Taekwondo - A profile
What does Taekwondo mean and what is its history?
Taekwondo is one of the most popular martial arts in the world. Learn about the meaning of the art and its history.
What does Taekwondo mean?
Breaking it down, Tae means to destroy with the feet; Kwon means to strike or smash with the hand; and Do means "path", "way" or "method". Therefore Taekwondo is often translated as meaning "the way of the feet and fist". Another common translation is “the art of smashing with the hands and feet”.
As with many other traditional martial arts, taekwondo is a combination of self-defence, sport, exercise, philosophy and (more recently) moral guidance. The latter is becoming especially prevalent within the ITF (C).
As one can assume from the name there is a large emphasis on using kicks. In sparring, turning, front, reverse turning and side kicks are most often used; advanced kicks include jump, spin, sliding, and skip kicks, often in combination.
There are currently two 'schools of thought' with regard to Taekwondo. ITF-based associations (those that practice the Chang Hon family of patterns) tend to be more traditional in their training. Practitioners can expect lessons to consist of blocking, striking with the hand (closed or open) take-downs or sweeps, throws, and some joint locks. The sweeps, throws and joint locks are not part of the official syllabus however and self-defence can often be primitive and at worst, impractical. One of the biggest criticisms thrown at Taekwondo is that it is not practical for the street.
Kukkiwon and WTF (the sport arm of the WTF) practice the Taeguk family of patterns. Whilst the Kukkiwon schools can be just as traditional as the ITF schools, the WTF tends to be solely about competition. Indeed, some of the WTF practitioners would not know how to perform a pattern if asked.
A potted history of Taekwondo
Despite all the 'historical fact' behind the evolution of Taekwondo it is *not* over a thousand years old. Indeed if you look at the earlier ITF patterns such as Chonji, Dan Gun, Do San and Won Hyo you can find a lot of similarities between them and the Shotokan Heian patterns (as well as the earlier Pinan forms). This is because during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), the indigenous martial arts were banned. At the same time, many Koreans were either forced to serve in the Imperial Army or work in Japan.
This meant that they were often to Okinawan and Japanese martial arts with some even receiving black belts under Masters such as Gichin Funakoshi. Similarly the Koreans in China were also exposed to Chinese martial arts. After liberation in 1945, many martial arts schools were formed and developed under various names such as Tang Soo Do (China hand. This is incredibly similar to the Okinawan way of writing Karate to also mean China Hand).
As a result of all this cross-training and the return of many Koreans to their homeland several schools of martial art form including Chung Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Jidokwan (or Yun Moo Kwan), Chang Moo Kwan, Han Moo Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, Jung Do Kwan, Kang Duk Won, and Song Moo Kwan.
By the end of the Korean War in the 1950s, nine martial arts systems had been formed. The Syngman Rhee (South Korean President at that time) then ordered that they unify under a single system. After much debate it was decided that the system should be called Taekwondo. The Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) was formed in 1959 to facilitate the unification and then General Choi Hong Hi founded the International Taekwondo Federation in 1966 in order to spread Taekwondo around the world. Unfortunately Choi followed his heart and vision for Taekwondo, believing that the art was for everyone, including communists. This meant that he fell out of favour with the authorities in South Korea and was forced to move to Canada in 1972.
In 1972 the Kukkiwon was opened and remains the World Taekwondo Headquarters to this day. However, this only truly applies to practitioners of Kukkiwon-based Taekwondo. Many independent or ITF-based practitioners are completely unaware of its existence and would not recognise a WTF black belt as being such. Indeed, this is the case for the Kukkiwon who only recognise black belts issued by them.
1973 saw the formation of the World Taekwondo Federation and Taekwondo's drive to achieve Olympic acceptance. The result of all the hard work was Taekwondo being accepted as a demonstration event at the 1988 Seoul and the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games and an official medal event at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
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