Dating back to the Korean tribal States period more than 2,000 years ago, martial arts came to be practiced by an elite youth corps during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC-AD 668). Patterns depicting martial arts are carved in the Geumgang Yeoksang, a relief sculpture on the walls of the Seokguram Grotto which is included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list. During the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), martial arts known as subakgui and taekgyeon were widely practiced an passed on to the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). From 1945 to 1955, seven taekwondo schools were established, training a great number of practitioners. Following the foundation in 1961, Korean masters brought the ancient martial art to the sport world, leading to the creation of the World Taekwondo Federation in 1973. According to the Kukkiwon, as of 2001 the worldwide taekwondo community is estimated at 50 million in 192 countries. In view of its worldwide popularity taekwondo was selected in preference to other Asian martial arts such as kung fu and karate as a medal event in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Philosophy of Taekwondo

Traditional National Spirit and Taekwondo

The Korean traditional thoughts must be first examined in order to elucidate the ideological aspects of Taekwondo as a traditional martial art.
Ancestors of the Han (Korean) race experienced frustrations coming from natural disasters and existential restrictive circumstances of life and therefore they had to rely spiritually on the nature's power, such as heaven, rain, cloud, sun, moon, trees, rocks, etc., for their consolation. As the tribal and agricultural community was firmly established, the Han people arrived at a unified thought, of "seon"(impeccable virtuousness) to become the basis of Koreans' philosophical thought.
On the basis of this thought, Buddhism and Confucianism reigned over the Korean people for such a long time that all individuals have been accustomed to devote themselves to the nation and society without falling into the victim of personal avarices, ever cultivating their mind and body.
The Korean's traditional thought is characterized by the priority on loyalty to the country and filial piety in people's daily life, thus making people think about the responsibilities first before seeking any power and voluntary working for justice.

Terminology

• Basic Motions
Taekwondo is an art with which a man, by making use of small parts or large regions of the body, attacks and defeats an opponent or opponents, applying such techniques as jireugi(punching), tzireugi (thrusting), chigi(hitting) and chagi(kicking) directed at very tiny targets, and, to the contrary, defends himself from the opponent's or opponents' such attacks with makki(defending) techniques. Taekwondo is a combination of various independent motions of techniques which are called the fundamentals of Taekwondo. There can be an infinite development of applied Taekwondo techniques through their combinations or variations

• Basic Movements

One should master all those basic movements before becoming a Dan-grader (black belter), otherwise, the practice of distorted movements will deprive the trainee of becoming an excellent instructor in the future. It is also recommended to divide the basic movements into 3 groups so that the beginners may train step by step without feeling bore some ; the first group or step will be from No. 1 to No. 5, the second group from No. 6 to No. 9 and the third from No.10 to No. 13.

----- 1 Kibon jumbi seogi (basic ready stance). Its word of command is simply "jumbi"
----- 2 Juchumseo momtong jireugi (riding stance trunk jureugi)
----- 3 Arae-makki (underneath makki)
----- 4 Momtong bandae-jireugi (trunk opposite side jireugi)
----- 5 Ap-chagi (front kick)
----- 6 Sonnal bakkat-chigi (hand-blade outer chigi)
----- 7 Momtong-makki (trunk makki)
----- 8 Yop-chagi (side kick)
----- 9 Sonnal makki (hand-blade makki)
----- 10 Olgul makki (face makki)
----- 11 Sonnal mok-chigi (hand-blade neck chigi)
----- 12 Dollyo-chagi (turning kick)
----- 13 Momtong baro-jireugi (trunk right side jireugi)

----- Any variation of movement should not be allowed.
----- One should become proficient in making each movement.
----- One should go through a long time training to become responsive automatically.
----- Training is possible at a fixed point by moving forward, backward, leftward and rightward.

• Others

[ Pumsae]
The various pumsae or movement sequences are based on and named after traditional Oriental ideas. The Taekwondo poomsaes are so designed to cope collectively with the outside threats in that society has already developed into an organized group, weakening the necessity of solitary individual defense measures. For the constituents of community, the practice and transmission of techniques should be convenient and less complicated. In that sense, the poomsae has been gradually systematized through practical experiences together with the help of philosophical and medical sciences.
It is believed that in ancient times the poomsae was practiced among the ruling class and the first poomsae pattern appearing in the documents or monuments was around the first century, when Koguryo reined the Han (Korean) race.

[ Gyeokpa ]
Breaking. Practitioners measure their progress in taekwondo training by breaking solid objects such as planks, bricks or roof tiles with their hands, first, elbows, or feet.

Major International Taekwondo Events

• Korea Open Chuncheon International Taekwondo Championship

- When : August 14-19, 2002
- Where : Hoban Gymnasium, Chuncheon city, Gangwon do Province Competition Category : Gyeorugi, Gyeongyeon (pumsae, hosinsul, gyeokpa), color belt competition
- Additional Events : Symposium, outdoor movie, mime performance, puppet show, DMZ sightseeing, food festival, taekwondo materials and equipment exhibition.
- Inquires : Organizing Committee Tel. (033) 250-3648/9, Fax.(033)250-3650, www.koreaopentkd.org

• World Taewondo Festival 2002

- When : July 2002
- Where : Chung Cheong College and Cheongju Gymnasium, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do
- Competition Category : World Taekwon Mudo Championship, Koran Open Championship (pumsae, hosinsul, gyeokpa, Taekwonrobics), color belt competition
- Additional events : seminar, welcoming reception, meditation class, traditional Korean etiquette class, farewell party, cultural sightseeing, lectures, training at international taekwondo academy