Master Raymond Lee started his Martial Arts career at the age of 13 at Park Chul Hee Korean Karate Institute in 1972.  There, he studied the Kang Duk Won style of Taekwondo.  He earned his first black belt in 1976.

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In 1977, he went to college at Syracuse University in New York.  While there, he studied Japanese Karate at Hidy Ochiai Karate.

 

After he graduated, in 1981, Master Raymond returned to Maryland and started training at Blue Dragon Martial Arts in Owings Mills under the instruction of Moon Kyu Im.  After studying there for a year he moved to another Blue Dragon location in Essex where he received instruction from Grandmaster Han Young Kim.

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Unfortunately, the Essex location closed in 1983.  Master Raymond was then without a school until 1985.  At that time he started training at Blue Dragon's location in Timonium.

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He continued to train there until 2016 when Grandmaster Kwang Hyun Lee bought the school from Grandmaster Kim and changed its name to Elite Core Martial Arts.

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Over the course of his martial arts career, Master Raymond has always tried to expand his understanding of the martial arts.  He has learned forms from many different disciplines including Taekwondo, Karate, and Kung Fu.  He has attended numerous seminars and read extensively on many different martial arts as well as practical self-defense.  He has also read extensively on the history of martial arts and knows a lot about the lineages of different disciplines and schools.

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Master Raymond holds a 5th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo and a 4th Dan Black Belt in Hapkido.  As mentioned above, he has also studied many other martial arts, notably Karate.

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Master Raymond teaches our Hapkido classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7:30.