What is Taekwondo?

TaeKwonDo History

Taekwondo is a martial art independently developed over 20 centuries ago in Korea. Over the many years it has become a popular international sport. The main feature of Taekwondo is that it is a free-fighting combat sport using the bare hands and feet to repel the opponent. TaeKwonDo literally means the way of kicking

and punching. It consists of sharp strong angular movements with free flowing circular movements to produce a balance of beauty and power. With the addition of Taekwondo's trademark kicking techniques it is a complete system of self defense and personal improvement. All of its activities are based on the defensive attitude that originally developed for protection against enemy attacks.

The most important fact about TaeKwonDo is that it is not only a superior art of self-defense, but of the mind as well. It gives its practitioners self-confidence that provides an advantage over weaker opponents. This mental characteristic along with the physical ability is beneficial to the mental life of individuals as well as to their families and friends. With its practical means of self defense, its complete regiment of physical conditioning and its aid to improved concentration and mental performance, Taekwondo offers a total fitness program integrating mind, body, and spirit.

Today Taekwondo is the most recognized Korean Martial Art. Taekwondo first came to be recognized as a system of self-defense in the 1950's when a group of leading Korean martial artists came together and unified their various art forms under a single style of hand and feet fighting. They named their style Taekwondo, and in the last 30 years have developed it into one of the most effective styles of unarmed self-defense in the world today. The popularity for Taekwondo is not only in the Korea, but internationally as well. Its evolution and development as an international amateur sport have grown quickly.

Taekwondo’s Approach

The use of the legs as a weapon is a distinguishing feature of Taekwondo which trains practitioners to apply static, aerial, and spinning kicking techniques to strike a variety of targets from those at ground level to well above head level. Furthermore, these kicks, particularly when executed with advancing, retreating, lateral, or diagonal footwork contribute to a versatile fighting style. Thus, the movement combined with technique enables practitioners to effectively strike targets beyond their immediate comfort zone.