How I meet Bruce Lee
Denis O'Callaghan Ph.D.
Director Emeritus Theologian in residence at Scripture Institute
My meeting with Bruce Lee was while attending Karate tournament in Washington D. C.. I was introduced by an old acquittance Jhoon Goo Rhee.
“A picture is worth 1,000 words; an action is worth 1,000 pictures.” — Jhoon Rhee
For decades, we’ve all known Jhoon Rhee as the father of Tae Kwon Do in America. Without digging too deep into our memories, most of us could tell you that the master was based in Washington, D.C., and that he’s trained elected officials on Capitol Hill for years. Some may also know that Jhoon Rhee was instrumental in the development of martial arts sparring gear back in the 1970s and that in 1983 he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Man of the Year. In martial arts circles, he’s as famous as anyone can be. Ironically, few people — in America or his native South Korea — know much about Jhoon Rhee other than the aforementioned points.
In 1964, Rhee met Bruce Lee at Ed Parker’s International Karate Championship in Long Beach, California. The two became friends and frequently discussed the martial arts, and Rhee wound up teaching a few Tae Kwon Do kicks to Bruce Lee. A number of people vehemently deny that, and if you’re one of them, consider the following: Bruce Lee’s early demonstrations centered on hand techniques that utilized speed and power. His prowess in the physical pursuits stemmed from his experience as a dancer, boxer and wing chun practitioner — none of which was oriented toward kicking. When Lee rose to fame as a kung fu actor, it was well after his collaboration with Rhee had begun. Now take a look at a Jhoon Rhee side kick — any photo from one of his early taekwondo books or articles will do. Compare that to film footage of Bruce Lee doing a side kick. The techniques are nearly identical. Jhoon Rhee is also credited with teaching Muhammad Ali the “accu-punch,” a fact that Ali stood behind. The accu-punch is described as a blow that’s done instantly when no thought is given to it. It’s launched as soon as an opponent presents an opening. Ali said he used the punch in 1975 to knock out U.K. heavyweight champ Richard Dunn in one minute 30 seconds. Pretty cool — but wait a minute. Rhee credits Bruce Lee with having taught him more effective hand techniques that didn’t telegraph one’s intent. So maybe it’s more accurate to say Lee taught the punch to Ali through Rhee. In the 1973 Raymond Chow flick When Taekwondo Strikes, Jhoon Rhee had a role. The setting was one he was all too familiar with: the Japanese occupation of Korea. Rhee demo’d his taekwondo skills on the big screen while portraying a leader of the resistance. He looked forward to more opportunities in showbiz, but Bruce Lee passed away around the time the movie hit the theaters. That, coupled with the amount of time Rhee was required to be away from his family and his martial arts schools, left a sour taste in his mouth. It ended up being his first and last film.
When Jhoon Rhee began teaching the martial arts while studying engineering in Texas in the late 1950s, he advertised his program as karate. Occasionally, he’d use the nametang soo do to denote the style of karate he taught. Using the word “karate” was a wise move because Americans were familiar with it. Virtually no one had heard of taekwondo. In 1960, Gen. Choi Hong-hi paid a visit to the Texas-based Jhoon Rhee Karate Club. Choi, the founder of the Oh Do Kwan, one of the original five kwan that emerged after Japanese colonial rule, encouraged Rhee to use the new Korean term. Calling it “taekwondo” evoked a sense of freedom and independence, as well as respect for the Korean homeland. Rhee agreed. The road wasn’t an easy one to follow, but Rhee proved he was more than up to the challenge. His decision to go with the new name made him the United States’ first taekwondo instructor.
Once Jhoon Rhee concluded his studies in Texas, he moved to Washington, D.C. “When I came to Washington in 1962, I wrote many letters to ambassadors telling them to pay attention to their children’s education,” he says. “I told them, ‘If your children come to my school, I guarantee they will make A’s and B’s.’ Some asked, ‘How can you do that?’ I said, ‘If they don’t, they won’t make black belt.’ They immediately began enrolling their kids. “After a few years, they saw the results. As the various ambassadors’ tenure expired, they had to return to their homelands. Many asked me to share my instructors and teach them in their countries. I didn’t have enough instructors to go around, so I introduced them to my classmates from the 1940s, several of whom traveled to their countries to teach. These instructors would then introduce taekwondo to neighboring countries. The training of ambassadors’ family members would happen again and again as they came and went from Washington.” The result: More than 179 countries now have access to taekwondo instruction, which is why it was accepted into the Olympics.
I meet Mr Rhee like so many did at a Karate Tournament. I those days we didn’t have the luxury to go around and introduce ourselves to other Black Belts so we did the next best thing we meet at competitions around the country. So when Mike Stone, Elvis’s wife instructor came to Ohio with Chuck Norris we got together to compare our best techniques.
A good time had by all. Bill Wallace (know as superfoot world’s armature champion ) was studying at Purdue University in Lafayette Indiana and I was studying law at Indiana University we got together to fight for the championship of Purdue. We trained together for a week and had a ball. Bill left me with sore ribs and I claim that I knocked him out with a punch (which he would never admit to this day).
I was teaching a number of students and at that time was a third degree black belt and getting a reputation for being a very good instructor.
I took my students to Washington D.C. for what was called I believe as the "National Karate Championships". No one was allowed in Mr. Rhee’s private training area, but because we had traveled so far from Indiana and needed to stretch a wee bit Mr. Rhee let us use his gym. Mr. Rhee meet me coming out of the training area and said “Dr. Callaghan, I want you to meet Bruce Lee” Bruce was becoming known by the American public through the the television series the Green Hornet.
I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to Wing Chung at Indiana University. Ip Man, also known as Yip Man, (Chinese: was a Chinese martial artist of Cantonese ethnicity, and a master teacher of Wing Chun. He had several students who later became martial arts masters in their own right. His most famous student was Bruce Lee.
Martial artists are a strange breed in that we’re not impressed with reputation but rather the techniques used in ones chosen area of ability. I had been learning Wing Chung and pointed out that I liked the Wing Chun punches better that my own Tae Kwon Do style. The Korean uses a long punch starting from the waist and rotates from palm fist up to palm fist down generating a great amount of force through the length of punch. In Wing Chun the punch is developed by punching vertically rather than the horizontal Korean style. I stated I liked his punches better and threw what I considered to be my fastest Wing Chum punch. I saw out of the corner of my eye Mr Rhee eyes widen as if I was going to hit Bruce. I stopped my punch 1/4 of an inch from Bruce’s face (which we train to do). Bruce never blinked but threw 3 punches in the length of time it me to throw my one punch “Too slow” he said with a grin. One of the great experiences of my life. How Martial Artists learn from one another.