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In the 1970s, during the martial-arts film craze started by Bruce Lee and others, boxer Muhammad Ali learned Tae Kwon Do from Jhoon Rhee, who taught him the “accupunch.” This film explains it. Ali apparently used the punch to knock out Richard Dunn in 1975.
The death of Bruce Lee was devastating for Rhee. He mourned not only the loss of his friend, but the loss to the world of martial arts. Rhee knew that Lee would have continued to make invaluable contributions to the philosophy and influence of their shared passion. So it was with special satisfaction that Rhee was later able to pass along part of Bruce Lee’s legacy to one of the greatest athletes of all time, Muhammad Ali.
Rhee first met Ali in 1975, before his “Thrilla in Manila” championship fight with Joe Frazier. Rhee knew that Ali and Bruce Lee never had the chance to meet, so he took the opportunity to show Ali a punch that Rhee had learned from Lee, and for which Rhee had coined a name: the “Accupunch.” An extraordinarily fast punch that is almost impossible to block, the Accupunch is based on human reaction time—the idea is to finish the execution of the punch before the opponent can complete the brain-to-wrist communication. When Rhee demonstrated the punch to Ali, Ali was unable to block it.
At Ali’s request, Rhee taught him the punch, which he used in his fight against Frazier. Later, Ali also used the Accupunch in a bout with the British champion Richard Dunn—for a knockout blow. During an interview on national TV, a reporter showed Ali a slow-motion replay of the punch and asked about its origin. “That is Mr. Jhoon Rhee’s Accupunch,” Ali explained. He later elaborated, “I learned the Accupunch from Mr. Jhoon Rhee. It acts at the exact moment you decide to hit, and there is no lag time at all. It is instantaneous. It moves at tremendous speed with no warning and accelerates like a bullet in flight. You can hardly see it.”
The death of Bruce Lee was devastating for Rhee. He mourned not only the loss of his friend, but the loss to the world of martial arts. Rhee knew that Lee would have continued to make invaluable contributions to the philosophy and influence of their shared passion. So it was with special satisfaction that Rhee was later able to pass along part of Bruce Lee’s legacy to one of the greatest athletes of all time, Muhammad Ali.
Rhee first met Ali in 1975, before his “Thrilla in Manila” championship fight with Joe Frazier. Rhee knew that Ali and Bruce Lee never had the chance to meet, so he took the opportunity to show Ali a punch that Rhee had learned from Lee, and for which Rhee had coined a name: the “Accupunch.” An extraordinarily fast punch that is almost impossible to block, the Accupunch is based on human reaction time—the idea is to finish the execution of the punch before the opponent can complete the brain-to-wrist communication. When Rhee demonstrated the punch to Ali, Ali was unable to block it.
At Ali’s request, Rhee taught him the punch, which he used in his fight against Frazier. Later, Ali also used the Accupunch in a bout with the British champion Richard Dunn—for a knockout blow. During an interview on national TV, a reporter showed Ali a slow-motion replay of the punch and asked about its origin. “That is Mr. Jhoon Rhee’s Accupunch,” Ali explained. He later elaborated, “I learned the Accupunch from Mr. Jhoon Rhee. It acts at the exact moment you decide to hit, and there is no lag time at all. It is instantaneous. It moves at tremendous speed with no warning and accelerates like a bullet in flight. You can hardly see it.”