Grand Master Jhoon Rhee and Jeff Smith

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Grand Master Jhoon Rhee (1932–2018) is known as the “Father of American Taekwondo.” He began teaching in Texas in 1956, built a network of college clubs there with his first black belts, and from 1962 ran the Jhoon Rhee Institute in Washington, D.C.^1,2,3 Grand Master Jeff Smith trained under Rhee from 1965, received every rank through 9th Degree from him, and spent fifteen years as one of his senior executives.^4,5,6

Who was Jhoon Rhee?

Rhee came to the United States from Korea and first taught in San Antonio and the Texas college towns before moving to Washington in 1962.^1,2 There he turned taekwondo into a household name: his television campaign (“Nobody bothers me”) was so familiar that, Smith recalls, people in Washington called him by the school’s phone number, “USA-1000.”⁷ Rhee taught members of Congress for decades; in June 1986 The Washington Post reported four congressmen receiving black belts from him in the Russell Senate Office Building, where they “took to the carpets with each other and with former national champs Jeff Smith and Michael Coles.”⁸ He received the Martial Arts Professional Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.⁹ He died in 2018.¹

What did Jeff Smith learn from Jhoon Rhee?

Smith’s account of Rhee centers on three things: technique, safety and business. Rhee visited the Texas clubs every semester to teach and test, which is how Smith first trained under him.^10,11 Rhee’s Safe-T equipment changed the sport, and Smith and Pat Worley are recorded as the first to wear the pads in competition, at the 1972 Top 10 Nationals in St. Louis.¹² Smith later explained why that mattered for schools: the gear “minimizes the injury but also the student drop-outs.”¹³ And at the Jhoon Rhee Institute, Smith learned to run a multi-school organization on weekly statistics, programmed enrollment and trained managers.^14,15

Rhee and the business of martial arts

The Jhoon Rhee schools were the testing ground for the enrollment, financing and management systems that Nick Cokinos later spread nationally through the Educational Funding Company. Smith’s own words: “Nick Cokinos… helped Grandmaster Rhee initiate the [business] systems.”^15,14 Martial Arts Professional summarizes the division of labor: “Jhoon Rhee supplied the vision; Cokinos supplied the business systems; Jeff Smith helped develop and implement them.”¹⁶ The full history is in The History of the Martial Arts School Business.¹⁷

Rhee’s lineage today

Smith is described by Stephen Oliver as the “Most Senior living Black Belt from our Jhoon Rhee Lineage.”¹⁸ Smith promoted Oliver to 10th Degree in April 2026, carrying the line forward. See The Jhoon Rhee Lineage for every promotion and its source.

Frequently asked questions

When did Jeff Smith start training with Jhoon Rhee?

In 1965, at the Texas A&I University club in Kingsville, part of the Texas network Rhee built with Allen Steen and Pat Burleson. Rhee visited the clubs every semester to teach and test students.^10,11

What rank did Jeff Smith receive from Jhoon Rhee?

Every rank through 9th Degree. His 10th Degree came in 2016 from the Professional Karate Commission.^4,5

Why is Jhoon Rhee important to the martial arts business?

His Washington schools were where enrollment, financing and management systems later spread by Nick Cokinos’s Educational Funding Company were first tested, with Jeff Smith implementing them day to day.^15,16

Work with Grand Master Jeff Smith

School owners can book a free Growth Diagnostic: 30 minutes with Grand Master Jeff Smith and 30 minutes with Grand Master Stephen Oliver. See how it works.