Taekwondo is a modern Martial Art, characterised by it's fast, high and
          spinning kicks. The name Taekwondo means: Tae='to strike, or block
           with the foot' or 'to kick' and it also means 'jump', K'won='Fist'or 'to
           strike, or block with hand' and Do='The way of' or 'art'. Take this
          together and TaeKwonDo means: "The art of Kicking and Punching" or
           "The art of unarmed combat". The sport has been founded in Korea and 
          is one of the populair modern martial arts.

          In the  sport TaeKwonDo, weapons are not used. The opponent is
          attacked with bare hands and feet. TaeKwonDo has become popular
          because its a very powerful sport and very spectacular to see.

  Objectives of TaeKwonDo

             1.to  develop an appreciation for Taekwondo as a sport and as an art
             2.to  achieve physical fitness through positive participation
             3.to  improve mental discipline and emotional equanimity
             4.to learn self-defense skills
             5.to  develop a sense of responsibility for one self and others.
 

 The earliest records of Martial Arts
         In  Korea practise date back to
         about  50 B.C. It was then know as
         'Taek Kyon'. Evidence that Martial
         Arts  were being practised at that
         time   can be found in tombs where
         wall-paintings show two men in
         fighting-stance. Others reject this
          evidence and say that these men
         could  be dancing as well.

         At that time there were three kingdoms:
 
         1.Koguryo (37 B.C. - 668 A.D.)
         2.Paekje (18 B.C. - 600 A.D.)
         3.Silla (57 B.C. - 936 A.D.)

          Silla  unified the kingdoms after
            winning the war against Paekje in 668 A.D. and Koguryo in 670 A.D.
          The Hwa Rang Do played an important role at this unification. The Hwa
          Rang Do was an elite group of young noble men, devoted to cultivating
          mind  and body and serve the kingdom Silla. The best translation for
          Hwa Rang is "flowering youth" (Hwa ="flower", Rang="young man"). The
          Hwa Rang Do had an honor-code and practised various forms of martial
          arts,  including Taekyon and Soo Bakh Do. The honor-code of the
          Hwa Rang is the philosophical background of modern TaeKwonDo.

          What followed was a time of peace and the HwaRang turned from a
          military organisation to a group specialised in poetry and music. It was in
          936  A.D. when Wang Kon founded the Koryo dynasty, an abbreviation
          of Koguryo. The name Korea is derived from the name Koryo.

          During the Koryo Dynasty the
          sport  Soo Bakh Do became
           popular. The sport was then used
          as a military training method.
          During the Yi-dynasty (1392 A.D.
          - 1910 A.D.) this emphasis on
           military training disappreared. King
          Taejo,  founder of the Yi-dynasty,
          replaced Buddhism by Confucianism as the state religion. According to
          Confucianism, the higher class should read poets and play music. Martial
          arts  was something for the common, or even inferiour, man.

          Modern-day Taekwondo is influenced by many other Martial Arts. The
          most    important of these sports is Japanese Karate, because Japan
          dominated Korea during 1910 until the end of W.W.II. During W.W.II,
          lots of  Korean soldiers were trained in Japan. After the war, Korea
          became independent. During the occupation of Korea, the Japanese tried
          to erase all of the Korean culture, including the martial arts. The
           influence that Japan has given to Taekwondo are the quick, straightline ,
          movements that characterise the various Japanese systems.

          At the end of W.W.II, several kwans arised. These kwans were: "Chung
          Do Kwan", "Moo Duk Kwan", "Yun Moo Kwan", "Chang Moo Kwan",
          "Oh Do Kwan", "Ji Do Kwan", "Chi Do Kwan" and "Song Moo Kwan".
          The Kwans united in 1955 as Tae Soo Do. In the beginning of 1957, the
          name Taekwondo was adopted by several Korean martial arts masters,
          for its similarity to Tae Kyon.

           General Choi Hong-hi required the army to train Taekwondo, so the first
          students were Korean soldiers. The police and air force had to train
          Taekwondo as well. At that time, TaeKwonDo was a Korean version of
           Shotokan Karate. In 1961 the Korean Taekwondo Union arised from the
          Soo  Bakh Do Association and the Tae Soo Do Association. In 1962 the
          Korean Amateur Sports Association acknowledged the Korean
          Taekwondo Union and in 1965 the name is set to Korean Taekwondo
          Association (K.T.A.). General Choi was president of the K.T.A. at that
          time and was asked to start the I.T.F. as the international branch of the
          K.T.A. The southern government was overthrown in 1961. General Choi
          Hong-hi left for America and established I.T.F. (International Taekwondo
          Federation) Taekwondo, as a seprate entity, two years later.

           Demonstrations were given all over the world. It
          took a while before real progress was made, but
          eventually, in 1973, the World Taekwondo
          Federation (W.T.F.) was founded. In 1980,
          W.T.F.  Taekwondo was recognised by the
          International Olympic Comite (I.O.C.) and
          became a demonstration sport at the Olympics in
          1988. There were several attempts to unify I.T.F.
          and W. T.F. TaeKwonDo, but unfortunately, these failed. In the year 2000
          W.T.F.  Taekwondo goes Olympic.

  K.T.A.

         The Korea Taekwondo Association ("KTA") is the National Governing
          Body  ("NGB") for Taekwondo in the Republic of Korea ("ROK"), just
          like the United States Taekwondo Union ("USTU") is the NGB for
          Taekwondo in the United States of America ("USA"). The World
          Taekwondo Federation ("WTF") which was formed in 1973, is made up
          of Taekwondo NGBs. These NGBs are members of the WTF, and not
           individuals. Individuals may be affiliated to the WTF through their NGB,
          but individuals cannot join the WTF directly. (Is that enough initials?) Dr.
          Un Yong Kim became the 5th President of the KTA in 1971. Dr. Kim
           subsequently became the 1st and only President of the WTF in 1973 and
          around 1990 (I think) he gave up the post of KTA President. Mr. Choi,
          Sae-Chang became the 6th KTA President after Dr. Kim stepped down
          due to  his expanded responsiblities in the International Sports
          community.Mr. Choi was a former four star general in the ROK Army and
          also held the post of Defense Minister. Mr. Choi was replaced by Mr.
           Rhee,Pil Gon in 1996. The KTA is alive and well and probably is the 
           largest,most active NGB for Taekwondo in the world.

          As said before, Gen. Choi
          established ITF-Taekwondo (more
          traditional) while WTF-Taekwondo
          (more emphasis on sparring) made it
          to the olympics.

          A goodwill trip to North-Korea in
          1966 caused General Choi to fall in
          disgrace in the eyes of the
          South-Koreans. Choi resigned as
          president of the K.T.A. and founded
          the I.T. F. on March, the 22nd of that
          same year. Headquarters were
          established in Canada.
          ITF started concentrated on the
          forms developed by General Choi, while the KTA (became the WTF on
          May 28, 1973) concentrated on the Palgwe's. Later the WTF
          abbandoned the Palgwe's and started concentrating on TaeGuks. Slowly,
          the  WTF emphasis turned to sparring. This is also the reason why a lot of
          people rather call (WTF) TaeKwonDo a sport than a Martial Art.

          The American TaeKwonDo Association (ATA) is a smaller organisation,
          and has many similarities to the ITF. The ATA has a copyright on the
          forms of the organisation, so these forms cannot be used on competitions
          by non-members. There are many organisations, but the three mentioned
          above have the most members.

          ITF practises the semi-contact part of TaeKwonDo, while WTF practises
          the full-contact part. ITF also focuses more on the traditional way. Since
          the  break-up, there have been many attempts to reunite WTF and ITF,
          sofar without succes. There probably will never be a union within
          Taekwondo.

  Ethical Backgrounds

          As in  all Martial Arts, ethics are of great importance. One can look at
           individual ethics, treat a fellow-man right, or one can look at social ,
          as part of a whole. It all comes down to one part, the difference between
          good  and evil. But does this mean that we can kick one on the head?
          Because we don't want a person to be injured we wear protection, so this
          is not  really a problem. It is all part of the sport. Taekwondo is not a
          destructive sport, but a sportive one. As I see it, joining a competition is
          not to hurt your opponent, but to test your strength, in both physical and
          mental ways.

          TaeKwonDo students can improve themselves physically, and mentally by
           training. The final goal is to achieve harmony with nature and yourself.
          Balance is gained by controlling both evil and good forces (Yin vs. Yang):
          A true TaeKwonDo student knows how to behave in all situations.

          As I see it, Taekwondo (and I guess this goes for every Martial Art) is not
          only a  way to improve skills to defend yourself, but it's a way of life.
          Practising TaeKwonDo gives the student more self-confidence, but this
          should  not result in a false sence of superiority.
 
  Etiquette's

          Because of the militairy background, there is a general code. These codes
          are reflected in the so-called 'Commandments of modern TaeKwonDo'
          and is strongly influenced by the Buddishm. These commandments are
           influenced by the
          Hwa Rang Do code of honor:

             1.Serve your lord with loyalty
             2.Serve your parents with filial piety
             3.Trust your friends
              4.Never retreat a battle
              5.When taking life, be selective

          The commandments of TaeKwonDo are used as a guide for moral
          development of students of the art, and no student who does not fully
          understand these tenets can ever hope to master the true essence of the
          art.
          Commandments of modern TaeKwonDo:

              1.Loyalty to your country
              2.Respect your parents
              3.Faithfulness to your spouse
              4.Respect your brothers and sisters
              5.Loyalty to your friends
              6.Respect your elders
              7.Respect your teacher
              8.Never take life unjustly
              9.Indomitable spirit
            10.Loyalty to your school
            11.Finish what you begin

          Etiquette's depends on a lot of things. Of importance are the teacher, the
          country you live in and, of course, what you think of it.

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