Sang-chul Lee (taekwondo)

Sang-chul Lee (Korean: 이상철, born May 8, 1948) is a South Korean-born American Taekwondo grandmaster 8th Dan, US Olympic Taekwondo head coach, entrepreneur, and owner of the US Taekwondo Center. Sang-chul Lee is a leading taekwondo innovator and missionary and has played an instrumental role in the promotion and development of Taekwondo throughout the United States and the world.

He is the longest-tenured US National Taekwondo Team coach, serving from 1979 to 1988. In Taekwondo sparring, Lee is credited with innovating the Ax Kick. During his coaching tenure, he is credited with developing a more versatile fighting stance and developing steps for his athletes to be more fluid in their movements.

Lee was the US Olympic Taekwondo Head Coach at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Although a demonstration sport, the 1988 US Taekwondo Olympic team is the most decorated of any US Taekwondo Olympic team. Lee's athletes won 11 medals, including 3 golds and finished second to the South Korean team, which at the time was the best in the world.

Lee has been passionately involved in the promotion of Taekwondo throughout the United States and served as USA Taekwondo (formerly US Taekwondo Union) president from 1997 to 2004. In 1992, Lee established the US Open Taekwondo Championships and founded the US Open Hanmadang in 2009.