Dae Sung Lee (born 1958) is a Korean-American master of

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

who holds the rank of 7th ''

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

''. Lee is a 10-time US national taekwondo team member and two-time Olympic coach.Whang, S. C., Whang, J. C., & Saltz, B. (1999): ''Taekwondo: The state of the art''. New York: Broadway Books. () He served as taekwondo coach for the US Summer Olympic team in 1992.

Early life

Lee was born in 1958 in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea, and began studying taekwondo at the age of 11. He moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

in 1971 with his family. Lee graduated from

Moanalua High School Moanalua High School (also known as MoHS) is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school of the Hawaii State Department of Education, located in Honolulu CDP, City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii. Serving grades nine through twelve an ...

in 1977 and obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1987, double majoring in political science and physical education. Lee considers masters Randy Kuk Do Chun of Honolulu and

Sang Chul Lee Sang Chul Lee (February 29, 1924 – January 28, 2017) was the 32nd Moderator of the United Church of Canada and the first person of Asian descent to hold the position. He was elected by the 32nd General Council of the United Church of Canada at ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

as his main teachers. Both Chun and Lee came from the

Jidokwan Jidokwan is one of the original nine schools of the modern Korean martial arts that became Taekwondo and was founded in what is now South Korea at the end of World War II. Its name translates as "School of Wisdom". The Jidokwan in Korea stil ...

style of taekwondo.

Competitive taekwondo career

Lee is a nine-time US National Champion (1979–1987), a 10-time US National Team Member (1979–1987, 1989), and has won medals at the

World Taekwondo Championships The World Taekwondo Championship is held every two years by World Taekwondo. Competitions 1 Wuxi, China, was originally selected to host the 2021 World Taekwondo Championships. Due to the impact of the Global COVID-19 pandemic, Wuxi gave up ...

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, International Collegiate Taekwondo Championships,

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, and

Pan American Taekwondo Championships Pan American Taekwondo Championships or simply Pan Am Taekwondo Championships are the American taekwondo senior championships, first held in 1978 in Mexico City. The event is held every two years by the Pan American Taekwondo Union and it's consi ...

. His competition record includes: * 1989: US Taekwondo Team Trials (Fin): gold * 1988: US Taekwondo Team Trials (Fin): silver * 1987: World Taekwondo Championships (Fin): bronze; Pan American Games (Fin): gold; US Taekwondo Team Trials (Fin): gold; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): goldRosenthal, J. (1987): "13th U.S. Tae Kwon Do Championships: Preview to 1988 Olympic Games?" ''Black Belt'', 25(8):46–50. * 1986: World Cup Taekwondo Championships (Fin): bronze; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): gold * 1985: World Taekwondo Championships (Fin): silver; World Games Taekwondo (Fin): bronze; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): gold * 1984: Pan American Taekwondo Championships (Fly): gold; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fly): gold * 1983: International Collegiate Taekwondo Championships (Fin): gold; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): gold * 1982: Pan American Taekwondo Championships (Fin): gold; World Taekwondo Championships (Fin): bronze; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): gold * 1981: World Games Taekwondo (Fin): silver; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): goldVan Allen, P. (1981): "7th National Tae Kwon Do Championships." ''Black Belt'', 19(10):18, 97. * 1980: AAU Tae Kwon Do National Championships (Fin): goldHanson, J. (1980): "AAU Tae Kwon Do National Championships and Goodwill Meet." ''Black Belt'', 18(9):42–44. * 1979: World Taekwondo Championships (Fin): bronze; US Taekwondo National Championships (Fin): gold * 1977: US Taekwondo National Championships (Fly): bronze

Coaching career

Lee served as an assistant taekwondo coach for the USA at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and as taekwondo coach for the USA at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. He was also head coach of the

Olympic Training Center's Resident Athlete Program for taekwondo from 1988–1993. Lee has operated the US Taekwondo Center in Aina Haina from 1993 to early 2000 and has trained over 10,000 students. In 2004, he was removed from the position of taekwondo coach for the USA team due to compete at the Summer Olympics in Athens.Barayuga, D. (2004)
Isle coach sues over Olympic team role: The lawsuit fights his ouster as U.S. coach for tae kwon do
''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' (July 29, 2004). Retrieved on September 14, 2011. Lee was also active in the

United States Taekwondo Union USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the national governing body (NGB) of Taekwondo for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and thus the United States's official Member National Association of World Taekwondo USAT has complete authority over all dec ...

(USTU), holding positions on the Athlete's Advisory Committee and serving as Chairman of the USTU's Tournament Committee and Junior Olympic Committee. He was a founding member of the United States Taekwondo Committee (USTC), which was created in August 2007, and had served as Secretary General of the organization. In 2007, Lee was approached by the Chinese Taekwondo Association to coach the Chinese Olympic Taekwondo Team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Lee accepted and relocated to Beijing, China, for the one year period leading up to the event. Lee served as the Chinese Team's Head Coach at the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships, the 2007 Korea Open Taekwondo Championships, the Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. His international coaching record includes: * 2008: Beijing Olympic Games; Good Luck Beijing 2008 International Taekwondo Invitational Tournament * 2007: Korea Open Taekwondo Championships; World Taekwondo Championships * 2003: World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 2002: US Open Taekwondo Championships * 2001: World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 2000: US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1999: World Olympic Qualification Tournament; World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1998: US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1997: World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1996: US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1995: World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1994: US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1993: World Taekwondo Championships; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1992: Barcelona Olympic Games; US Open Taekwondo Championships * 1991: World Taekwondo Championships * 1989: World Taekwondo Championships * 1988: Seoul Olympic Games On February 24, 2009, Lee was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame as a longtime contributor to taekwondo in Hawaii.

Personal

Since 1993, Lee has been married to Heon Mi Lee, and they have two children: Nikita and Daven Lee.

References

External links