Taekwondo

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"TKD" redirects here. For other uses, see TKD

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Taekwondo (/ˌtaɪkwɒnˈdoʊ, ˌtaɪˈkwɒndoʊ,
ˌtɛkwǝnˈdoʊ/; Korean: ; [t̪ ʰɛ.k͈wʌ̹n.d̪ o]
) is a Korean martial art and combat
sport involving primarily kicking techniques
and punching.[7][8][9] "Taekwondo" can be
translated as tae ("strike with foot"), kwon
("strike with hand"), and do ("the art or
way"). In addition to its five tenets of
courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-
control and indomitable spirit, the sport
requires three physical skills: poomsae ( ,
Form), kyorugi ( , Sparring) and
gyeokpa ( , Breaking Technique).

Taekwondo

A taekwondo match at the 2020 Summer

Olympics

Also known as TKD, tae kwon do, tae

kwon-do, taekwon-do,
tae-kwon-do

Focus Striking, kicking

Country of origin South Korea

Creator No single creator; a

collaborative effort by
representatives from
the original nine
Kwans, initially
supervised by Choi
Hong-hi.[1]

Famous practitioners (see notable

practitioners)

Parenthood Mainly taekkyon[2][3]

and karate,[4][5][6][a]
some Chinese martial
arts[4][5]

Olympic sport Since 2000 (World

Taekwondo)
(demonstration sport
in 1988)

Korean name

Hangul

Hanja

RR taegwondo

MR t'aekwŏndo

IPA t̪ ʰɛ.k͈wʌ̹n.d̪ o

Sport

Highest World Taekwondo

governing body (South Korea)

First played Korea,

Characteristics

Contact Full-contact (WT),

Light and medium-
contact (ITF, ITC,
ATKDA, GBTF, GTF,
ATA, TI,TCUK, TAGB)

Mixed-sex Yes

Type Combat sport

Equipment Hogu, headgear

Presence

Country or region Worldwide

Olympic Since 2000

Paralympic Since 2020

World Games 1981–1993

Poomsae are patterns that demonstrate a

range of kicking, punching and blocking
techniques, kyorugi involves the kind of
sparring seen in the Olympics, and gyeokpa
is the art of breaking wooden boards.
Taekwondo also sometimes involves the use
of weapons such as swords and nunchucks
(nunchaku). Taekwondo practitioners wear a
uniform known as a dobok.

Taekwondo is a combat sport which was

developed during the 1940s and 1950s by
Korean martial artists with experience in
martial arts such as karate and Chinese
martial arts.[5][10]

The oldest governing body for taekwondo is

the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA),
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 (ITF),
originally founded by Choi Hong-hi in 1966,
and the partnership of the Kukkiwon and
World Taekwondo (WT, formerly World
Taekwondo Federation or WTF), founded in
1972 and 1973 respectively by the Korea
Taekwondo Association.[11] Gyeorugi
([kjʌɾuɡi]), 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.[12] At the Olympic and Paralympic
level, taekwondo is governed by World
Taekwondo.[13]

History

See also: Korean martial arts § 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[14] 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,[6] while others were exposed to
the martial arts of China and Manchuria.[10]
[15][16]

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.[4] 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".[17]

Attempt to standardise
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,[18][page needed][19][20]
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
tae "to stomp, trample", su "hand" and
do "way, discipline".[citation needed]

Choi Hong-hi advocated the use of the name

"Tae Kwon Do", replacing su "hand" with
kwon (Revised Romanization: gwon;
McCune–Reischauer: kwŏn) "fist", the term
also used for "martial arts" in Chinese (pinyin
quán).[21] The name was also the closest to
the pronunciation of "taekkyon",[22][18]
[page needed][23]
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.[11][page needed][18]
[page needed]

Development of multiple styles

In 1959, the Korea Tang Soo Do Association

(later Korea Taekwondo Association or KTA)
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.[11]
[page needed]
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
(South Korea) KTA in 1966, in order to
establish the International Taekwon-Do
Federation (ITF)— a separate governing
body devoted to institutionalizing his Chan
Hon-style of taekwondo in Canada.[11]
[page needed][18]

Initially, the South Korean president gave

Choi's ITF limited support, due to their
personal relationship.[11][page needed]
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.[11][page needed]

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 (WTF),
which later changed its name to "World
Taekwondo" (WT) in 2017 due to the
previous initialism overlapping with an
internet slang term.[24] 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.[11][page needed][25] 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.
[citation needed]

Since 2000, taekwondo has been one of

three Asian martial arts (the others being
judo and karate), and one of six total (the
others being the previously mentioned,
Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling,
and boxing) 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.
[26]

Features

Styles and organizations

Equipment and facilities

Ranks, belts, and

promotion

Forms (patterns)

Philosophy

Competitions

List of competitions

Taekwondo Korean terms

Notable practitioners

See also

Notes

References

External links

Last edited 8 days ago by Astro5665

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