Mestre Paulo Ribeiro’s lineage: from Kukkiwon to Balneário Camboriú

Mestre Paulo Ribeiro’s Taekwondo lineage is short to tell and long to travel: he is a student of Grão-Mestre (Grandmaster) Te Bo Lee, a Korean 9th Dan who arrived in Brazil in 1977 and founded the Federação Gaúcha de Taekwondo (the Rio Grande do Sul Taekwondo Federation). The Grandmaster, in turn, trained in the original Korean schools and took part in the first instructor course of the Kukkiwon, Taekwondo’s world headquarters, in 1972. This article gathers what is documented about this chain, link by link, and says what has not yet been confirmed.

What a lineage is

In martial arts, a lineage is the chain of masters and students through which technique, etiquette and values were passed on. In Taekwondo, a black belt does not “graduate alone”: they are presented to an examining panel by their master, and the certificate records who evaluated them. That is why knowing who your teacher learned from means knowing where what you are training comes from.

For Mestre Paulo, that origin lies in 1980s Rio Grande do Sul, in Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee’s dojang (training hall).

First link: the Korean schools and the Kukkiwon

According to the text by Grão-Mestre Alexandre Gomes published by IBAM, Te Bo Lee was born in rural Korea and started training at age 10 with an instructor from the Chang Moo Kwan school, when the art was still called Gong Soo Do and had only four belts. The exams were conducted by the president of the Chang Moo Kwan, Master Nan Suk Lee (spelled as in the source). Also according to that text, he was there during the formation of the Kukkiwon and, in 1972, took part in the institution’s 1st instructor course.

The Kukkiwon was founded on November 30, 1972 to preserve, develop and promote the spirit and techniques of Taekwondo, and it is called the World Taekwondo Headquarters, located in Gangnam, Seoul. In other words, Mestre Paulo’s master was present at the birth of the institution that still issues international black belt certificates today.

The IBAM biography is signed by one of the Grandmaster’s own students and was not found in a second independent source. That is why it always appears here as “according to Grão-Mestre Alexandre Gomes”.

Second link: Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee in Brazil

The Federação Gaúcha de Taekwondo records that Taekwondo arrived in Rio Grande do Sul on August 1, 1974, with Master Yong Man Kim, and that in 1977 Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee “came from Korea, choosing our state to develop Taekwondo”, creating the Federação Gaúcha de Taekwondo in 1987 as the official governing body in the state.

In August 2023, Rádio Taquara described him as a 9th Dan black belt and president of the Federação Gaúcha de Taekwondo Tradicional. In July 2024, according to a post by Associação Tchon Ji, he was at the Kukkiwon, in Seoul, and was honored by the institution’s president, Lee Dong Sup, receiving the new model of 9th Dan certificate. His full story is in the article about Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee.

Third link: the student Paulo Ribeiro

Two records connect Mestre Paulo to the Grandmaster.

The first is external: the list of Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee’s outstanding students in the IBAM text, which names, among others, Dong Kyu Lee, In Kyu Lee, Alexandre Gomes, Geraldo Endo, Paulo Ribeiro, Jefferson Soares and Liandro Pimentel. The text gives neither a period nor a rank.

The second comes from Mestre Paulo himself. On October 26, 2020, he posted a photo next to the Grandmaster with the caption: “A more than special day! My deepest thanks to Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee, who taught me to be a better person. Happy birthday, Master” (Instagram). It is the photo that illustrates this article.

Dojang brothers

On the same IBAM list is Grão-Mestre Alexandre Gomes, the author of the text. In November 2018, Mestre Paulo posted a photo with him in Nova Petrópolis (RS), calling him a “great friend and colleague” and “leader of Hapkido and Taekwondo in RS”, and recalled: “we went to Korea together for the 1989 World Championship” (Instagram). Two students of the same master, three decades later, still side by side.

The athlete shaped by the lineage

The lineage produced results on the mat. On October 21, 1990, Paulo Ribeiro won the 13th Brazilian Men’s Taekwondo Championship, in Porto Alegre, in the welterweight category, as shown by the certificate he posted in 2019 (Instagram). The story of that title is in the article about the 1990 Brazilian champion.

It was the early 1990s, when, according to the Federação Gaúcha, Rio Grande do Sul was going through the period in which it became a technical reference in South America under the Grandmaster’s leadership. The context is in the article about traditional Taekwondo in southern Brazil.

Fourth link: Balneário Camboriú

The next link in the chain is Mestre Paulo’s students. In Balneário Camboriú, he organizes the Open BC Taekwondo Cup, which reached its 25th edition in 2024, presents students for black belt exams before a state federation panel, and takes Taekwondo to schools and neighborhoods with Projeto Campeões do Futuro (“Future Champions”). In December 2017, at the black belt exam in Balneário Piçarras, he summed up the logic of lineage in one sentence: “one of the black belt oaths is to respect the teachings of my master”.

Anyone training with him today is therefore just two steps from the Kukkiwon of 1972: Mestre Paulo, Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee, Chang Moo Kwan and the world headquarters.

What has not yet been confirmed

To keep to this site’s standard, the points without an open source are recorded here:

• when and where Mestre Paulo started training with Grão-Mestre Te Bo Lee;
• which ranks the Mestre received from the Grandmaster and whether they are registered with the Kukkiwon;
• in what capacity the two went to Korea in 1989 (athlete, coach or delegation) and which championship it was;
• whether the old photo in Korea posted by the Mestre in June 2019 shows the Grandmaster.

None of this is denied; it is simply not proven by a public document. If the Mestre or the Grandmaster make records available, the article will be updated.

Train within a lineage

Choosing where to train is also choosing who to learn from. Get to know the Mestre’s story and contact him on Instagram @mestrepauloribeiro to book a trial Taekwondo class in Balneário Camboriú.