Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee: how a Korean master spread Taekwondo in Brazil

Every traditional martial art is passed from master to student. In Mestre Paulo Ribeiro’s case, that chain has a name every practitioner in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, knows: Grão-Mestre (Grandmaster) Te Bo Lee, a Korean who arrived in Rio Grande do Sul in 1977 and helped turn Taekwondo into an organized sport in the state.

Taekwondo before him

According to the Rio Grande do Sul Taekwondo Federation (Federação Gaúcha de Taekwondo), the sport arrived in Rio Grande do Sul on August 1, 1974, with Master Yong Man Kim, in Porto Alegre. The first state championship was held in August 1976, at the IPA gym.

It was a small beginning. Someone was needed to organize belt promotions, train instructors and take the martial art beyond a group of pioneers.

From Korea to Rio Grande do Sul

Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee came from Korea in February 1977, according to his academy’s blog, and chose Rio Grande do Sul to develop Taekwondo. The state federation records the same arrival, in 1977.

A text by Grão-Mestre Alexandre Gomes, published by IBAM, gives more details about his path. According to that account:

• he was born in rural Korea, in North Jeolla province, and started training at age 10 with an instructor from the Chang Moo Kwan school;
• he received his 1st Dan black belt at 12 and, after military service in the marines, began teaching Taekwondo to soldiers in Seoul from 1966;
• in 1972, he took part in the first instructor course at the Kukkiwon, the world headquarters of Taekwondo;
• he came to Brazil at the invitation of the Brazilian Pugilism Confederation (Confederação Brasileira de Pugilismo), as a demonstrator, also tasked with updating the technique practiced here;
• after a period in Rio de Janeiro, he moved to Porto Alegre to spread Taekwondo as a martial art for everyone, make the practice official and regularize belt promotions.

The Rio Grande do Sul Taekwondo Federation

In 1987, the Grão-Mestre created the Rio Grande do Sul Taekwondo Federation, according to the organization itself. In 2003, the presidency passed to Olzemir Machado.

The work of that generation took root. The federation says Taekwondo in Rio Grande do Sul is now present in more than 100 cities, with about 12,000 practitioners and 250 black belts.

The IBAM text adds that he organized Brazilian championships and built the teams that won Rio Grande do Sul four Brazilian titles in the 1990s.

A master who keeps teaching

In August 2023, Rádio Taquara introduced him as a 9th Dan black belt and president of the Rio Grande do Sul Traditional Taekwondo Federation.

He also took Taekwondo into schools. The Nova Petrópolis city government reported that the Grão-Mestre presented a trophy to the Education Department in thanks for supporting Taekwondo at the Otto Hoffmann and Pedro Beck Filho municipal schools, where about 100 students trained outside school hours. In the news item, the city government called him the “highest authority of Taekwondo in Rio Grande do Sul”.

The student Paulo Ribeiro

Paulo Ribeiro is listed among the Grão-Mestre’s outstanding students in the text published by IBAM, alongside names such as Alexandre Gomes. As an athlete, he competed at the 1989 World Championship in South Korea and was Brazilian champion in 1990, in Porto Alegre, according to a certificate from the Brazilian Taekwondo Association kept by the Mestre.

In October 2020, Mestre Paulo posted on Instagram a photo next to the Grão-Mestre, with the tribute: “Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee, who taught me to be a better person”.

It is this way of teaching, where technique comes together with courtesy, discipline and respect, that he brings today to his classes in Balneário Camboriú and to the Projeto Campeões do Futuro (“Future Champions”). Learn about the Mestre’s story and the Taekwondo classes.