INTRODUCTION:-Taekwondo also spelled tae kwon do or Taekwon-do is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving punching and kicking techniques. The literal translation for taekwondo is “kicking”, “punching”, and “the art or way of”.[5] It sometimes involves the use of weapons.Taekwondo practitioners wear a uniform, known as a dobok. It is a combat sport that was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate and Chinese martial arts.[6][7]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.[8] 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.[9]The governng body for taekwondo in the Olympics and Paralympics is World Taekwondo.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[10] 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,[11]. In contrast, others were exposed to the martial arts of China and Manchuria.[7][12][13] 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.[14] In later years, the Korean government has been a significant supporter of traditionalist views to divorce taekwondo from its link to Japan and give Korea a “legitimate cultural past”.[15]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,[16][page needed][17][18] 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 唐手道. The name “Tae Soo Do” (跆手道) was also used to describe a unified style of Korean martial arts. This name consists of the hanja 跆 tae “to stomp, trample”, 手 su “hand” and 道 do “way, discipline”.[citation needed]Choi Hong-hi advocated the use of the name “Tae Kwon Do”, replacing su “hand” with 拳 kwon (Revised Romanization: Gwon; McCune–Reischauer: kkwŏn) “fist”, the term also used for “martial arts” in Chinese (pinyin quán).[19] The name was also the closest to the pronunciation of “Tae Kyon”,[20][16][page needed][21] 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.[8][page needed][16][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.[8][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 Korean) KTA in 1966, to establish the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF)— a separate governing body devoted to institutionalizing his Chan Hon-style of taekwondo in Canada.[8][page needed][16] Initially, the South Korean president gave Choi’s ITF limited support, due to their relationship.[8][page needed] However, Choi and the government later split on the issue of whether to accept North Korean influence on the martial arts. In 1972, South Korea withdrew its support for the ITF. The ITF continued to function as an independent federation 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.[8][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.[22] While the Kukkiwon focuses on the martial arts and self-defense aspects of Kukki-Taekwondo, the WT promotes the sportive side, and its competitions employ a subset of the techniques present in the Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo.[8][page needed][23] For this reason, Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo is often referred to as WT-style Taekwondo, sport-style Taekwondo, or Olympic-style Taekwondo. In reality, the style is defined by the Kukkiwon, not the WT.[citation needed] Since 2021, 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 games in Sydney. In 2010, taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport.[24] Features Flying twin foot 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. WT sparring competitions award additional points for strikes that incorporate spinning kicks to the head, or both.[25] Typical curriculum A young red/black-belt performs Kory While organizations 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:[26]
Taekwondo Korean terms:-[edit]
In taekwondo schools—even outside Korea—Korean language commands and vocabulary are often used. Korean numerals may be used as prompts for commands or for counting repetition exercises. Different schools and associations will use different vocabulary, however, and may even refer to entirely different techniques by the same name. As one example, in Kukkiwon/WT-style Taekwondo, the term ap seogi refers to an upright walking stance, while in ITF/Chang Hon-style Taekwondo ap seogi refers to a long, low, front stance. Korean vocabulary commonly used in taekwondo schools includes: