Won-kuk Lee
Lee Won-kuk (, Hanja: 李元國) (April 13, 1907 – February 2, 2003) was a South Korean martial artist, who founded Chung Do Kwan. He introduced karate to Korea in 1944, creating his own style known as Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan style, which became Taekwondo as of 1955; instilling a profound influence in this martial art through teaching future masters and authoring the book “Tae Kwon Do handbook“ in 1968. Early life and education Lee Won-kuk was born on April 13, 1907, in Hanseong (now Seoul, the capital of South Korea), which was occupied by Japan and whose regimen regulated all of the population’s activities in the peninsula. It prohibited the practice or teachings of any martial arts, so those interested, had to go outside of Korea (either China or Japan) to learn the arts. Lee was interested in martial arts at a very early age, and he used to get together with the elders in his natal Seoul to listen to the old stories that narrated the practice of millennial Korean martial arts like the Taekkyeon. It was a custom for very affluent Korean families to send their children to study in Japan, where they would learn the