| Revision as of 15:43, 25 February 2002 editConversion script (talk | contribs)10 editsm Automated conversion← Previous edit | Revision as of 17:51, 21 March 2002 edit undoCrosewikipediaacc (talk | contribs)12 edits Significantly expanded the articleNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| '''Tae Kwon - Do''' is the ] military ], and is also one of the world's most commonly-practiced martial arts. In the ], Tae means "foot", Kwon means "hand" and Do means "way". Hence, Taekwondo may be taken to mean "A way of life, to jump and smash with the foot, to break with the hand or fist". | |||
| <p> | |||
| Taekwondo was formed on April 11, 1955, when most Korean martial arts masters decided to unite all the various fighting styles under the name "Tae Soo Do". This name was changed in ] by ] to Taekwondo. | |||
| <p> | |||
| Although seemingly a "new" martial art, the roots of Taekwondo stretch far back in time. Taekwondo was formed by analysing both ] Karate and the ancient Korean martial art ] (which has existed in Korea for over 2,000 years). In combining these two martial arts, the principles behind ] were used to try and optimise the effectiveness of the techniques. | |||
| This name was changed in ] by ] to Taekwondo. | |||
| ---- | |||
| Taekwondo is famed for its employment of leg techniques, which many believe distinguishes it from other martial arts such as ] or ]. Hand techniques are also used a great deal, and so Taekwondo should not be considered to be confined to leg-work. Taekwondo was designed to be effectively employed by people regardless of their sex, height, weight or age, and so Taekwondo is popular with people of both sexes and of all ages. | |||
| The main difference between karate/kungfu and Taekwondo is that in Taekwondo, use of legs in kicking is more emphasized. Taekwondo is famous for its spinning, kicking techniques. Hand strikes are also used, but they are not emphasized. | |||
| <p> | |||
| Although there are many differet federations and associations, Taekwondo can be broadly divided into two schools: International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), and World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). Again, broadly speaking, the difference between ITF Taekwondo and WTF Taekwondo is the patterns (the pre-set, formal sequences of movements students learn). ITF has 24 patterns (which represent the 24 hours in a day, or the whole of a person's life), whilst WTF uses the Poomses forms of patterns (which originate from the Chinese book, I Ching). The main difference between these two styles of pattern is that ITF patterns use a "stepping motion" for hand techniques, which include moving the body in a ] motion in order to use bodyweight to increase the effectiveness of the techniques. | |||
| Three things in Taekwondo are- | |||
| * Fundamentals | |||
| Although each Taekwondo club or school will be different in some ways to others, a Taekwondo student can typically expect to take part in most or all of the following: | |||
| * Poomse | |||
| * fight | |||
| * Learning the techniques of Taekwondo | |||
| * Exercise! | |||
| * Self-defence techniques for the world we live in today | |||
| * Relaxation exercises | |||
| * Breaking (using the techniques to break boards etc. to gain knowledge of how you are developing) | |||
| * Regular gradings (tests to progress to the next grade/belt and to gain confidence with your development) | |||
| * A friendly and mutually-respectful atmosphere | |||
| * Learning the theory and history behind Taekwondo | |||
Revision as of 17:51, 21 March 2002
Tae Kwon - Do is the Korean military martial art, and is also one of the world's most commonly-practiced martial arts. In the Korean language, Tae means "foot", Kwon means "hand" and Do means "way". Hence, Taekwondo may be taken to mean "A way of life, to jump and smash with the foot, to break with the hand or fist".
Taekwondo was formed on April 11, 1955, when most Korean martial arts masters decided to unite all the various fighting styles under the name "Tae Soo Do". This name was changed in 1957 by General Choi Hong Hi to Taekwondo.
Although seemingly a "new" martial art, the roots of Taekwondo stretch far back in time. Taekwondo was formed by analysing both Japanese Karate and the ancient Korean martial art Taekyon (which has existed in Korea for over 2,000 years). In combining these two martial arts, the principles behind Newtonian physics were used to try and optimise the effectiveness of the techniques.
Taekwondo is famed for its employment of leg techniques, which many believe distinguishes it from other martial arts such as Karate or Kung Fu. Hand techniques are also used a great deal, and so Taekwondo should not be considered to be confined to leg-work. Taekwondo was designed to be effectively employed by people regardless of their sex, height, weight or age, and so Taekwondo is popular with people of both sexes and of all ages.
Although there are many differet federations and associations, Taekwondo can be broadly divided into two schools: International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), and World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). Again, broadly speaking, the difference between ITF Taekwondo and WTF Taekwondo is the patterns (the pre-set, formal sequences of movements students learn). ITF has 24 patterns (which represent the 24 hours in a day, or the whole of a person's life), whilst WTF uses the Poomses forms of patterns (which originate from the Chinese book, I Ching). The main difference between these two styles of pattern is that ITF patterns use a "stepping motion" for hand techniques, which include moving the body in a sinusoidal motion in order to use bodyweight to increase the effectiveness of the techniques.
Although each Taekwondo club or school will be different in some ways to others, a Taekwondo student can typically expect to take part in most or all of the following:
- Learning the techniques of Taekwondo
- Exercise!
- Self-defence techniques for the world we live in today
- Relaxation exercises
- Breaking (using the techniques to break boards etc. to gain knowledge of how you are developing)
- Regular gradings (tests to progress to the next grade/belt and to gain confidence with your development)
- A friendly and mutually-respectful atmosphere
- Learning the theory and history behind Taekwondo