The short link for this post is https://dadbase.co/go/jhoonrhee
The Smithsonian’s podcast Sidedoor does some amazing work, but this one feels very next-level. Like, ‘three kicks in one jump’ next-level.
This is a really cool episode about Jhoon Rhee, the man who brought Tae Kwon Do from a very poor post-war South Korea to a booming America.
Rhee was as much an entrepreneur as he was a martial artist, so you won’t be surprised that he was close friends with Bruce Lee!
He also trained congressmen to fight (whaaaat), and even taught Muhammad Ali to improve his punch – a story that Ali himself was happy to confirm in live interviews.
What I know about Tae Kwon Do (or any martial art) wouldn’t fill a thimble, but this is an epic tale. He’s the kind of guy we’d know a lot more about if he’d been a bit more of a Bruce Lee rizz machine, but he certainly had the passion.
If you listen to the episode above, you’ll also hear audio from Jhoon Rhee’s TV commercial that millions of people in just the right parts of America will recall fondly.
See it below, along with an interview with Jhoon Rhee, and the farewell that followed his passing in 2018.
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