Coach Melody Lee

Martial Artist (cont.)

Coach Melody helped Coach Mickey to found the Georgetown University Tae Kwon Do Club, which provided them an opportunity to meet founder of Tae Kwon Do in America Great Grand Master Jhoon Rhee the next year. They soon began training personally under GGM Rhee at his home on Sunday mornings for the following year. GGM Rhee invited Coaches Mickey and Melody as a pair to demonstrate Tae Kwon Do for his seminars commemorating Asian Pacific Heritage Month at various U.S. Departments in Washington, DC.

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Following one of those seminars at the 2003 World Culture Open, Coaches Mickey and Melody met Grand Master Dennis Brown who was once a Tae Kwon Do student under GGM Rhee. They earned their Black Belt in Tai Chi training under GM Brown. As Yang Tai Chi practitioners under GM Brown, they became interested in Chen Tai Chi and were introduced to Dr. C.P. Ong. In 2006, Coaches Melody and Mickey began studying Chen Tai Chi under Dr. Ong, through whom they have had the opportunity to train from Chen Village’s 19th Generation Grand Masters: GMs Chen Xiaowang, Zhu Tiancai, and Chen Zhenglei.



Since 2004, Coaches Mickey and Melody have competed individually and also as a pair at Chinese and open martial arts tournaments. Through these competitions, they met incredible martial artists from whom they had the honoring of training to deepen their martial knowledge and skills. Among them are Grand Master Tang Weizhong, Sijo Antwione Alferos, Sijo Bil Owens, and Master Kam Lee.


Particularly at open martial arts tournaments, Coaches Melody and Mickey have had the joy of sharing beauty and power of Tai Chi with a wide range of competitors and spectators. A major highlight came at the 2007 Tiger Claw Elite Championship Final, where both Coaches Melody and Mickey competed against each other for Traditional Forms Grand Champion along with five other competitors of various styles.
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Furthermore, Coaches Melody and Mickey have had the honor of being invited to perform together as a mom-and-son synchronized pair at tournaments such as the San Diego Grand Internationals (in 2007 and 2008) and 2010 Dixieland Nationals. They have also been invited to special occasions such as the Moroccan Ambassador’s party honoring GGM Rhee, which was attended by numerous dignitaries and held at the ambassador’s residence.



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Part 1: Academic Scientist; Martial Artist 1​

Part II: Martial Artist 2

Part III​: Martial Scientist; Career Highlights​

 

 

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