Tae Kwon Do
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About; History of Tae Kwon Do

Developed in Korea in the early 1950's by a group of leading martial artist. The aim was to help unify and establish their respective arts under a single discipline. Major-General Choi Hong Hi was credited as the founder in an inauguration ceremony on April 11th, 1955.

The history of Tae Kwon Do can actually trace it's roots back even farther to the Silla dynasty approximately 2000 years earlier.

A style developed known as hwarang do. The meaning of which is "the way of the flowering manhood". The Silla dynasty created the fighting style out of necessity as they were constantly under attack from the other two neighboring Korean factions of the time.

When Korea was unified in the 10th century, Tae Kwon Do became compulsory for all young men to learn. This continued for hundreds of years, but slowly began to decline. Buddhist monks kept the tradition alive however. When Korea was occupied by Japan in 1909, the tradition was further suppressed. The art was able to survive however, through dedicated practioners who fled the country or practiced in secret.

In 1945, Korea was liberated, it's traditions were introduced on a national scale to help solidify national identity. Eventually the art spread worldwide and eventually became an olympic sport in 1988.

Today, TKD has become very popular and is one of the most highly practiced martial arts in the world. People from all over the globe study Tae Kwon Do techniques and history as devout enthusiast. Benefits of practice and study are abundant and continue to be realized as the sport grows ever increasingly.

Tae Kwon Do Description

The foundation is set as the ability to use hands and feet to quickly overcome an attacker. Techniques focus primarily on kicking techniques. Although, punches, grabs, and pressure point manuevers are also incorporated. The philosophy behind the Tae Kwon Do kicking techniques is since the legs are the longest and most powerful limbs, they have the greatest capacity of delivering high power, and effective strikes. This is what distinguishes Tae Kwon Do from other martial arts.

One particularly famous image of Tae Kwon Do is the flying kick. It is one of the most spectacular kicking techniques. It is learned only through constant practice and dedication. Someone skilled in this technique could easily strike the face of a tall opponent.

Tae Kwon Do is as much of a sport as it is exercise or self-defence. Often sparring, forms, or destruction (better known as breaking boards or bricks) are incorporated into it's study. Emphasis is placed on stretching and flexibility, which are necessary to perform many of the spectacular kicks and strikes associated with Tae Kwon Do.

Competition: is a large part of the sport. The WTF is the largest and the following are the rules it and the Olympics follow:

Under WTF and Olympic rules, sparring is a full-contact event and takes place between two competitors in an area measuring 10 meters square.

Each match or bout consists of three non-stop rounds of contact with rest between rounds.

Junior fighters fight in 2-minute rounds with a 30-second break

Senior fighters fight in 3-minute rounds with 30-second breaks

Points: Awarded for accurate and powerful techniques to the legal scoring areas:

A kick or punch that makes contact with the opponent's hogu scores one point

Kicks to the head scores two points (punches to the head are not allowed).

If a competitor is knocked down by a scoring technique and the referee counts, then an additional point is awarded to the opponent.

At the end of three rounds, the competitor with the most points wins the match. If, during the match, one competitor gains a 7-point lead over the other, or if one competitor reaches a total of 12 points, then that competitor is immediately declared the winner and the match ends. In the event of a tie at the end of three rounds, a fourth "sudden death" overtime round will be held to determine the winner, after a 30-second rest period.

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Tae Kwon Do belt descriptions: Belt color epxlanation

The explanation of belt colors was derived from the book of General Choi Hong Hi. In WTF Taekwondo there are 10 Geups, starting from the 10th Geup, white belt. It ends with the 1st Geup, red-black belt. The definition of "geup" is degree. The term "Dan" translates to "phase". There are 9 Dan degrees, starting with the first and ending with the 9th. All Dan-degrees are represented by a black belt.

White Belt; 10th geup:

White signifies innocence, that a person has no knowledge of Tae Kwon Do. The white-belt is automatically given when starting Taekwondo classes.

Yellow Belt; 8th geup:

Yellow signifies a learning knowledge of the basic techniques. A yellow belt student is normally not at a point to begin "chayu daeryon" (non-contact sparring). The yellow belt should be able to demonstrate a specific technique to all directions however. This is also known as "four direction movement".

Green Belt; 6th geup:

Green signifies that a student is growing as a Taekwondo student.

Blue Belt; 4th geup:

Blue signifies that a student is reaching a higher plane and level of understanding of the art.

Red Belt; 2nd geup:

Red signifies danger. This is to warn not only others, but the student as well. At this stage they have a significant proficiency in thier abilities and must exercise control and caution.

Poom:

W.T.F. Taekwondo requires that one has to be sixteen years old to get a black belt. If younger, you get a Poom, which can be replaced by a black belt when past the age of sixteen. The requirements are the same as for the black belt.

Black Belt; 1st Dan:

Black is the opposite of white and signifies the maturity of the student and their abilities in the art.

Benefits of Tae Kwon Do

• Enhances flexibility and stamina
• Confidence and well-being
• Discipline
• Self-defence
• Develops self awareness and assertivenes
• Stress reduction and positive attitude

Taekwon-do Videos

ITF Tae Kwon Do fights.

Large Tae Kwon Do demonstration video.

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Retrun to Types of Martial Arts from Tae Kwon Do

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