The History of Tae Kwon Do

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art.  It is the national sport of Korea.  Taekwondo was originally known as Taekyon.  Taekwondo has been used to protect the Korean peninsula from invading Chinese and Japanese armies.  Today, it is a form of self-defense and physical fitness.  It is excellent for all ages. 

“Taekyun”, or kicking and punching, was used almost 2000 years ago, during the Three Kingdoms Period by the Korean knights, or Hwarang.  The Hwarang knights were the Korean equivalent of the medieval European knights.  The purpose of the training was Confucian-service to the Government and King.  They were skilled in many areas of combat, including archery, horseback riding, weaponry, wrestling, swordsmanship, and taekyon.  There was never a single martial art called Hwarangdo.  Instead, there were several arts practiced by the Hwarang knights. 

 After the three Korean Kingdoms unified, taekyon became known as subak.  It was practiced by the Korean military.  The subak became one of the most effective marital arts the world had seen.  It was practiced as a military form of self-defense and popular recreation.

 In the late 15^th Century, the Korean society became converted to Confucianism.  Subak was seen as an activity that was unfit.  Just a few people kept up subak.  In 1910, Korea was invaded by Japan.  People were forced to adapt to the Japanese ways.  A few people, in secrecy for fear of execution, only practiced Subak.  The practice of the native Korean martial arts was outlawed.

 After Japan’s defeat in WWII, the Korean marital arts began to resurface.  The first school was the Chung Do Kwan (School of the Pure Way) under Won Kuk Lee in 1944.   Won Kuk Lee is considered by the many as the true founder of modern Korean Taekwondo.  As the years passed, many other schools developed.