American Korean Tae Kwon Do Association

Grandmaster Choon Soo Lee, a ninth-degree black belt, grew up in Pusan, South Korea, and served in his country's army. After his discharge, he taught Tae Kwon Do in Europe before emigrating to the United States in the mid-1960s. Before coming to Kansas City in 1972, Grandmaster Choon Lee had taught Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Hapkido in Illinois and Iowa. Subsequently, Grandmaster Lee founded the American Korean Tae Kwon Do Association and established its Headquarters in Shawnee, Kansas. For more than 40 years, Grandmaster Lee has trained thousands of students of many cultures. The academies under Grandmaster Lee's supervision have produced a rich heritage of Master-ranked instructors, World Champions, Junior Olympic competitors, and outstanding martial artists, and more than 1,000 black-belt students of all ages. He's also trained police officers, professionals, college and professional athletes, including the Chiefs defensive players when Gunther Cunningham was the Chief's Head Coach.

Grandmaster Lee not only makes an effort to ensure each of his students master martial-art techniques, he instills the Tenets of Tae Kwon Do and mentors his students with courtesy, respect, integrity, self control, and confidence. He has watched many of his young students grew over the years and subsequently trained their children.

"Thank you [Grandmaster Lee] for pioneering martial arts and for serving as the pre-eminent martial arts instructor in the Greater Kansas City area...Through your work, you have contributed enormously to people's knowledge of Tae Kwon Do, Judo, and Hapkido, and in doing so you have also improved the lives of others by sharing your values and discipline necessary to excel in the martial arts."

Kay Barnes, Kansas City Mayor

"He's a great man -- a great teacher with great integrity," says Reggie Montgomery, an instructor at Lee's Academy. "Over the years I've worked with him, he's like a father to all of his students. To learn from a legend is something special."