John Rhee, the "father of American Tae Kwon Do" and one of Bruce Lee's close friends, will be appearing at Seni this year for the first time. Grandmaster Rhee, who is one of the greatest masters of Tae Kwon Do, was instrumental in helping the late Bruce Lee develop his kicking skills. Both men trained together, ate together and socialised together. Master Rhee, at 78, continues to train and travel around the globe conducting seminars. He is the epitome of health and fitness! The exclusive Seni seminar is open to all martial artists’ regardless of style or level of skill. This is a great opportunity for martial arts enthusiasts to train with a true master and one of Bruce Lee's training partners. In addition to the seminar, Master Rhee will be reflecting on his relationship with his late friend Bruce Lee in a Q&A session.

Jhoon Rhee Seminar: 1pm-3pm – Seni Seminar rooms, Excel London
Seminar Price: £35 and includes ticket into Seni show!

To reserve a place on the seminar please contact: 02476 331239

Q& A Session: 4pm – Sat 29th May – Bruce Lee Conference, Seni show

Grandmaster Rhee will also be appearing and displaying at Seni across the weekend

Seni show will take place at Excel London across the bank holiday weekend of 29 & 30 May 2010
www.SENI.tv

You directly mention Bruce Lee four times, when trying to promote Master Rhee.

Is Rhee truely so unimpressive in his own right that you have to market him via someone who he trained with 40 odd years ago and who is now dead and buried?

Bailu,

Give fighters inc a little more respect ehh, they probably spent a small fortune getting this guy over for the benefit of the likes of you and I.

Lets just be greatful that theres people out there putting it on the line to bring to the UK some of the most influential people within the martial arts, unfortunately not all people are as knowledgable in the arts as us and as such may need a little background on some of our most cherished masters.

Regards,

C32 (Danny)

Why not give Master Rhee some respect, and promote him based on what he has done/is doing for TKD, as opposed to who he trained with and was friends with in the 70's?

I have to agree with BT, Danny.

Jhoon Rhee is a legend in his own right within Martial Art circles, and should be promoted as such.

Using his friendship with Bruce Lee is, IMO nothing more than cynical advertising.

I may of read into BT comments incorrectly...I'm looking at this strictly from a promoters persepctive. The name of 'Bruce Lee' is a brand in itself and hence any angle one can use to push tickets sales (especially in this economic climate) should be taken advantage of.

I joined this site simply because of the comments on this thread, LOL.
I am a bit surprised at the level of disrespect towards Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, knowing G.M. Jhoon Rhee personally (he is my Grand Master and is personally involved with "our" training and black belt testing), I can tell you that his accomplishments in Martial Arts are nothing short of impressive.
During Black Belt testing it is commonly asked of Jhoon Rhee, "what was Bruce Lee like". People (students) are still awed by Bruce Lee even after all this time, and remain hungry for information about him, as well as the relationship between the two. These same students realize that Jhoon Rhee has unique experiences and insights into legend that was Bruce Lee...and relish the sharing of these experiences.
Jhoon Rhee and Bruce Lee were friends, and sparring partners often training together, teaching each other, and learning from each other in their continued desire to further develop martial arts.
These two people, Bruce Lee and Jhoon Rhee have contributed more to the development of martial arts in the U.S.A more than anyone ever, and not just in America...but throughout the World.
So it is not surprising that the two names should be associated, anymore than I would associate myself with Jhoon Rhee. I also have had unique experiences with Jhoon Rhee....and when the time comes, that he is no longer with us....I too will promote his name and share the stories of that experience...as I am proud to have him for a friend, and as a Grand Master, he is part of who I am, now and always, just as Bruce Lee was part of who Jhoon Rhee is.
Jhoon Rhee has trained many national and world Champions, and he is proud of them...and no less proud of his former students Bruce Lee and Mohammad Ali.

I don't think anyone was being disrespectful to Grandmaster Rhee, in fact he was referred to as a legend in one post. Bailu Taiji's original post is asking why the emphasis was on a friendship with Bruce Lee, rather than emphasising Grandmaster Rhee's contribution to the world of Martial Arts.

I wonder what if the tables were turned? What if Bruce Lee had lived, and GM Rhee had died young? Would people be promoting a Bruce Lee seminar today by saying that he once trained with Jhoon Rhee?

I can understand both points of view. Bruce Lee is a "legend" because he is dead, and his legend is larger than life. He became popular mostly because of his film career, and he spread his fame across all lines of Martial Art systems (marketing, merchandising, and advertisement). The fact is, he died relatively young, at a somewhat moderate level of Martial Art advancement (regardless of physical conditioning and athletic skills).

Conversely, GM Rhee has spent a lifetime learning, teaching, and proving the results of his knowledge. He is indeed a great Martial Artist in his own right, and it seems it would be more respectful toward those accomplishments to balance an advertisement between what he has actually done, with the connection to the universally recognized name of Bruce Lee.

Perhaps about 9/10 of the post could have been about GM Rhee's personal accomplishments, with 1/10 being a side note such as, "for those of you who are fans of the late Bruce Lee, you might want to take advantage of the opportunity to meet the man who taught Bruce Lee how to kick, and Muhammad Ali how to punch with the power of Taekwondo."

http://www.youtube.com/dannyonthedoor#p/a/u/2/91-50QM3ADU
Danny on the Door talks Bruce Lee content at Seni 2010!
Enjoy....