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| Grand Master and Mr. Cabrera |
Soon Ho Lee is Grand Master of Songahm Taekwondo, as well as an inspiring teacher, prolific martial artist and highly respected ambassador for ATA. A Ninth Degree Black Belt, Grand Master Lee has personally trained more than 140 Masters, 48 Senior Masters and 10 Chief Masters.
Born in 1939 in China (where the Lee family lived during the Japanese occupation of Korea), Grand Master Lee survived a childhood marked by poverty, hunger and danger. Following World War II, the Lee family returned to their Korean homeland, and by the mid-1950s, the teenage Lee boys were already training in and teaching the martial arts.
Grand Master Lee joined his older brother, Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, in the early years of ATA. Soon Ho soon opened his first Taekwondo school in Milwaukee, later expanding to three schools.
Grand Master Lee became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1976. In 1978, he moved his family to Panama City, Fla., and built a state-of-the-art training and fitness center. All the while, he continued his development as one of the world's most accomplished martial artists.
In 2000, faced with the news of the Eternal Grand Masters' terminal illness, Grand Master Lee accepted with a heavy heart ATA's nomination to succeed his older brother. He moved his family to Arkansas and began the demanding nine-month training process that culminated in his 2001 ascension to Ninth Degree Black Belt and appointment as Grand Master.
Grand Master Lee has served for nearly a decade during a time of significant growth and innovation for ATA. Since 2001, ATA has introduced extreme martial arts, new weapons curricula, a child safety program and a new leadership program. Grand Master Lee has announced his retirement effective in June 2011, when he will become ATA's first-ever Grand Master Emeritus. Until that time, he will continue his work, including his role as trainer for the next Grand Master of Songahm Taekwondo.
Born in 1939 in China (where the Lee family lived during the Japanese occupation of Korea), Grand Master Lee survived a childhood marked by poverty, hunger and danger. Following World War II, the Lee family returned to their Korean homeland, and by the mid-1950s, the teenage Lee boys were already training in and teaching the martial arts.
Grand Master Lee joined his older brother, Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, in the early years of ATA. Soon Ho soon opened his first Taekwondo school in Milwaukee, later expanding to three schools.
Grand Master Lee became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1976. In 1978, he moved his family to Panama City, Fla., and built a state-of-the-art training and fitness center. All the while, he continued his development as one of the world's most accomplished martial artists.
In 2000, faced with the news of the Eternal Grand Masters' terminal illness, Grand Master Lee accepted with a heavy heart ATA's nomination to succeed his older brother. He moved his family to Arkansas and began the demanding nine-month training process that culminated in his 2001 ascension to Ninth Degree Black Belt and appointment as Grand Master.
Grand Master Lee has served for nearly a decade during a time of significant growth and innovation for ATA. Since 2001, ATA has introduced extreme martial arts, new weapons curricula, a child safety program and a new leadership program. Grand Master Lee has announced his retirement effective in June 2011, when he will become ATA's first-ever Grand Master Emeritus. Until that time, he will continue his work, including his role as trainer for the next Grand Master of Songahm Taekwondo.
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