At Jhoon Rhee, Students Learn to Use More Than Feet and Fists

On the mat at Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do in Falls Church, 10 kids around the age of 10 stand silently in a row facing a three person panel. At the command of the center judge each kid faces to their left and at another command they take a step forward and punch, then return to the first position.

Located in Falls Church since 1972 the Jhoon Rhee studio has been teaching kids self defense and self respect through the martial arts. Run by Chun Rhee, son of legendary grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, the school has been built on the philosophy that teaching discipline in martial arts leads youth to improved performance in the classroom and throughout their lives.

On the mat the students are testing for their yellow belt, the second in a series of belts that progress in colors from white all the way to the black belt. The test for yellow belt includes knowledge of standard kicks and punches, as well as the presentation of a completed folder that shows full participation outside class.

For Rhee it is a familiar ceremony, one that he has experienced from both ends. As a child, son of a world famous martial artist, he was introduced very early to Tae Kwon Do. Growing up in McLean he can still recall working out in the Falls Church studio, learning the martial art. Later, during his high school and college days, he got away from the form and pursued other interests. Then following his graduation from college he returned to Tae Kwon Do with a new perspective on his father’s craft.

His father, Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, opened his first studio in 1962 in Washington, D.C. A 10th degree black belt in the Korean martial art form, Rhee espoused a discipline that focused on training the mind and spirit as well as the body. Since that time his schools have taken off, with nine affiliates in the Washington metropolitan area and 60 studios across the country. Known as the father of American Tae Kwon Do, Rhee has been recognized in the U.S. and Korea for his work in teaching the martial art.

It was the elder Rhee that promoted the idea of martial arts as not just a fighting form, but as a discipline that can have an overarching impact on students’ lives. It started with a letter he received from a former student that described how the student’s Tae Kwon Do studies helped him improve his grades to the point where he was able to attend an Ivy League university. Rhee realized that the additional benefits Tae Kwon Do provides could be just as important for students as the self defense benefits.

The younger Rhee talked with the News-Press about how, in his own teaching, he has seen young people respond to the training at the studio. “They see martial artists as being hero-like figures. When they’re here they act like angels,” he said. “We teach them here that you have to carry that with you when you leave.” To transfer the attention and respect that the teachers at the studio get to parents at home, they make the final bestowal of any belt earned contingent upon the parents’ approval.

Martial arts provide opportunities to reach kids in a profound way. Rhee described the three kinds of strength that people have: strength in their spirit, in their mind, and in their body. Many students are only able to determine the applicability of bodily strength. They sense that those bigger than them and more powerful are the ones with authority. While they are told that they should honor honesty and intelligence, they often see physical strength as the most important quality.

This desire for strength is what draws kids to martial arts. They have seen martial artists on television and in movies and are eager to imitate those abilities. But while they study to become powerful and disciplined in their bodies, martial arts also provide an avenue through which they can become more disciplined in their spirit and mind as well.

To assist the process Rhee has his students keep a folder in which they collect a series of lessons they are taught during their classes. The lessons range from the importance of patience to having a healthy diet.

The overall goal comes in two principles intended to transcend disciplines: attention and respect. “It changes the state of the mind. Without them you can never learn anything,” Rhee said. Ideally, the attention and respect learned by the students in the classes will be transferred to school and the home environment.

At Jhoon Rhee students are only able to succeed in their martial training after succeeding in their academic studies. At their graduation to their black belt it is a requirement that the kid be an A or B student, a practice started by the Grand Master Rhee.

Chun Rhee emphasized that improving a child’s behavior and academics isn’t as simple as just enrolling them in the class. “It only works if the student wants to be there,” he said. But students who have been attracted to martial arts through images of Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers are often given the opportunity of learning about the discipline of working towards personal development.

The black belt is a concrete example of the variety of the goals that students are trying to achieve; consciously and unconsciously. By working consistently from belt to belt towards that goal they are taught the benefits of consistent work and patience.

For many kids martial arts provide a forum for physical training and discipline where students can go at their own pace. Unlike many competitive team sports, participants aren’t rewarded for their ability to win a contest, but rather the quality of their development in relationship to their abilities.

Their progression from belt to belt is based on consistent attendance and cooperation, and failure is a result of the student quitting not from a judgment by the teachers.

Rhee admitted that he is not trying to train martial arts champions. Students interested in the intense world of competitive martial arts often require more intense and personal attention than what he teaches. He said schools that advertise training champions will often place too much attention on the top students and not give attention to the lesser students, the ones who Rhee believes need it the most. “They put so much energy into just two kids,” he said.

Rather than try to build a champion, Rhee sees it as his mission to have a positive impact in the lives of all the students he works with.

While most of his students are children, Jhoon Rhee also teaches adult classes. These classes have a different kind of focus than the classes for children. Rather than focus on life skills and personal development, the adult classes focus on self defense and fitness.

Through studying martial arts adult students aren’t only working on losing weight and building muscle tone, but they are also developing flexibility and balance, aspects that are normally under-trained during traditional weights training and cardio exercises.

Most of the adults attending became involved because of their child’s participation, but became interested in what the classes could offer them in their lives.

Rhee said he is encouraged by people who continue with the practice into adulthood. Whether they’re picking up the discipline for the first time or continuing a lifelong relationship he sees it important to look at martial arts as a life skill. “There’s a lot more to learn after the black belt,” he said.

Still, for those students who accept their black belt as being the final goal, Rhee is happy to be a part of their process. “I think I have a positive impact,” he said. “Every kid has a person that they remember in their lives who had a positive impact on them. I just hope that I can be that person to some of them.”