history

The earliest records of Martial Arts practice in Korea date back to about 50 B.C. These earliest forms of korean martial arts are known as 'Taek Kyon'.Evidence that Martial Arts were being practiced at that time can be found in tombs where wall-paintings show two men in fighting-stance. Others reject this evidence and say that these men could be simply dancing.

Silla unified the kingdoms after winning the war against Paekje in 668 A.D. and Koguryo in 670 A.D. The Hwa Rang Do played an important role at this unification. The Hwa Rang Do was an elite group of young noble men, devoted to cultivating mind and body and serve the kingdom Silla. The best translation for HwaRang would probably be "flowering youth" (Hwa ="flower", Rang="young man"). The HwaRang Do had an honor-code and practiced various forms of martial arts, including Taekyon and Soo Bakh Do. The old honor-code of the HwaRang is the philosophical background of modern Taekwondo.

Japan forced taekwondo to be called karate, just because karate and taekwondo had similar aspects. And distributing karate, Japan tried to eradicate taekwondo. Nevertheless, it was secretly passed on among certain t'aekkyon masters even during this period. After national independence in 1945, t'aekkyoun's revitalization began once again, aided by restored personal freedoms. It was during this period that a new word, "t'aekwon," was coined and began to be widely used in 1954. With the foundation of the Korea Taekwondo Association in September of 1961, taekwondo officially became a sport entry.

In 1962, the Korea Taekwondo Association became a member organization of the Korea Amateur Sports Association, and the following year taekwondo was chosen as a regular entry for the National Sports Festival. The first World Taekwondo Championships was held in Seoul in 1973, when the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) was founded. In 1975 the World Taekwondo Federation eventually became a member of the GAISF(General Association of International Sports Federations), Taekwnodo was selected as a demonstration sport for the Olympic Games at the General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee on July 15, 1980. During the General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee in 1981, taekwondo was also chosen for an official entry in the 1986 Asian Games. Having been selected as a demonstration sport for the 1988 Olympic Games, taekwondo would be an official entry in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

What followed was a time of peace and the HwaRang turned from a military organization to a group specialized in poetry and music. It was in 936 A.D. when Wang Kon founded the Koryo dynasty, an abbreviation of Koguryo. The name Korea is derived from Koryo. During the Koryo Dynasty the sport Soo Bakh Do, which was then used as a military training method, became popular. During the Yi-dynasty (1392 A.D. - 1910 A.D.) this emphasis on military traaining disappeared. King Taejo, founder of the Yi-dynasty, replaced Buddhism by Confucianism as the state religion. According to Confucianism, the higher class should study the poets, read poems and and play music. Martial arts was something for the common, or even inferior, man.

The History of Teakwondo

Teakwondo in ancient times

Teakwondo in the Middle ages.