It began in the summer of 1980 when Phillip Rhee was

one of four representing the U.S. taekwondo team at an international competition in Seoul. A member of the opposing Korean team let Rhee know he felt no brotherly love for the Korean American. The two were matched up, and after a grueling contest, Rhee emerged victorious and with his rival’s respect.

The two embraced in an emotional moment Rhee would never forget. Nine years later the story was detailed in

“Best of the Best,” a film Rhee wrote and starred in, along with James Earl Jones, Eric Roberts and Chris Penn. Now a cult classic with three additional movies in the series, the film

continues to serve as a motivational tool. In July, Rhee, 45, was invited by the French Polynesian government to speak to youth about the importance of education and staying drug-free.

 

I was kind of tickled to be invited to Tahiti. A man named Danny Maker runs a government-supported taekwondo academy there and he encouraged the Ministries of Youth and Culture to sponsor my trip. The government basically wanted us to come over as role models because the people are all aware of our film. A lot of the natives are Asian, mixed with French. I think that’s why they have an affinity for us in Tahiti.

It’s really interesting how “Best of the Best” still resonates in their minds, especially in martial arts circles. It is one of the most respected martial arts films because it was not an exploitation, and it had a very strong message about the spirituality of martial arts. All the martial arts schools play it before they go to tournaments. It’s amazing how the media plays a big part in ingraining a certain image in people’s minds.

I took my wife, Amy, and my 5-year-old Sean. Producer and martial arts star Robin Shou brought his girlfriend. My brother, Simon, who was also in “Best of the Best,” brought his wife and two kids, who are both black belts. Simon had been invited to Tahiti several times before, and just recently was invited to Korea, along with about 30 of his taekwondo students. I had gone to Russia five years ago to speak and do a demonstration, but this was my first time in Tahiti.

The people of Tahiti are really warm, and it is basically like Hawaii. It is very clean; you don’t see any trash on the streets. The place was just gorgeous. I mean, you could see like 30 feet below in the water; it was crystal clear.

We got to meet the Minister of Culture and the mayor of Tahiti. They really treated us well. We got VIP seats to the annual dance competition. Each group had about 100 to 150 dancers moving in synchronized fashion, and it was pretty amazing.

For our part, we did demonstrations with over 2,000 kids and adults, and that’s when I spoke about how the only way to strengthen the spirit is to have compassion and love for one another. That’s the emphasis of martial arts — where there’s such a thing as mind, body and spirit. It took me over 40 years to understand this, and I tried to impart that to the kids.