According to my FB notice, Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee is 83 years old today. While there are many people who have spent far more time with him than I have, I was very fortunate to have befriended him in my late 20's --and as a result he deeply influenced what I taught my students, what I worked on as an instructor, and the things I came to believe about the work of being a martial arts teacher. Other than my beloved teacher Ernie Reyes, Sr., no other martial artist has left such a lasting impression on me --or to this day sits so deeply in my head, like a listen-when-you-can guide, as I navigate the ups and downs of life, on and off the mat.
GM Rhee was never afraid to show his vulnerability. He often spoke of the mistakes he had made, with students, with business, with employees, and in life in general. Being a 20-something and having grown up with his books on my shelves and in my gym bag, I saw him as a man of power and magic, so his discussions of his own flaws and mistakes taught me something --something I didn't understand at the time as clearly as I do today, but that nevertheless shaped me.
He struggled with students and their lack of loyalty and support, something I can relate to, but instead of accusing them of some kind of ignorance or flawed character, he would acknowledge the mistakes he had made, his own self-absorption, ---and in that he taught me, via his own experience, something about personal responsibility and the power of looking inside instead of placing blame on others. Of course my folks had tried to teach me the same concepts --but who listens to their parents? GM Rhee, being who he was, was someone I felt enough respect for to actually "get" some of the lessons I hadn't yet heard from any number of other teachers. Funny how that works, yes?
I was a very unpolished, undisciplined, self-centered young man when I met GM Rhee --and he, in the time we shared and over the years, coached me, by his example, how to shore up my game. And while I'm still horribly ignorant, I'm not as thick as I might have been, for the gentle and subtle encouragement of someone who sought to walk the talk of martial arts mastery.
GM Rhee is a national living martial arts treasure whose influence stretches from the first day he arrived in America from Korea to attend college (with less than $100 to his name), to Joe Lewis, Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, Jeff W. Smith, Sugar Ray Leonard, and thousands of other people, historical figures, presidents, senators, congressmen, writers and intellectuals, doctors, athletes, and an entire generation of men and women who love and practice the martial arts. He invented things, innovated and broke traditions, he coached and wrote and spoke about the martial arts everywhere, all the time, from The Washington Post to Larry King Live to Modern Maturity (I wrote the article!) to the United Nations and in front of Congress ---the man was fearless, persistent, polished, and I think he was --and is --the preeminent communicator of the benefits and purpose of the martial arts --in the entire world, maybe in the history of the world (and at least right alongside the likes of the other great martial philosophers, including Sun Tzu, Musashi, and Ueshiba).
I have never been the friend to GM Rhee that he was --and is --to me. He gave me too much, I think, to be able to return. I'm pretty sure that many other people feel the same way. In my work today, I genuinely try to live up to the things, ideas and examples, that I picked up (stole) from GM Rhee --everything I talk about and teach, philosophically, has its roots in something he said or suggested or guided me to. I don't know how to pay that kind of debt back --except to express my unconditional love and respect for one of the most iconic, human, flawed, perfect, and flat out brilliant man I have ever had the pleasure to know, to travel with, and to listen to.
Poet, inventor, rebel, artist, choreographer, musician, icon, husband, father, teacher, student, citizen, friend ----Great Grandmaster Jhoon Goo Rhee, we, all of us, from every martial artist from the 1950's on, to my sons Shannone Callos and Keenan Cornelius and all the new generation of martial artists, whether they know your name or not, all of us --we all owe you something: gratitude, appreciation, respect.
Happy Birthday my / our most special, special teacher.
To Sir, with love.
