Taekwondo is known for its emphasis on kicking techniques, which distinguishes it from martial arts such as karate or southern styles of kung fu. The rationale is that the leg is the longest and strongest weapon a martial artist has, and kicks thus have the greatest potential to execute powerful strikes without successful retaliation. One defining kick of taekwondo is the back kick or the side kick.
Taekwondo as a sport and exercise is popular with people of both sexes and of many ages. Physically, taekwondo develops strength, speed, balance, flexibility, and stamina. An example of the union of mental and physical discipline is the breaking of boards, which requires both physical mastery of the technique and the concentration to focus one's strength.
A taekwondo student typically wears a uniform (dobok 도복), often white but sometimes black or other colors, with a belt (tti 띠) tied around the waist. The belt indicates the student's rank. The school or place where instruction is given is called the dojang 도장.
Although each taekwondo club or school will be different, a taekwondo student can typically expect to take part in most or all of the following:
- Learning the techniques and curriculum of taekwondo
- Both anaerobic and aerobic workout, including stretching
- Self-defense techniques (hosinsul 호신술)
- Patterns (also called forms, pumsae 품새, teul 틀, hyeong 형)
- Sparring (called kyeorugi 겨루기, or matseogi 맞서기 in the ITF), which may include 7-, 3-, 2- and 1-step sparring, free-style sparring, arranged sparring, point sparring, and other types
- Relaxation and meditation exercises
- Throwing and/or falling techniques (dunjigi 던지기 and torojigi 떨어지기)
- Breaking (gyeokpa 격파 or weerok), using techniques to break boards for testing, training and martial arts demonstrations. Demonstrations often also incorporate bricks, tiles, blocks of ice or other materials. Can be separated into three types:
- Power breaking - using straightforward techniques to break as many boards as possible.
- Special techniques - breaking fewer boards but using jumping or flying techniques to attain greater heights, distances, or to clear obstacles.
- Speed breaking- the breaker holds a board with one hand and tries to break it by going fast enough to break it and not by using their power
- Exams to progress to the next rank
- A focus on mental and ethical discipline, justice, etiquette, respect, and self-confidence
Some taekwondo instructors also incorporate the use of pressure points, known as ji ap sul, as well as grabbing self-defense techniques borrowed from other martial arts, such as Hapkido and Judo.
[edit]Organizations
The two different systems of taekwondo are named after their respective organizations, the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF) and the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF). The ITF was founded in 1966 by General Choi Hong Hi. After his death in 2002, a number of succession disputes splintered the ITF into three different groups, all claiming to be the original.The three ITF organizations are private, Two of the three are located in Austria, with the third in Canada. The unofficial training headquarters of the International Taekwondo Federation is located at the Taekwondo Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea and was founded in the mid-1990s.
The Korea Taekwondo Association Central Dojang was opened in South Korea in 1972. A few months later, the name was changed to the Kukkiwon. The following year, the World Taekwondo Federation was formed. The International Olympic Committee recognized the WTF and taekwondosparring in 1980.
Although the terms "WTF" and "Kukkiwon" are often mistakenly used interchangeably, the Kukkiwon is a completely different organization which trains and certifies instructors and issues official dan and pum certificates worldwide. The Kukkiwon has its own unique physical building that contains the administrative offices of Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) in Seoul, South Korea and is the system of taekwondo. The WTF is just a tournament committee and is not a style or a system.
There are many other private organizations like the American Taekwondo Federation (ATF), theAmerican Taekwondo Association (ATA), the International Taekwondo Alliance (ITA), the Action International Martial Arts Association (AIMAA), the Amateur Athletic Union Taekwondo (AAU), the International Taekwondo Association (ITA), the American Taekwondo Foundation (ATF), the Global Taekwon-Do Federation (GTF) and so on several more organizations. Events and competitions held by private organizations are mostly closed to other taekwondo students. However, the WTF-sanctioned events allow any person, regardless of school affiliation or martial arts style, to compete in WTF events as long as he or she is a member of the WTF Member National Association in his or her nation, which is open to anyone to join. The major technical differences among these many organizations revolve around the patterns, called hyeong 형, pumsae 품새, or teul 틀, sets of prescribed formal sequences of movements that demonstrate mastery of posture, positioning, and technique, sparring rules for competition, and philosophy.
In addition to these private organizations, the original schools (kwans) that formed the organization that would eventually become the Kukkiwon continue to exist as independent fraternal membership organizations that support the WTF and the Kukkiwon. The official curriculum of thekwans is that of the Kukkiwon. The kwans also function as a channel for the issuing of Kukkiwon dan and pum certification (black belt ranks) for their members.
[edit]Ranks, belts and promotion
Traditional tae kwon do uses only 10 "geups"/Gups or ranks. Today's more contemporary schools often have added to this system or have varied it based on age and such. Taekwondo ranks are sometimes separated into "junior" and "senior" or "student" and "instructor" sections. The junior section typically consists of ten ranks indicated by the Korean word geup 급 (also Romanized as gup or kup). The junior ranks are usually identified by belts of various colors, depending on the school, so these ranks are sometimes called "color belts". Gup rank may be indicated by stripes on belts rather than by colored belts. Students begin at tenth gup (usually indicated by a white belt) and advance toward first gup (usually indicated by a red belt with a black stripe).
The senior section is made up of nine full ranks of black belt. These ranks are called dan 단, also referred to as "black belts" and "degrees" (as in "third dan" or "third-degree black belt"). Black belts begin at first degree and advance to second, third, and so on. The degree is often indicated on the belt itself with stripes, Roman numerals, or other methods; but sometimes black belts are plain and unadorned regardless of rank.
To advance from one rank to the next, students typically complete promotion tests in which they demonstrate their proficiency in the various aspects of the art before a panel of judges or their teacher. Promotion tests vary from school to school, but may include such elements as the execution of patterns, which combine various techniques in specific sequences; the breaking of boards, to demonstrate the ability to use techniques with both power and control; sparring and self-defense, to demonstrate the practical application and control of techniques; and answering questions on terminology, concepts, history, and so on, to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the art. For higher dan tests, students are sometimes required to take a written test or to submit a research paper in addition to taking the practical test.
Promotion from one gup to the next can proceed fairly rapidly in some schools, since schools often allow gup promotions every two, three, or four months. Students of gup rank learn the most basic techniques first, then move on to more advanced techniques as they approach first dan. Many of the older and more traditional schools will often take longer to earn rank in than newer, more contemporary schools as they may not have standard testing intervals.
In contrast, promotion from one dan to the next can take years. The general rule is that a black belt may advance from one rank to the next only after the number of years equivalent to the rank pursued. For example, a newly-promoted third-degree black belt may not be allowed to promote to fourth-degree until four years have passed. Some organizations also have age requirements related to dan promotions, and may grant younger students pum 품 (junior black belt) ranks rather than dan ranks until they reach a certain age. Black belt ranks usually have titles associated with them, such as "master" and "instructor". Taekwondo organizations have their own rules and standards when it comes to ranks and the titles that go with them.
Stripes are placed on the last belt the student earned, until the student tests for his/her next belt. As the student earnes higher belts, it takes longer time to test. Once at black belt, students must wait years instead of months to test for their next degree. If a student is not ready to test, the instructor waits until he or a she is ready to test in many schools.
[edit]Philosophy
Since taekwondo developed in several different kwans, there are several different expressions of taekwondo philosophy. For example, the tenets of the ITF is said to be summed up by the last two phrases in the ITF Student Oath: "I shall be a champion of justice and freedom," "I shall build a better and peaceful world".[37] Alternatively, the WTF philosophy is based on Eastern principles of "Sam Jae" [Three Elements], "Eum" [the Negative or Darkness] and "Yang" [the Positive or the Brightness] with "Sam Jae" referring to "Cheon" [the Heaven], "Ji" [the Earth], and "In" [the Man]. The origins of these concepts originate from the Chinese classic "Book of Changes" which is considered to be one of the main canons of East Asian Philosophy.[38]
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