in Perth in 1970 (with Fricke bearing an introductory letter from the ITF, as he had trained briefly in South Korea), was a Rhee Taekwon-Do 2nd dan instructor in Sydney during the 1970s, and now teaches battodo. Christopher Nasiłowski, 10th dan, trained in Rhee Taekwon-Do in Adelaide from 1972 to 1984, was a Rhee Taekwon-Do 2nd dan instructor, and taught arnis and jujitsu. Graham Healy, 8th dan, trained in Rhee Taekwon-Do in Queensland from 1977 to 1982, was a Rhee Taekwon-Do 1st dan instructor, and now teaches boxing and taekwondo. Several other ex-members have founded other martial art schools.

Training

Rhee Taekwon-Do teaches the military style of taekwondo, closer to traditional martial art than modern martial sport in nature. Training consists of exercises that may be classified as: basics (group drill exercises; similar to kihon in karate), destruction (breaking), hyung (patterns or forms), self-defence, and sparring. Basics, destruction, hyung, and self-defence are similar to equivalent exercises in other traditional martial art schools. Rhee Taekwon-Do teaches the ITF Ch'ang Hon forms hyung. Sparring takes three forms: three-step sparring, one-step sparring, and free sparring. Three-step sparring and one-step sparring are similar to equivalent exercises in ITF and WTF schools, but free sparring is different, having more in common with traditional karate sparring. Rhee Taekwon-Do free sparring is unscored, unarmoured, and usually 'non-contact' in principle. Members typically achieve non-contact sparring by two methods, whether separately or in combination:

Ranks

Rhee Taekwon-Do ranks are denoted by coloured belts, which indicate a member's level of experience and responsibility within the school. There are ten coloured belt grades, or kup ranks, and nine black belt degrees, or dan ranks. Members start with white belts and progress through yellow, green, blue, brown, and then black. Most Rhee Tae Kwon-Do students have the opportunity to grade at least four times a year. Non-black belts, from white through to brown, denote the kup ranks. 'Tips' denoting odd-numbered kup ranks are marked by a stripe of the higher colour near the right end (from the wearer's point of view) of a belt of the lower colour. Black belts denote the dan ranks. A specific dan rank is represented by the number of white bars embroidered on the black belt. A black belt with no bars is a Junior Black Belt, a rank assigned to members considered too young (typically 15 years or younger) for 1st dan. Junior Black Belt members are tested for 1st dan when they reach 18 years of age. One bar denotes 1st dan, two bars denote 2nd dan, and so on. The end of the belt bearing the dan rank also carries embroidery noting the name of the master issuing the promotion (Chong Chul Rhee, Chong Hyup Rhee, or Chong Yoon Rhee). From mid 2018 onwards, at least 3 regional instructors have been promoted to the rank of 7th Dan, with the title of "Master Instructor". This was previously unheard of, in Rhee Tae Kwondo, as the organisation has historically been very slow to promote senior Dan ranks.