Taekwondo


Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as tae, kwon, and do.
Depending on the style, Hyeong, Pumsae or Teul are patterns that demonstrate a range of kicking, punching and blocking techniques, gyeokpa is the art of breaking wooden boards and in the combat sport kyorugi involves the kind of sparring seen in the Olympics. Taekwondo also sometimes involves the use of weapons such as swords and nunchucks. Taekwondo practitioners wear a uniform known as a.
Taekwondo is originally a martial art which was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate and Chinese martial arts. In the early 1970s, a new style of Taekwondo was developed to promote it as a competitive sport, alongside its traditional martial arts form.
The oldest governing body for taekwondo is the Korea Taekwondo Association, formed in 1959 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the nine original kwans, or martial arts schools, in Korea. The main international organizational bodies for taekwondo today are various branches of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, originally founded by Choi Hong-hi in 1966, and the partnership of the Kukkiwon and World Taekwondo, founded in 1972 and 1973 respectively by the Korea Taekwondo Association. Gyeorugi, a type of full-contact sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. In 2018, the South Korean government officially designated taekwondo as Korea's national martial art. At the Olympic and Paralympic level, taekwondo is governed by World Taekwondo.

History

Emergence of various ''kwans''

Beginning in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II and the Japanese occupation, new martial arts schools called kwans opened in Seoul. These schools were established by Korean martial artists with backgrounds in Japanese and Chinese martial arts.
Early progenitors of taekwondo—the founders of the nine original kwans—who were able to study in Japan were exposed to Japanese martial arts, including karate, judo, and kendo, while others were exposed to the martial arts of China and Manchuria.
Discussions around the historical influences of taekwondo have been controversial, with two main schools of thought: traditionalism and revisionism. Traditionalism holds that the origins of taekwondo are indigenous while revisionism, the prevailing theory, argues that taekwondo is rooted in karate. In later years, the Korean government has been a significant supporter of traditionalist views as to divorce taekwondo from its link to Japan and give Korea a "legitimate cultural past".

Attempt to standardize taekwondo

In 1952, South Korean president Syngman Rhee witnessed a martial arts demonstration by South Korean Army officers Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi from the 29th Infantry Division. He misrecognized the technique on display as taekkyon, and urged martial arts to be introduced to the army under a single system. Beginning in 1955 the leaders of the kwans began discussing in earnest the possibility of creating a unified Korean martial art. Until then, "Tang Soo Do" was the term used for Korean karate, using the Korean hanja pronunciation of the Japanese kanji. The name "Tae Soo Do" was also used to describe a unified style Korean martial arts. This name consists of the hanja "to stomp, trample", "hand" and "way, discipline".
Choi Hong-hi advocated the use of the name "Tae Kwon Do", replacing su "hand" with "fist", the term also used for "martial arts" in Chinese. The name was also the closest to the pronunciation of "taekkyon", The new name was initially slow to catch on among the leaders of the kwans. During this time taekwondo was also adopted for use by the South Korean military, which increased its popularity among civilian martial arts schools.

Development of multiple styles

In 1959, the Korea Tae Soo Do Association was established to facilitate the unification of Korean martial arts. Choi wanted all the other member kwans of the KTA to adopt his own Chan Hon-style of taekwondo, as a unified style. This was, however, met with resistance as the other kwans instead wanted a unified style to be created based on inputs from all the kwans, to serve as a way to bring on the heritage and characteristics of all of the styles, not just the style of a single kwan. As a response to this, along with political disagreements about teaching taekwondo in North Korea and unifying the whole Korean Peninsula, Choi broke with the KTA in 1966, in order to establish the International Taekwon-Do Federation — a separate governing body devoted to institutionalizing his Chan Hon-style of taekwondo in Canada.
Initially, the South Korean president gave Choi's ITF limited support, due to their personal relationship. However, Choi and the government later split on the issue of whether to accept North Korean influence on the martial art. In 1972, South Korea withdrew its support for the ITF. The ITF continued to function as an independent federation, then headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Choi continued to develop the ITF-style, notably with the 1983 publication of his Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do. After his retirement, the ITF split in 2001 and then again in 2002 to create three separate ITF federations, each of which continues to operate today under the same name.
In 1972, the KTA and the South Korean government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established the Kukkiwon as the new national academy for taekwondo. Kukkiwon now serves many of the functions previously served by the KTA, in terms of defining a government-sponsored unified style of taekwondo. In 1973 the KTA and Kukkiwon supported the establishment of the World Taekwondo Federation, which later changed its name to "World Taekwondo" in 2017 due to the previous initialism overlapping with an internet slang term. While the Kukkiwon focus on the martial art and self-defence aspects of Kukki-Taekwondo, the WT promoted the sportive side, and its competitions employ a subset of the techniques present in the Kukkiwon-style taekwondo. For this reason, Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo is often referred to as WT-style Taekwondo, sport-style Taekwondo, or Olympic-style Taekwondo, though in reality the style is defined by the Kukkiwon, not the WT.
Since 2000, taekwondo has been one of three Asian martial arts, and one of six total included in the Olympic Games. It started as a demonstration event at the 1988 games in Seoul, a year after becoming a medal event at the Pan Am Games, and became an official medal event at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In 2010, taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport.

Features

Taekwondo is characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. In fact, WT sparring competitions award additional points for strikes that incorporate spinning kicks, kicks to the head, or both.

Typical curriculum

While organisations such as ITF or Kukkiwon define the general style of taekwondo, individual clubs and schools tend to tailor their taekwondo practices. Although each taekwondo club or school is different, a student typically takes part in most or all of the following:
  • Forms : these serve the same function as in the study of karate
  • Sparring : sparring includes variations such as freestyle sparring ; seven-, three-, two-, and one-step sparring ; and point sparring
  • Breaking : the breaking of boards is used for testing, training, and martial arts demonstrations. Demonstrations often also incorporate bricks, tiles, and blocks of ice or other materials. These techniques can be separated into three types:
  • * Power breaking – using straightforward techniques to break as many boards as possible
  • * Speed breaking – boards are held loosely by one edge, putting special focus on the speed required to perform the break
  • * Special techniques – breaking fewer boards but by using jumping or flying techniques to attain greater height, distance, or to clear obstacles
  • Self-defense techniques
  • Throwing and/or falling techniques
  • Both anaerobic and aerobic workout, including stretching
  • Relaxation and meditation exercises, as well as breathing control
  • A focus on mental and ethical discipline, etiquette, justice, respect, self-confidence, and leadership skills
  • Examinations to progress to the next rank
Though weapons training is not a formal part of most taekwondo federation curriculum, individual schools will often incorporate additional training with weapons such as staffs, knives, and sticks.

Styles and organizations

There are a number of major taekwondo styles as well as a few niche styles. Most styles are associated with a governing body or federation that defines the style. The major technical differences among taekwondo styles and organizations generally revolve around:
  • The patterns practiced by each style ; these are sets of prescribed formal sequences of movements that demonstrate mastery of posture, positioning, and technique
  • Differences in the sparring rules for competition.
  • Martial arts philosophy.

    1946: Traditional Taekwondo

"Traditional Taekwondo" refers to the 1940s and 1950s martial arts by the nine original kwans. They used a number of different names such as Tang Soo Do, Kong Soo Do and Tae Soo Do. Traditional Taekwondo is still practised today but generally under names like Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do. In 1959, the name taekwondo was agreed upon by the nine original kwans as a common term for their martial arts. As part of the unification process, The Korea Taekwondo Association was formed through a collaborative effort by representatives from all the kwans, and the work began on a common curriculum, which eventually resulted in the Kukkiwon and the Kukki Style of Taekwondo. The original kwans that formed KTA continue to exist today, but as independent fraternal membership organizations that support the World Taekwondo and Kukkiwon. The kwans also function as a channel for the issuing of Kukkiwon dan and poom certification for their members. The official curriculum of those kwans that joined the unification is that of the Kukkiwon, with the notable exception of half the Oh Do Kwan which joined the ITF instead and therefore uses the Chan Hon curriculum.