Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Lee
Hi Jason, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story begins with my father, Grandmaster Sun Lee. His Taekwondo training gave him the opportunity to teach Taekwondo in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He trained military and law enforcement personnel while starting a family. Over the next few years he realized he wanted to raise his family in a more stable environment. I think he always wanted to move the United States, so when he got that chance he jumped on it. He opened his first Taekwondo studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From there, my father had the insight to move to a larger msa and settled in Richardson, which is the first suburb north of Dallas. This is the city I grew up in and currently reside.
My Taekwondo journey began as a five year old amongst older and bigger kids. Eager to start, I finally got my chance at a sparring class. I can still remember getting hit in the stomach and crying immediately. I thought to myself, “This is it. I’m quitting and never going back.” Thankfully that didn’t happen. My father and two older brothers encouraged me to continue in an unforced way. Somehow I mustered up the courage to get back out there, and the rest is history. I looked up to my brothers with admiration and respect as they were awesome Taekwondo athletes. I watched them train and compete at tournaments so naturally, I followed suit. I competed in Olympic-style Taekwondo events all throughout my grade school years. I won some matches and lost some, too. The Taekwondo competition atmosphere taught me so many life lessons, with perseverance being the first and then on to preparation, dedication, and of course hard work. Without that schooling, I would not have excelled in other sports. For example, at 5’5 and 150 lbs, I had no business playing football in Texas, however I became a offensive and defensive starter for my high school.
It wasn’t until my adult years that I found the true power of martial arts. The physical skills are great, but in my opinion it’s the character lessons that distinguish Taekwondo training from other sports. We sadly see it all too commonly in the professional sports — world class athletes making millions only to lose it all due to the lack of good character. It even happens in MMA with some UFC fighters. Either they were never taught the character lessons or lost them in the process. In the traditional arts, there’s a saying “Begin with courtesy, end with courtesy”. There’s also a physical representation of that with the bow before the sparring match begins and after it ends, no matter what happened during the fight. Taekwondo focuses on developing the person, not just the fighter. That is why I chose to do this as life long career. My school’s program includes the physicality, but the bigger emphasis is about teaching respect, integrity, self-control and confidence. I believe our character development program through martial arts is essential in this “insta” world. No matter what happens, there’s only one way to earn your Black Belt; hard work and dedication. I’m grateful and honored to continue my father’s legacy and make a positive impact on the next generation.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth?! Yeah, right. Ask any small business owner or operator and you will get a unanimous answer (read: not smooth.) Let’s start with the things I have some control over, such as staffing and curriculum development. My business requires a lot of trust and accountability from my team. You can’t just put anyone on the mat and expect them to be able to teach a martial arts class. They need to embody the character traits I’m teaching, and I take pride in training our instructors to have the honor of sharing the power of Taekwondo with the next generation.
Another small business obstacle I’ve faced is economic downturn. The 2008 housing market crash was the first one I experienced. Thankfully we live in the great state of Texas, so it arguably didn’t hit us as hard as my contemporaries in other states. Fast forward to March of 2020, the pandemic really challenged my choice of career. There was so much uncertainty when the government shut down my business and the community became divided. A lot of sleepless nights, tears and prayer ultimately led me to not giving up. As a business we pivoted every which way to stay open. We taught virtual lessons, private lessons, and we even did belt promotion tests at our student’s houses over zoom. We are very thankful our community continued to support us and believed in our program.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sun Lee Taekwondo?
Our mission statement is “Teaching life skills through martial arts.” My story encompasses most of what our program is about. The main thing that sets us apart is how we teach character lessons. Some schools have written mantras or call and response type lessons. In our school, each belt has a character lesson. In every class, we do “mat chats” that address each character lesson. Instead of a “repeat after me” type lesson, we sit down and talk about the lesson. We define what it is, how our students might apply it life, and most importantly, why you do it. To hit the lesson home, we discuss everyday life examples and require the students to provide personal anecdotes of each lesson at their belt promotion tests.
After doing this for over 19 years, I’ve learned that Taekwondo is not for everyone and not everyone is going to like our lessons. However, the people that do take to it will tell you how much our lessons have impacted their lives in a positive way. We offer new students a $29 tryout. During the session, the potential student gets to try us out and we simultaneously get to see if that potential student is a good fit for our school.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
It’s hard not to forget how the pandemic impacted our business, though my silver lining takeaway to that whole mess is human beings will always want to be around other human beings. With AI being the next big thing, I am doubling down on the fact that human interaction can not be replaced. That human aspect of recognition of facial expressions, body language, and appropriate touch like a high five can’t be done by a robot. So in addition to human connection, I believe Taekwondo will always have relevance for its positive impact on personal and self-development.
Pricing:
- How much would you pay to give your child confidence? Priceless!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sunleetaekwondo.com
- Facebook: @sunleetaekwondo.com
- Youtube: @Sunleetaekwondo
