I’m not much of a martial arts fanatic, I do love watching sports, but the sports in my menu are basketball, formula one, tennis, golf, a bit of soccer and baseball (a bit seasonal though, only during world cup season and world baseball league period). But after writing about the Taekwondo Peace Corps (you might want to read my blog dated August 18, it talks about the group, the concept of which was espoused by a Korean, the president of the World Taekwondo Federation, Dr. Chungwon Choue), I guess writing about the sport would be a nice sequel, so to speak.
Taekwondo is a form of Korean martial art and at the same time the national sport of South Korea. Considered as one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, taekwondo is a method of self-defense that uses both the hands and feet. Taekwondo goes beyond punching, jumping, kicking, and breaking boards. More than developing physical fighting skills, it develops the character and personality of an individual through physical, mental and spiritual discipline.
Taekwondo is deeply rooted in Korean history, starting out as a defensive martial art and later developed as a recreational activity, it was then transformed into a way of training the body and mind. Even its name has undergone different changes, from Taekkyon or Subak, Sunbae, Tae Soo Do, and eventually Taekwondo.
Taekwondo has three basic components: pumsae; gyeokpa; and gyeorugi. Pumsae is consistency of defensive and attacking movements against an imaginary opponent or opponents. It is a practice which is devised to be performed in following the Lines of Movement in a systematic and consecutive way against an imaginary opponent or mulit-opponents by using various Taekwondo techniques of hand and foot. Gyeokpa is the so called power test - breaking of tiles, bricks, boards etc. by different parts of the body and specific techniques. Gyeorugi or sparring, is when two people gain attacking and defensive skills through close combat.
Taekwondo has undeniably evolved from being an ordinary form of martial art to a popular international sport. As evidently shown with the results of Taekwondo in the Beijing Olympic Games, of the 32 medals up for grabs, 22 countries won at least one medal. As expected, Korea took home 4 golds out of the 8 up for grabs, to reaffirm its supremacy in the sport. Surprisingly, there were some winners whom you might not have expected to excel in taekwondo, countries such as Iran (a female athlete at that) won a gold; Dominican Republic went home with a silver, and so did Thailand, Greece; Italy, and Norway; while Brazil; Cuba; Kazakhstan; Nigeria; Venezuela; and even the war-torn country of Afghanistan were just some of the winners of a bronze medal. These results are a living testament to the popularity and universal appeal of taekwondo.
Now-a-days, taekwondo is used as a medium to spread peace, thru the Taekwondo Peace Corps.
Taekwondo, more than a sport, it is a way of life.
8 comments:
it actually develops the totality of a person
that's the goal.
read your blog on the taekwondo peace corps as well as your reply to your readers comments, very informative blog.
thanks
aside from kimchi, i guess taekwondo is very much a representative of korea
i agree, taekwondo is very much korean
It is such a shame you never mentioned the original form of taekwondo which preceeded the style practiced since the Seoul Olympics. I have black belts in both ITF and WTF Taekwondo and ITF, the original taekwondo formulated in the 1950's by General Choi, is a far superior martial art. WTF Taekwond focuses on fast kicks that often have no power. The 24 patterns of International Taekwondo each symbolise something important in Korean history and culture and I learnt much about Korea some 20 years before I ever meet a Korean.
It is such a shame the popularity of sport taekwondo has watered down such a great and deeply Korean art and then, to add insult to injury, forgets the great work Choi did. Indeed, most Koreans who learn TKD have no ideas about its history or indeed who Choi was.
I would also excpect that the bad behaviour at the previous Olympics (I believe from a South American fighter who kicked the referee) will cast great doubts about the future of TKD in the olympics.
There are some great ITF videos on Youtube and the North Korean demonstration to is amazing.
Of course, martial artists will argue and argue about which art is best but what is more the issue is the denial and ignorance as to the origins of this art. The ITF style was the first style to be introduced the the west in the 1950 and 60's.
I enjoyed your blog - great stuff.
LDC
thanks for your comments. to tell you frankly, from the limited readings i did before i wrote the piece, i encountered the name of general hong hi choi only once. you are right i should have included his name being the father of modern taekwondo and the founder of the international taekwondo federation, an organization he organized in 1966.
as to the incident that happened during the beijing olympics. i do believe that it was a failure on the part of the athlete and not the sport. sometimes people behave irrationally but there is always a consequence for every error in judgement: you can be disqualified, fined, or even banned for a certain time or for eternity. it is always the duty of every athlete to uphold the teachings of their sport.
i'm not much of a martial arts enthusiast and know very little about it. but from what i read, is it true that the korean government only recognizes WTF as the international regulating body for Taekwondo?
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