Korean martial arts can be traced back to the Koguryo dynasty, founded in 37 B.C. However it was during the Silla dynasty (668-935) that a group of young warriors, called Hwarang, made martial arts popular. The Hwarang were a group of young knights who trained their bodies and minds by devoting themselves to hunting, studying, and the martial arts. The code of honor on which the Hwarang was based was loyalty to the nation, respect and obedience to one's parents, faithfulness to one's friends, courage in battle and avoidance of unnecessary violence and killing. Hwarang-Do (the way of the flower of manhood) was an essential part of Silla�s struggle to unify the country.
Martial arts maintained its popularity in Korea through to the Koryo dynasty (935-1392). During this dynasty the practiced martial arts were referred to as Subak (in more modern times this is still referred to as Soo Bak Do) and they were practiced by the military as a skill to improve health, as a sports activity and as a martial art. History indicates that this was the first occurance of martial arts contests being held for spectator appreciation.
During the Yi dynasty (1392-1907), the rulers held scholarship and learning in high esteem and military related pursuits fell into disrepute. As a result, martial arts known as Subak and TaeKyon became popular with the general population. There was even a book published to teach the martial art and the sport.
The 20th Century
In 1909, during the Japanese occupation of Korea which lasted 36 years until 1945, the Resident General banned the practice of martial arts. The martial arts continued to be practiced secretly and were passed on, by forms, from father to son. Also, many patriotic young men visited China or Japan to study martial arts becoming the first to blend Korean martial arts with other Asian styles. Back in Korea the popular art called TaeKyon was secretly being kept alive.
The end of World War II saw thousands of post occupation Korean immigrants, filled with patriotism and national pride, return home from other parts of the Orient. As part of the national movement to restore Korean traditions, the martial arts were revived and many experts established schools. Thus were born the Kwans (schools) of Korean martial arts.
The first schools opened in 1945. The original five kwans were the Chung Do Kwan (Blue Wave Training Hall), the Yun Moo Kwan, which later became the Ji Do Kwan (Wisdom Way Training Hall), the Song Moo Kwan (Pine Tree Training Hall), the Chang Moo Kwan (Development of Martial Arts Training Hall), and the Moo Duk Kwan (Military Virtue Training Hall). These five kwans generally called what they were teaching Tang Soo Do or Tae Soo Do.
By the end of the Korean War (1954), other kwans had branched off from the original five kwans. These were the Oh Do Kwan, the Han Moo Kwan, and the Jung Do Kwan. Now there were eight different major schools, each espousing a different style.
Fragmented by the pre-war secrecy of their teachings and the post-war confusion of reconstruction, it took some ten years before these stylistic spin-offs and adaptations were able to consolidate into a single martial art. On April 11, 1955 at a pivotal conference of Kwan masters, historians, and TaeKyon promoters it was decided to standardly adopt the term Taekwondo, which was created and submitted by General Choi, Hong Hi. The name was approved because of its resemblance to TaeKyon, providing continuity and maintaining tradition. Further, it describes both hand and foot techniques. The number of Kwans which then consolidated into Taekwondo is the subject of much debate and historical confusion. This dissension among the Kwans went on for six years, and it wasn�t until September 14, 1961 that the groups once again organized into a single association, as ordered by an official decree of the new military government. It was called the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA), with General Choi, Hong Hi elected as its first president. On March 22, 1966, Choi founded the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), for which he also served as president. He later resigned as KTA president and moved his ITF headquarters to Montreal, Canada, from where he has concentrated on organizing Taekwondo internationally.
Taekwondo in the U.S. and the Development of the Sport
Jhoon Rhee introduced Taekwondo to the United States in 1956 when he attended San Marcos Southwest Texas State College. In 1957 he taught a non-accredited Taekwondo course at the college and in 1958 he opened his first public Taekwondo school. Mas expansion to the U.S. started in the early 1960s. In 1963, a Taekwondo demonstration was performed at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, and on November 26, 1967 the U.S. Taekwondo Association was formed.
In May, 1973, several KTA leaders including Chong Woo Lee, Won Kyu Um, and Nam Suk Lee saw the future of Taekwondo as an international sport and established the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). They invited Un Yong Kim to be president and shortly thereafter the first World Taekwondo Championships were held (biannual event). With unification initiated by the WTF under the leadership of Un Yong Kim (1st and current president), instructors in the U.S. (Ken Min, Dong Ja Yang, Mu Yong Lee, and others) organized and made possible the admission of Taekwondo into the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in 1974. Under this organization, all newly established technical standards, sanctioned by the WTF, were adopted into this official form of Taekwondo in the United States. Its name was changed to the National AAU Taekwondo Union of the Unites States on November 28, 1981, and renamed the United States Taekwondo Union (USTU) on September 9, 1984 and was unanimously approved as a "Group A" member of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Today the USTU is the national governing body for Taekwondo, as well as the sole representative of the World Taekwondo Federation in the U.S. The USTU is a non-profit amateur sports organization that exists to develop Taekwondo in the United States. Under the leadership of Dr. Un Yong Kim of the WTF, Taekwondo was chosen as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Taekwondo was recently accepted as a full medal sport starting with the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Taekwondo is also a full medal sport in the World Games, Goodwill Games, Asian Games and the Pan American Games.