Taekwondo (sometimes written Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do) is a Korean martial art that was developed in the South Korean army during the fifties. It is a striking martial art, famous for its dynamic kicking techniques. Literally, taekwondo means “The Way of Foot and Hand Fighting”.

Short History

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art loosely based on Japanese Karate and the ancient Korean martial art Taekkyeon. During the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), native martial arts were suppressed. In this period, many Korean martial art instructors left Korea and went to Japan, China and other countries where they were exposed to other martial arts. After Korea’s liberation these instructors returned to Korea, bringing with them a wealth of new ideas, skills and techniques which they meshed with what was left of the native styles.

At the same time a general in the Korean Army, General Choi Hong-Hi, who had experience in Taekkyeon and Shotokan Karate, decided that Korea had a need for a national native martial art. Using his experience of Taekkyeon and Karate, and with the help of Nam Tae-Hi, he developed a system called “O Do Kwan” (Gym of My Way), in 1954. He later orchestrated a unification of the now many variations of martial arts practiced in Korea. A board of prominent martial art instructors, historians, and other dignitaries was formed and in 1955 the name “Taekwon-Do”, proposed by General Choi, was accepted as the new national Korean martial art. For the most part, taekwondo came to replace the numerous other Korean martial art names, such as Taekkyeon, Kwon Bup, Tang Soo, Gong Soo, etc., which were all assimilated into this new unified style. Because Choi coined the name, and also systematized the style, he is widely accepted as the “Founder of taekwondo”. Through his fortunate position as a general in the Korean army, Choi was able to further develop the style and insure its popularization. In 1959 he wrote the first text on taekwondo, which would later become a book named “Taekwondo”, printed in 1965. (A thorough expansion in the form of a 15 volume encyclopedia was first printed in 1985.)

Choi became an ambassador for Korea and in this privileged position he was able to propagate taekwondo globally. On the 22nd of March 1966, Choi founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), with associations in Korea, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Vietnam, West Germany, Malaysia, the United States, Turkey, Singapore, and Italy. Unfortunately Choi fell in disfavor with the South Korean government and by 1974 the South Korean government initiated a counter organization, known as the Word Taekwondo Federation (WTF). With governmental subsidy the WTF was able to grow exponentially in its relatively short existence.

ITF and WTF taekwondo are the two main strands of taekwondo today. ITF taekwondo focuses on art and self-defense, and WTF taekwondo focuses on sport and is an Olympic sport. It is also the national sport of Korea. For the last couple of years ITF and WTF have been in negotiations towards a future merger – a hope of General Choi, but he passed away in 2002 at the age of 83, before his dream could be realized.