A modern, Korean martial art characterised by fast, high and spinning kicks. The word Taekwondo, "The art of kicking and punching" comes from Tae meaning "to kick"; K'won, meaning "Fist" or "strike with the hand"; and Do, meaning "the way of". It has influences from shotokan Karate as well as traditional Korean martial arts.

The cultural heritage of taekwondo goes back to before 50 BC when the martial art "tae kyon" was practised. Korea became unified in 670 AD, in which the Hwa Rang Do (an elite group of noble men) played an important part. The Hwa Rang Do practised martial arts, including Tae Kyon and Soo Bakh Do. During the Koryo Dynasty (936-1392) Soo Bakh Do became a popular sport and was used as a military training method.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945), much of Korean culture became influenced by the Japanese and in particular left their mark on the martial arts systems. Following World War II, many "Kwan" styles sprung up and these were united in 1955 as Tae Soo Do. The name Taekwondo was adopted 2 years later, because of its similarity to Tae Kyon. At this time Taekwondo was a Korean version of Shotokan karate.

The first students in Taekwondo were the Korean military - a requirement stipulated by General Choi Hong-hi. In 1965 Korean Taekwondo Association (KTA) was founded with Choi as president. General Choi moved to Canada in 1966 and founded the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). In 1973 the KTA became the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and it was this organisation that was recognised by the International Olympic Committee and Taekwondo became a demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympics.

Books about Taekwondo