American Taekwondo Association*

Taekwondo Brings Big Business to LR

Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee has built his American Taekwondo Association from a one-man operation in Omaha, Neb., to a $10 million worldwide enterprise based in Little Rock.

Lee began his teaching career in Oson, South Korea, where many of his students were members of the U.S. Air Force. One of those students was transferred to Omaha and later invited Lee to move there and open a school. Lee opened the school in 1962 and formed ATA in 1969.

When he decided to expand his schools across the United States, he began looking for a new location for his headquarters. He wanted a central location but in a more temperate climate than Omaha. He visited Memphis, Birmingham, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., before finding the new location in Little Rock. He has never regretted the choice.

“It’s my second home,” he says. “The people of Arkansas have been very nice and I’m thankful for that.”

Lee, one of only 12 Grand Masters in the country, expanded through licensees until 1994 when he began franchising his schools. Currently, more than 1,200 schools and clubs – serving more than 200,000 people – are members of ATA. He expects the company to grow by about 30 percent this year through the opening of new schools worldwide.

He operates the company from a 10,000-SF building he owns in southwest Little Rock. He is expanding the headquarters by another 26,000 SF this year. ATA also sponsors the world championship tournament, which brings more than 5,000 participants and 25,000 spectators to Little Rock each year.

Lee has written nine books on Taekwondo and invented a new technique of the martial art which he named Songahm Taekwondo in honor of Little Rock. The name translates to “pine tree in the rock.”

Also, Lee operates World Martial Arts Supply Co., which provides supplies to his member schools; Superior Credit Services, which helps new franchisees finance a new school; and ProTech, a martial art form that uses weapons.