What is Taekwondo?

Tae Kwon-Do is an ancient form of unarmed combat practiced for many centuries in the orient. It became perfected in its present form in Korea.

• TAE - means to jump, kick or smash with the foot.
• KWON - means a fist, to punch or destroy with the hand or fist.
• DO - means art, way or method.
• In short Tae Kwon-Do means Foot, Hand, Way.

Summary of Tae Kwon-Do

The Art:

The Sport:

Patterns:

Further Explanation

Tae Kwon Do literally means "The Way (path) of Kicking and Punching". Do means the road, path or way. Kwon means fist, or clench; and Tae is to kick or strike with the foot.

There are even earlier hints than this; on the ceilings and walls of the tombs of Koguryo, an even more ancient kingdom in the area now called Korea, we find mural paintings of men performing actions that may be similar to Tae Kwon Do exercises. These murals date from between 3 A.D. and 427 A.D. The roots of Tae Kwon Do may extend much further; it is very difficult to tell. But, it is clear that some aspects of hard style Korean martial arts are quite old - as old, or older, than other martial arts such as those from Japan or Okinowa. China and India also have a history of early development of martial arts, yet the indications described here predate much of that as well. In the early 20th century, Korea was invaded and subsequently occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese forbid the use of the Korean language, and the practice of Korean martial arts. The repression was savage, brutal and efficient.

Patriotic Koreans continued to practice their arts in secret, but in public studied the arts brought by the Japanese, which were (and are) in some part derived from the Okinowan fighting systems. It was not until the liberation of Korea in 1945 that Korean martial arts could again be practiced openly. As a result, some Tae Kwon Do kwans (schools or systems) including the one ours was derived from (the Ji Do Kwan), incorporate some fighting skills from the Okinowan systems. This can be seen in the Pyung An forms, which are Okinowan derived, and the Pal Gwe forms, which were developed by Koreans trained in the Japanese styles of Karate.

The Tae Geuk forms, introduced by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation in the late 1980's, represesent an attempt to return to form styles more purely rooted in the Korean traditions, and we teach those as well. These patterns are easily distinguished by the linear moves and square angles within.