After Alex Grady, an automobile plant welder, teaches his five-year-old son, Walter, to ride a bike, he opens a letter requesting he try out for the U.S. Olympic Tae Kwon Do team. He shows it to his mother, who worries that due to an old shoulder injury he could become paralyzed if he competes. Meanwhile, Tommy Lee receives his invitation while he conducts a children's Tae Kwon Do class. At the tryouts, Travis Brickley, a stocky athlete in a cowboy hat, refuses to share his adhesive tape with Alex. Tommy tosses Alex a roll of tape as Frank Couzo, the U.S. head coach watches. As the competition gets under way, Travis approaches Virgil Keller, another competitor, and warns him to watch his face. Another athlete, Sonny Grasso, theorizes that Travis’ bad attitude comes from his mother never having breast fed him. They watch Travis argue with the referee during a match and lose the bout. As he walks away, coach Frank Couzo tells Don Peterson, his assistant, that Travis is “a fighter.” After multiple matches, Couzo gives Mr. Jennings, the Olympic committee chairman, his list for the team. Although Jennings voices concern about Alex’s shoulder, he announces that Alex, Sonny, Virgil, Tommy and Travis have made the team. Couzo takes the athletes into another room and reads them the rules, including never be late and act as a team. He explains they have three months to get ready for their first invitational bout against South Korea. They are shown to their living quarters and assigned roommates. Tommy is paired with Alex and discovers he is a widower. Across the hall, Don shows Sonny his computer discs containing statistics on every major Tae Kwon Do athlete in the world. In turn, Sonny shares his compact disc collection of rare opera performances. In another room, Travis dolls up for a night out, frustrated by Virgil’s meditating. With only one night before training begins, they go to a bar where Travis flirts with another man’s woman, and a bar brawl erupts. Frank Couzo arrives, takes a seat at the bar and enjoys the action. When the patrons are all knocked unconscious, Couzo orders everyone back to the bus. The next day, over his protests, the team is assigned Catherine Wade, a sports psychologist trained in the mystic arts of the east. She explains that Koreans have been trained since birth in meditation and focus and that without her help the U. S. can never defeat them. The men are put through a brutal training regimen which includes yoga and meditation classes with Catherine. They learn that if there is a tie, a match will be decided by a show of strength, and are told to break five cement blocks with a karate chop. When no one volunteers to go first, Couzo picks Catherine to demonstrate. To everyone’s surprise, she easily shatters every block. Travis maintains his surly attitude, making racist remarks to Tommy Lee and belittling Catherine’s teaching. One day, he challenges Tommy to a fight, and when Tommy refuses, he asks if he is “yellow.” Tommy responds “obviously,” and the room erupts in laughter. Later, the men watch video tapes of the Korean opponents they will be facing. Tommy learns he will be facing Korea's best, Dan Han Park. That night, Tommy dreams about being five years old and watching his older brother David compete against Dan Han Park in a tournament. Park kicks David in the head and kills him. The next day, Tommy and Travis are sparring when Travis tries an illegal move. Tommy uses jujitsu to throw Travis to the mat. Couzo takes Tommy aside to show concern that he did not finish Travis, fearing that if Tommy holds back during the tournament, Sae Jin Kwon will tear him apart. Three days before leaving for the Korea, Alex’s son, Walter, is struck by a car. He tells Couzo he needs to go home, but the coach tells him if he leaves, he is off the team. Alex makes it home to find Walter is in a coma. The next day, Walter resumes consciousness, and Alex goes back to training camp, but Couzo refuses to let him back on the team. In practice, Tommy kicks Virgil unconscious. Tommy flashes back to David’s death and runs out of the building. He tells Alex he cannot fight Dae Han because he is afraid he will kill the man, but Alex explains that he is only destroying himself by holding in his anger. Tommy shrugs him off and rides away on his motorcycle. Catherine breaks into Couzo’s office to read Tommy’s file, then accuses the coach of only caring about winning. Couzo explains that he was David’s coach, and the boy died because he did not prepare him for the fight. His only goal in life is to make sure that never happens again. Later, Travis, Virgil, and Sonny tell Couzo they need both Alex and Tommy to win. Couzo merely tells them to be on the flight in the morning, then asks Alex to come back. Meanwhile, Tommy stops for gas and sees a boy drop his ice cream cone. The boy’s older brother gives him his cone, making Tommy smile. The next day, Tommy arrives at the airport and Couzo welcomes him back. When they get to Seoul, Korea, Couzo tells the team that if they give one hundred percent, win or lose, they will be the “best of the best.” Entering the arena, Alex sees his mother and Walter in the stands and thanks Couzo for getting them to the tournament. The contest begins with Sonny taking a brutal beating and losing his bout. Virgil also loses, giving the Koreans an eleven point lead. Travis takes the floor and receives a crushing blow to the head. Despite being blinded by his own blood, he battles on and ties the match. To break the tie, the athletes each approach a pile of cement blocks. Travis smashes six, but his opponent breaks nine. Tommy takes Alex aside and tells him it is up to them to bring in the victory. Alex leaps ahead in his match, but his opponent lands a lucky blow and taunts him. Alex leaps on him and both teams rush the mats, but are constained by their coaches and security personnel. In the third round, the Korean dislocates Alex’s shoulder with a flying kick. Couzo and Don beg Alex to forfeit, but knowing they will lose the contest, Alex orders Tommy to pop Alex’s shoulder back into place. Catherine helps Alex go into a trance to control the pain, and he returns to the ring. With one hand tied to his side, Alex drop kicks the Korean out of the ring, winning the match. With the score twenty-nine for Korea and twenty-two for the U.S.A., Tommy faces Dae Han Park. Dae Han quickly scores three times, but Tommy recovers and beats him to the floor. Dae Han illegally kicks Tommy in the groin as the first round ends. Needing six points or a knockout to win, Tommy enters the ring. Dae Han throws another illegal blow, but the referee does not see it. Tommy recovers and scores again and again until he breaks his opponent’s leg. Tied, with only thirty seconds left in the match, Dae Han struggles to his feet. Tommy flashes back to Dae Han killing his brother, and freezes, vibrating with rage. The buzzer sounds, and Dae Han falls to the mat, but wins the contest. Couzo takes Tommy in his arms and tells him he really won the match. Later, as the Koreans receive their medals, a bloody Dae Han hobbles over to Tommy. He tells him that “to save a life with defeat is to earn victory and honor,” then places his medal around Tommy’s neck. Apologizing for David’s death, Dae Han offers himself as Tommy’s brother. Alex’s opponent walks over and presents him with his medal, also. The rest of the Korean team does likewise, and the crowd explodes into applause.