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This is the second essay I had to write when I tested to become a black belt. This essay is straightforward, explaining the roots of TaeKwonDo, I decided to post this up incase anyone else was interested in learning about the history of this martial art.

Tae Kwon Do, is a fighting system derived from several martial arts, but mostly influenced in the Korean “kick fighting”. Tae means “to kick” or “smash with feet”; kwon means “strike with hands”; and do means “the way of the art.” Thus, the building blocks of this Tae Kwon Do consists of the use of hands and feet in a method of self defense.

There were three dynasties in Korea, Silla; the smallest of the dynasties, and it’s neighboring dynasties, Koryo and Paeche. Since the Silla kingdom was the smallest of the three within the Korean peninsula, it was constantly under attack from Japanese pirates. Because of the ongoing attacks, Silla decided to ask for help from King Gwanggaeto in the neighboring kingdom of Koryo. The king believed that if the pirates were to take over in Silla, it would pose a threat to the entire Korean peninsula. The king therefore decided to help their neighbor and sent out a force of 50,000 soldiers to help its smaller neighbor drive out the pirates.

It was during this campaign that the Koryo soldiers were first exposed to a system of unarmed fighting known in Silla as Taek Kyon, the early roots of modern Tae Kwon Do. Taek Kyon was passed in secrecy and a select few warriors were brought back to the court of King Gwanggaeto. The king was incredibly impressed with that he saw, that he demanded training in Taek Kyon to be incorporated into formal education of the young nobility. These warriors of nobility between the ages of 16 and 20, became a very unique elite group of men, known as the Hwarang-do, or “the way of the flowering manhood.”

The Hwarang-do were chosen from among the sons of the royal families, who were to be the leaders, and the rest were compiled from the other noble families to form the main body of the order. The Hwarang-do were men who were gifted with the finest education. They were valued and received a well-rounded education that was appreciated by generations of the Koryo monarchy. The Koryo monarchy understood that the success of their society depended on the wisdom and education of its leaders.

The Hwarang-do were instructed in practical disciplines as history, swordsmanship, riding, archery, and military tactics. Not only that, they were also focused solely in the Buddhist morality and Confucian philosophy. Their life philosophy was centered on a set of principles known as the Five Codes of Human Conduct: Be Loyal to your country, be obedient to your parents, be trustworthy to your friends, never retreat in battle, never make an unjust kill. These codes were never broken, because it defined who and what the Hwarand-do were. Because of these codes, Taek Kyon remained a effective fighting system. The purpose of the codes were to help perfect the characters of its practitioners.

Since then, these codes have evolved into the what is known as the Eleven Commandments of Tae Kwon Do, which are defined rules that every practitioner is expected to follow. However, knowing that every possible situation cannot be planned for with just a set of rules. Therefore, Tae Kwon Do focuses in its teachings a set of behavior goals as we know today as the Five Aim of Tae Kwon Do. These tenants are Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit.

The 11 commandments were set, specific rules, unlike the five aims, which were purposefully general because their purpose was to be idealized behavior traits. Martial artists who follow these guidelines to heart and practice them, cannot help but also practice the eleven commandments because the commandants were the roots of the five aims of Tae Kwon Do.

The founder of Tae Kwon Do, as credited is the General Choi Hong Hee. He was influenced to develop his own method of self defense due to an incident with a professional wrestler who threatened to kill him at their next meeting. After this incident, he was dispatched to Japan. It was at Japan, where he learned Karate. While returning to Korea, he had earned a black belt in Karate. Unfortunately, he was then held responsible for initiating the liberation movement known as the Korean Student’s Soliders Incident. Because of this, The Japanese Governor General had him imprisoned immediately.

During his imprisonment, General Choi decided that Korea needed its own national martial art, one superior in both spirit and technique such as Japanese Karate. With this, he developed new techniques, and developed the foundation of Tae Kwon Do. By the time he was released from prison, the majority of the inmates had become his students. He then, with his students, introduced this new art, naming it Tae Kwon Do.

After the liberation in 1945, many of the Korean exiles returned to their homes and reintroduced this improved version of Tae Kwon Do. The Korean government supported the practice of Tae Kwon Do by officially sponsoring it to help reassert the identity of their country. This support led to a more formal approach to the teaching and development of the discipline.

Tae Kwon Do then spread quickly worldwide from Korea in the 1960s, the first World Tae Kwon Do championship took place in Seoul, South Korea, in 1973. Since then, in 1988, Tae Kwon Do has been listed as an Olympic sport.

Through the years, a number of different governing bodies have arisen with the aim of unifying the Tae Kwon Do practitioners. For several years, numerous styles of the art were practiced, each of which called itself, Tae Kwon Do. Each of these schools had slightly different aspects of the art. Even though there are a few rare schools who remain independent to this day, a majority of Tae Kwon Do schools have joined themselves under the jurisdiction of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF). This organization is the only one recognized by the Korean government as the international regulating body for Tae Kwon Do. Within each country outside of Korea, various governing bodies have been established under the affiliation of the WTF. In the United States of American, all official Tae Kwon Do activities are governed by the USTU, or the United States Tae Kwon Do Union.

In conclusion, Tae Kwon Do’s roots have blossomed. Its roots began with the three dynasties, Silla, Koryo, and Paeche and their efforts to drive away the Japanese pirates. It was during that time where the Hwarang-do, the elite group known as the “way of the flowering manhood” began their training. The founder of Tae Kwon Do, General Choi Hong Hee, during his imprisonment due to the Korean Student’s Soliders Incident decided to develop Korea’s own form of martial art. In addition, through the years, the government developed a special organization known as the World Tae Kwon Do Federation to regulate the body of Tae Kwon Do practitioners. Futhermore, having Tae Kwon Do being recognized as an Olympic sport, it a continuing growing martial art practiced by numerous martial artists in various places of the world.

References

London Tae Kwon Do
http://www.london-taekwondo.com/WhatsTaekwondo.asp

Black Belt Tae Kwon Do
By Yeon Hwan Park, and Jon Gerrald
Checkmark Books, New York, 2000

The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts
By Fay Goodman
Anness Publishing Limited, London, 1998

Sung Cho’s Tae Kwon Do Academy of Fort Morgan: Student Handbook
By Dean, Jane, Seth, and Ryan Jensen

© Blair Greenwood, July 6, 2005