He may have been born in Korea, but Jason Lee is Kiwi through and through, and is hoping to combine the two cultures when his Bay of Plenty club hosts the largest taekwondo tournament in the country next year.

The 29-year-old has a fifth-dan black belt in taekwondo and is one of the head instructors at Han Lee Taekwondo in Rotorua.

Jason Lee says he expects next year's tournament to bring a lot of economic benefits to Rotorua. Photo: Greg Taipari.

He has been doing the martial art for as long as he can remember – not a surprise when you consider his father, grand-master Han Lee, is a two-time world champion ninth-dan black belt.

Jason's family moved to New Zealand around 14 years ago for a better lifestyle. His parents run a taekwondo club and a Korean restaurant in the city.

The club is celebrating after being informed they will host a two-day invitational taekwondo tournament at Rotorua's Energy Event Centre on March 19 and 20 next year.

Jason, as tournament director, says he is expecting more than 400 competitors to take part in the event, with some of New Zealand's best expected to take part in sparring and pattern competition.

He says he expects the event to generate a lot of economic benefits for the city he now calls home.

'We are expecting competitors from not just New Zealand, but from Australia as well,” he explains. 'It's not just the competitors who come to these types of tournaments.

'You also see their coaches, other club members and families come along. I expect as many as 2000 people will come to the event.

'Our club held the nationals here a few years ago and we had about that amount of people. This will be bigger.”

Jason says he wants to showcase his Korean culture to Rotorua, but also showcase the Maori culture to the many Koreans who will attend the event.

'New Zealand has a close connection with my country of birth,” he adds. 'During the Korean War, our people really embraced the Maori culture. My mother says they sang the song Pokarekare ana as a child.”

For now, Jason is preparing some of his club members to take part in the Bay of Plenty Taekwondo Tournament happening next Saturday (September 19) in Tauranga.

'We have a few of our members who have been training hard to get ready for the Bay Open,” he explains.

'For many of them it will be the first time they have taken part in a tournament. It will be a building block for next year's big event.”