| Rhee Ki Ha | |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1938 |
| Birth Place: | Seoul, Korea |
| Residence: | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Martial Art: | Taekwon-Do |
| Rank: | 9th dan Taekwon-Do (ITF) 4th dan in Judo 2nd dan in Karate |
| Students: | Robert Howard |
Rhee Ki Ha (born 20 March 1938) is a South Korean Grandmaster of Taekwon-Do. He is widely recognised as the 'Father of British Taekwon-Do' for introducing the martial art to the United Kingdom since arriving in 1967.[1] He is also considered the 'Father of Irish Taekwon-Do',[2] and is one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association.[3] [4] [5] Following a career in the South Korean military, GM Rhee emigrated to the UK in 1967. He was a notable officer of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) during Choi Hong-hi's leadership.
Rhee was born on 20 March 1938 in Seoul, Korea,[6] [7] during the period of Japanese occupation. He is the eldest of seven children of Rhee Yung-ei and Ahn Soon-rae.[6] Rhee's martial arts training began when he was around 7 or 8 years of age, learning judo from his father,[2] and he was the only one of his siblings to pursue the martial arts.[6] He later learned karate from one of his schoolteachers.[2]
When Rhee served in the South Korean military forces, he came into contact with Choi Hong-hi and learned taekwondo in the 35th Infantry Division.[2] Rhee was a key figure in the introduction of taekwondo across the world, contributing to demonstrations in many different countries.[4] [8] He later taught taekwondo to the US 8th Army and, in 1964, travelled to Singapore, where he trained Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel at RAF Changi.[2] Through the late 1960s and 1970s, Rhee was a key member of the taekwondo demonstration teams that accompanied H. H. Choi around the world.[9]
In 1967, some of his students in the RAF, who had returned to the United Kingdom, invited Rhee to travel there to teach.[2] He arrived at Heathrow Airport, London, on 2 July 1967, and was ranked 5th dan at the time.[6] [7] Reportedly, Rhee only planned to stay for two years, but ended up settling there.[2] Rhee Ki-ha founded the United Kingdom Taekwon-Do Association (UKTA) in 1967,[10] the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association in 1972,[2] at which time he was ranked 5th dan,[11] and the All European Taekwon-Do Association in 1979.[2] He was promoted to the rank of 7th dan either by 1973[12] or in 1974,[6] [7] according to different sources. Rhee attained the rank of 8th dan in 1981, and was the first person ever promoted to 9th dan by H. H. Choi on 1 July 1997 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, taking from that point onwards the honorific of "First" Grand Master Rhee (FGMR)[2] [6] Rhee was also described by Choi as "the best ever student of Taekwon-Do."[2]
Rhee is currently Vice President of one of the three ITF organisations.[13] He is listed as the "Founder of Taekwon-Do in Great Britain and Ireland" in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame.[14] He is listed as a pioneer in Europe (1950s, 1960s, and 1970s) in Choi Chang-keun's list of taekwondo pioneers.[15]
Rhee married Heather Morris, sister of the UKTA's official photographer, in 1969.[6] Their eldest son, Andrew Kang-hae Rhee (born 1970), is an 8th dan Senior Master, Taekwon-Do instructor based in Sydney, Australia.[16] [17] [18]