Written by: Nolan, Reporter in ISFM
Introduction
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that is mostly made up of kicks and punches. This sport can be translated into “Tae”, Strike with the foot, “kwon”, Strike with the hand and “do”, The art or way.
History
Taekwondo was originally created in the early 1940’s by Korean martial artists 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 and Chinese martial arts. The oldest governing body for taekwondo is the Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) and was formed in 1959 through the original 9 Kwans. The main international organizational bodies for taekwondo today are various branches of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF). So the organization adopted the name and rules of Kukkiwon in 1966.
New adaptions
Later on in the 1970’s a new style of taekwondo developed and became a competitive sport along its original traditional martial art form. The current main body of taekwondo is Kukkiwan and has a partnership with the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) founded in 1972 and 1973 by the Korea Taekwondo Association.
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 and urged martial arts to be introduced to the army under a single system. Until then “Tang soo do” was the term for Korean karate.
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Written by: Nolan, Reporter in ISFM
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