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Taekwondo is a modern martial art characterized by it's fast, high and spinning kicks. The name Taekwondo means: Tae='to strike, or block with the foot' or 'to kick' and it also means 'jump', K'won='Fist' or 'to strike, or block with hand' and Do='The way of' or 'art'. Take this together and Taekwondo means: "The art of Kicking and Punching" or "The art of unarmed combat".
Taekwondo originated from a traditional Korean Martial art, and now it takes a prominent position as an international sport and became one of the official sports in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
In recent decades, Taekwondo as a martial art sport, contributes to improve the quality of human life since it offers a pleasure of learning the self-defense skills and distinctive characteristics, mental disciplines and philosophical behavior. All of its activities are based on defensive spirit since Taekwondo was developed as a defense against enemy attacks. In old days people living simple lives lacked physical fitness and their body became bent in their old age. Taekwondo also served to improve health, physical fitness and poise of the people practicing it.
Our belief is that Taekwondo-trained men are self-confident, not only in physical aspects but also in their mental discipline, because they have developed superior techniques for personal defense by using their entire bodies. For a Taekwondo man, his entire body is a weapon, and he is easily able to attack and beat off an aggressor with hands, fists, elbows, knees, feet or any other part of his body.
There is no use of weapons in Taekwondo. The opponent is attacked with bare hands and feet. Taekwondo has become popular because its a very powerful sport and very spectacular to see.
In 1973, the World Taekwondo Federation (W.T.F.) was founded. In 1980, W.T.F. Taekwondo was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) and became a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 1988. There were several attempts to unify I.T.F. and W.T.F. Taekwondo, but unfortunately, these failed.
Eventually, in the year 2000 W.T.F. Taekwondo became an official sport in the Olympics.
Sparring
The WTF is the largest governing body in Taekwondo. WTF sparring therefore is the most widely recognized as "TKD" sparring, since literally millions of people watch the fights during the Olympic Games.
Kyorugi means sparring which is generally the focal point of Taekwondo competition.
Taekwondo has evolved over time to become a popular martial art, self defense system and competitive sport. In its competitive sport mode, the Taekwondoist learns how to employ his or her knowledge and skills in a controlled full contact sparring match of three, two-minute rounds against an opponent.
Taekwondo sparring is fast-paced and vigorous. Free sparring is one of the best ways for students to test their techniques and combinations. To be a good Taekwondo sparring competitor, you need endurance, speed, balance, agility, focus, self-control, timing and strategy. Sparring competition is usually categorized according to sex, age, weight, and rank. Because of its full contact nature and the risk of injury, sport competition at provincial or state, national and international level is normally restricted to Black Belt holders who, at that high performance level of proficiency, have the skills necessary to both deliver the required techniques as well as block and evade them.
Non-contact or light contact competition is usually held locally or regionally to provide a safe learning experience in competition techniques and strategies for the colored belt Taekwondoist. In both cases, a Head of Court presides over the ring as chief official. Corner judges score the match, and a Centre Referee controls the match and assures compliance with the rules, assessing penalties where required.
For reasons of safety, the sport allows only a limited range of Taekwondo techniques and also requires the wearing of protective equipment. The full range of Taekwondo martial art techniques include many which could cause severe injury or possibly death. These more damaging and potentially lethal techniques, although taught as part of the martial art of Taekwondo and for self defense, cannot be used for safe competitive sport.
As a popular competitive sport, Taekwondo is included in virtually all of the major national,continental and world level sports programs, such as the Summer Olympic Games, the World Games, the Pan American Games, the Conseil International du Sport Militaire program of world military sports championships, the Federation International du Sport Universitaire program of world university level sports championships, and many more.
Poomsae
Taekwondo Poomsae means a "Form". It is a self-practice where you following the Lines of Movement in a systematic and consecutive way against an imaginary opponent(s), using various Taekwondo techniques of hand and foot.
By practising Taekwondo Poomsae, we apply the basic techniques of movement and stance to actual fighting. This improves flexibility of the body, and teaches control of strength, balance, breathing and concentration, as well as cultivating martial art spirit through mental discipline.
Meaning of Each Poomsae
TAEGUK
This represents the most profound oriental philosophy from which philosophical views on the World, Cosmos and Life are derived. The Taeguk Poomsae consists of different movements in sequence. The vital points of this Poomsae are to make exact the speed of breath and action and move the body weight properly while executing speedy actions. Thus we can fully realize the main thought of Taeguk.
KORYO
Koryo is the name of an ancient dynasty in the Korean peninsula. The English name of "Korea" is originated from the name of this "Koryo" Dynasty which was famed for its cultural achievements such as Koryo ceramic and for the valiant spirit of its people with which they defeated the Mongolian aggression.
KUMGANG
The word "Kumgang" has originally the meaning of being too strong to be broken. Also in Buddhism, what can break off every agony of mind with combination of wisdom and virtue is called "Kumgang". The Poomsae "Kumgang" is named after Mount Kumgang, symbol of solidity. "Kumgang" is also analogous to "diamond".
TAEBACK
"Taeback" is the ancient name of Mount Paekdu where the legendary Tangun founded a nation for the first time in the Korean peninsula some 4,300 years ago. Poomsae "Taeback" takes its principles of movement from the word "Taeback" which means being looked up to as sacred.
PYONGWON
"Pyongwon" is meant by 'vast plain'. The plain is a source of sustaining the human life and, on the other hand, a great open plain stretching out endlessly gives us a feeling of majesty that is different from that we feel with a mountain or the sea. An application of the providence of the plain which is blessed with abundance and grace as well as boundless vastness into the practice of Taekwondo is Poomsae Pyongwon (plain).
SIPJIN
Shipjin has the meaning of 'decimal system' which stands for a symbolical figure of 10 meaning endless development and growth in a systematic order. In Poomsae Shipjin, stability is sought in every change of movements.
JITAE
According to the Oriental belief, all living things come from and return to the earth (Chitae is derived from the meaning of the earth). The earth is indeed the origin and terminal of life. Living things as well as all the natural phenomena of the earth originate mainly from the changes and the form of earth. Poomsae "Jitae" is the movement which applies these features of the earth.
CHUNKWON
"Chunkwon" signifies the sky. From ancient times the Orientals have always believed and worshipped the sky as ruler of the universe and human beings. The infinitely vast sky may be a mysterious and profound world of imagination in the eyes of finite human beings. Poomsae Chunkwon is composed of the motions which are full of piety and vitality.
Terminologies
| COUNTING |
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| hana : one |
Ill : first |
DOJANG : school for martial arts |
| dul : two |
E : second |
KWAN-JANG-NIM : master instructor (above fifth degree black belt) |
| set : three |
Sahm : third |
KYO-SANIM : instructor |
| net : four |
Sah : fourth |
SABOM-NIM : instructor |
| dasot : five |
Oh : fifth |
DOBOK : Taekwondo uniform |
| yasot : six |
Yook : sixth |
JOON-BEE : ready |
| elgub : seven |
Chil : seventh |
SHE-JAHK : begin |
| yodol : eight |
Pal : eighth |
KAE-SOK : continue |
| ahob : nine |
Koo : nineth |
KALYEO : seperate or break |
| yol : ten |
Ship : tenth |
KAM-SA-HAP-NI-DA : thank you |
| AHP-CHA-GI : front kick |
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CHON-MANAYNO : thank you |
| DOLRYO CHA-GI : round kick |
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KYUNG-YE : bow |
| YOP CHA-GI : side kick |
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JUCHOOM SOG I: horseback-riding stance |
| CHA-RYOT : attention stance |
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| KI-HAP : yell of power |
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History
The historical background of Taekwondo development will be explained following the chronological order of 4 different ages; ancient times, middle ages, modern ages and present times.
Ancient Times
The Origin of Taekwondo
Man by nature has instinct to preserve his own life as well as his race, and therefore engages in physical activities either consciously or unconsciously. Man cannot do without physical motions that he grows and developed on them, regardless of time and space. In ancient times people had no means other than the bare hands and body to defend themselves; so they naturally developed the bare-hand fighting techniques. Even at times when arms were developed as defensive or offensive means, people continued to enjoy the bare-hand fighting techniques for the purpose of building physical strength as well as showing off through matches at rituals of tribal communities. In the early days of the Korean peninsula, there were three tribes, each enjoying warrior's martial art contests during the ritual seasons. At the time, people learned techniques from their experiences of fighting against the beasts whose defensive and offensive motions were also the subject of analysis. It is believed that this was exactly the true grounding of today's Taekwondo, which names have descended from "Subak", "Taekkyon" and so on.In the latter part of ancient times on the Korean peninsula, three kingdoms were rivaling among them for the hegemony. They were Koguryo, Paekje and Shilla all indulged in growing national strength with trained warriors. Therefore, the Korean history tells that there were military personalities among the well-known prominent national leaders of the three kingdoms, which proves the military tendency of ruling hierarchy. As a result, youth warriors were organized, such as "Hwarangdo" in Shilla and"Chouisonin" in Koguryo, which both adopted martial art training as one of the important subjects of learning. A known martial art book of the days, called "Muyedobo-Tongji" wrote "Taekwondo is the basis of martial art, enabling one to build strength by using the hand and foot freely and training arms and legs as well as the body to adaptable to any critical situations," which means Taekwondo was already prevalent in that age. Thus, it can be easily assumed that Taekwondo was originated from the days of tribal communities on the Korean peninsula. Shilla kingdom founded in B.C. 57 on the southeastern part of Korea, and Koguryo founded in B.C. 37 on the northern part of Korea along Yalu river, both made great efforts to raise their youngsters into strong warriors called "hwarang" and "sunbae" respectively, certainly with Taekwondo as one of the principal subjects of physical training.
Tenets of Taekwondo
Courtesy - Integrity - perseverance - Self-control - Indomitable Spirit
Benefits
Physically
Taekwondo develops coordination, motor skills, agility, flexibility, muscular strength, endurance, balance, posture, cardiovascular fitness, aerobic fitness and anaerobic fitness. Due to its physical nature, Taekwondo training promotes a healthy lifestyle including proper physical training, proper nutrition, proper rest and the maintenance of a balance in life.
Morally
Taekwondo's tenets are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control, loyalty and the indomitable spirit. Taekwondo promotes good character and a non-violent attitude by teaching courtesy, humility, integrity, respect for others, self reliance, courage and self control under stress. In response to conflict, Taekwondo teaches calmness, avoidance and neutralisation. It features a non-confrontational and controlled approach to aggression through the teaching of self control, self confidence and violence-as-a-last-resort response to conflict. Students must respect fellow students and obey instructors. Taekwondo demands patience, perseverance and a striving for perfection.
Psychologically
Taekwondo reduces tension and anxiety by providing a socially acceptable means of physical self expression, controlling aggression and venting hostility and frustration in a healthy, beneficial manner. It requires self respect, complete self control and respect for others, whether training partner or adversary. It also provides a means of personal achievement and advancement through mastery of its curriculum, testing and progression through its belt levels. Dedication to attaining a goal and successful goal attainment improve one's self image and sense of self worth.
The Personal Experience
Taekwondo training is also an educational and a personally broadening experience through the curriculum of Taekwondo. Students learn much about themselves, their abilities and how to go beyond what they thought were their physical and mental limitations to new levels of excellence. Students come into contact with people of different origins, of different ages and from different socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds, which is an important learning experience in the changing and multicultural mosaic of most nations. They learn to train together and relate to each other through the medium of Taekwondo. |
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