Horangi Dojang Taekwon-Do Groblersdal

Taekwondo /ˌtaɪˌkwɒnˈdoʊ/ or /ˌteɪˌkwɒnˈdoʊ/ (Korean 태권도 (hangul) / 跆拳道 (hanja), [tʰɛk͈wʌndo]), also known as Taekwon-Do and Tae Kwon Do, is a Korean martial art. It combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and exercise. Gyeorugi (pronounced [kjʌɾuɡi]), a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. Taekwondo was developed by a variety of Korean masters during the 1940s as combination of Okinawan karate, Chinese martial arts, and the ancient Korean traditions taekkyeon and gwonbeop.

Modern history[edit]

During the Japanese occupation of Korea the practice of traditional Korean martial arts was prohibited. Beginning in 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the occupation, new martial arts schools called kwans were opened in Seoul. These schools were established by Korean martial artists who had studied primarily in Okinawa and China during the Japanese occupation. Accordingly, the martial arts practiced in the kwans was heavily influenced by shotokan karate and Chinese martial arts, though elements of taekkyeon and gwonbeop were also incorporated. The umbrella term traditional taekwondo typically refers to the martial arts practiced by the kwans during the 1940s and 1950s, though in reality the term "taekwondo" had not yet been coined at that time, and indeed each kwan was practicing their own unique style of martial art. During this timeframe taekwondo was also adopted for use by the South Korean military, which only served to increase its popularity among civilian martial arts schools.

After witnessing a martial arts demonstration by the military in 1952, South Korea President Syngman Rhee urged that the martial arts styles of the kwans be merged. Beginning in 1955 the leaders of the kwans began discussing in earnest the possibility of creating a unified style of Korean martial art. The name Tae Soo Do was used to describe this notional unified style. In 1957, Choi Hong Hi advocated the use of the name Tae Kwon Do, though that name was slow to catch on among the leaders of the kwans. In 1959 the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) was established to facilitate the unification of Korean martial arts. Establishment of a unified style required several years of negotiation. Seven years later, in 1966, under the sponsorship of the KTA, the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) was established as the governing body for the first unified style of taekwondo.

Cold War politics of the 1960s and 1970s complicated the adoption of ITF-style taekwondo as a unified style, however. The South Korean government wished to avoid North Korean influence on the martial art. Conversely, ITF president Choi Hong Hi sought support for the martial art from all quarters, including North Korea. In response, in 1973 the KTA withdrew its support for the ITF. The ITF continued to function as independent federation, then headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and Choi continued to develop the ITF-style, notably with the 1987 publication of his Encyclopedia of Taekwondo. After Choi's retirement the ITF split in 2001 and then again in 2002 to create three separate federations each of which continues to operate today under the same name.

In 1973, after the withdrawal of KTA support of the ITF, the South Korean government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established the Kukkiwon as the new national academy for taekwondo. Kukkiwon now served the function previously served by the ITF, in terms of defining a government-sponsored unified style of taekwondo. Kukkiwon-style taekwondo represents the second unified style of taekwondo. Kukkiwon-style taekwondo is less combat-oriented and more sport-oriented than either traditional taekwondo or ITF-style taekwondo. Indeed, in 1973 the KTA established the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) to promote taekwondo specifically as a sport. WTF competitions employ Kukkiwon-style taekwondo. For this reason, Kukkiwon-style taekwondo is often referred to as WTF-style taekwondo, though in reality the style is defined by the Kukkiwon, not the WTF.

Since 2000, taekwondo has been one of only two Asian martial arts (the other being judo) that are included in the Olympic Games. It became a demonstration event at the 1988 games in Seoul, and became an official medal event at the 2000 games in Sydney. In 2010, taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport.
Etymology[edit]

The name taekwondo is generally credited to Choi Hong Hi. The World Taekwondo Federation claims that taekwondo development was a collaborative effort by a council consisting of members from the nine original kwans, while the International Taekwon-Do Federation credits Choi Hong Hi solely.

In Korean, tae (태, 跆) means "to stomp" or "to strike or break with the foot"; kwon (권, 拳) means "to strike or break with the fist"; and do (도, 道) means "way of life". Thus, taekwondo may be loosely translated as "the way of the foot and the hand." The name taekwondo is also written as taekwon-do, tae kwon-do, or tae kwon do by various organizations.
Features[edit]
Flying double side kick
A jumping reverse hook kick
See also: List of Taekwondo techniques

Taekwondo is characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. In fact, World Taekwondo Federation sparring competitions award additional points for strikes that incorporate jumping and spinning kicks. To facilitate fast, turning kicks, taekwondo generally adopts stances that are narrower and hence less-stable than the broader, wide stances used by martial arts such as karate. The tradeoff of decreased stability is believed to be worth the commensurate increase in agility. This being used mainly by WTF Taekwondo. ITF style sticks to the traditional way it was taught, with shoulder width and half long stances and shoulder width wide stances (stables stances).
Theory of Power[edit]

This emphasis on speed and agility is a defining characteristic of taekwondo and has its origins in analyses undertaken by Choi Hong Hi. The results of that analysis are known by ITF practitioners as Choi's Theory of Power. Choi's Theory of Power is based on biomechanics and Newtonian physics. For example, Choi observed that the power of a strike increases quadratically with the speed of the strike, but increases only linearly with the mass of the striking object. In other words, speed is more important than size in terms of generating power. This principle was incorporated into the early design of taekwondo and is still used.

Choi also advocated a relax / strike principle for taekwondo; in other words, between blocks, kicks, and strikes the practitioner should relax the body, then tense the muscles only while performing the technique. It is believed that this too increases the power of the technique, by conserving the body's energy. He expanded on this principle with his advocacy of the sine wave technique. This involves raising one's center of gravity between techniques, then lowering it as the technique is performed, producing the up-and-down movement from which the term "sine wave" is derived. The sine wave is generally practiced, however, only in some schools that follow ITF-style taekwondo. Kukkiwon-style taekwondo, for example, does not employ the sine wave and instead advocates a more uniform height during movements (i.e. karate).

The components of the Theory of Power include:

Reaction Force - the principle that as the striking limb is brought forward, other parts of the body should be brought backward in order to provide more power to the striking limb. As an example, if the right leg is brought forward in a roundhouse kick, the right arm is brought backward to provide the reaction force.
Concentration - focusing the mind and body together to make the technique more powerful, with the principle of bringing as many muscles as possible to bear on a strike, concentrating the area of impact into as small an area as possible
Equilibrium - wide long stances of ITF style taekwondo as taught by General Choi require increased emphasis on maintaining a correct center-of-balance throughout a technique. WTF style Shorter unbalanced stances for quicker dropping kicking techniques.
Breath Control - the idea that during a strike one should exhale, with the exhalation concluding at the moment of impact
Mass - the principle of bringing as much of the body to bear on a strike as possible; again using the turning kick as an example, the idea would be to rotate the hip as well as the leg during the kick in order to take advantage of the hip's additional mass in terms of providing power to the kick
Speed - is classed as the acceleration of a technique where it continues passed the point of the target and doesn't de-accelerate.

Typical curriculum[edit]

While organizations such as ITF or Kukkiwon define the general style of taekwondo, individual clubs and schools tend to the tailor their taekwondo practices. Although each taekwondo club or school is different, a student typically takes part in most or all of the following:

Patterns (also called forms, poomsae 품새/品勢 poom'-sy, teul 틀 toul, or hyeong 형/型 he-yung) - these serve the same function as kata in the study of karate, and indeed many of the early, traditional taekwondo forms are derived from Shotokan kata.
Sparring (called gyeorugi 겨루기 gyee-oh-roo'-gee, or matseogi 맞서기 mat-see-oh'-gee in the ITF) - sparring includes variations such as free-style sparring (in which competitors spar without interruption for several minutes); 7-, 3-, 2-, and 1-step sparring (in which students practiced pre-arranged sparring combinations); and point sparring (in which sparring is interrupted and then resumed after each point is scored)
Breaking (gyeokpa 격파 gyee-ohk'-pah or weerok) - 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 technique can be