History of Taekwondo

History of Taekwondo

Ref: http://www.ilgitaekwondo.org/taekwondo_history.asp

Taekwondo, the art of hand and foot, has a long history of being a self defence martial art, using only the hands and feet to fight off ones assailants. Taekwondo is primarily a defensive martial art, it also embodies the principle of "defence of the weak".

Although the name Taekwondo was first introduced in 1944, the art can be traced back to murals painted on tomb walls dating back to between AD 5 and AD 427.

However, it would be wrong to say that Taekwondo was the original 'Karate' or 'way of fighting empty handed' self defence form. Throughout the Orient, and into India - where in about 3000 BC an Indian prince was recorded as practicing killing blows and strikes on his servants - differing forms of fighting and defensive techniques have developed; all taking various aspects of each others style and adding it to their own particular style of martial art.

One of the most significant ways in which Taekwondo differs from other fighting forms is that a great deal of emphasis is placed upon using the legs to fight with. Indeed the flying kicks unique to Taekwondo have been said to have originated as a way of kicking mounted soldiers off horseback.

After the liberation of Korea at the end of the second world war there were five main martial art academies in Korea, all practicing Taekwondo but in slightly different ways. These families or styles of Taekwondo art were known as:

• Mooduk Kwan
• Jido Kwan
• Changmu Kwan
• Song Kwan
• Chung Do Kwan.

Chung Do Kwan is the style we follow in the II GI Taekwondo Association.

It is interesting to note that Taekwondo is taught in schools and colleges throughout Korea in much the same way as we would be taught football in this country. All military personnel are required to undertake basic Taekwondo hand to hand fighting training. The army has a battalion known as 'the Tigers' consisting of 1000 men - all black belts.

After the Korean War Taekwondo experts began to open Gymnasiums across the country and the martial art was popularized through the Black Belt holders. They also dispatched over 2000 Taekwondo masters to more than 100 countries to spread the martial art.