Historical Background

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Taekwondo is no ordinary sport, such as football or tennis. It is a martial art. Therefore, there are certain traditions and customs of the ancient Asia (in our case Korea) attached to it, therefore, Taekwondo has a certain philosophy behind it. To better understand for what tae-kwon-do actually stands for, here are some important notes about the origins, history, philosophy and principles of this Korean defense art. In the East, more than one martial art exist, they were originally practiced by monks, farmers, etc., they usually had to defend themselves against attackers with bare hands and feet without weapons. Korea was no exception. One of the Korean "martial arts" was Taek Kyon. From 1909 to 1945, Korea was occupied by Japan. The rulers triedto force Koreans to practice their own martial arts (ex. Judo, karate, etc.), for example, by prohibiting the Korean arts. Even though it was prohibited, Koreans practiced their own arts in secret to maintain the tradition for future generations.

In 1938, Choi Hong Hi (the person who in 1955 will found modern Taekwondo) departed to Japan to study. In two years, he earned a black belt in karate. On his return to Korea, he devoted himself to the liberation of his country, and he was arrested and ended up in a Japanese prison. In 1945, Korea was liberated. Choi became a lieutenant in the Korean army. Increasingly, he realized that Korea had to get back their own martial art. Choi Hong Hi began developing new techniques and late 1954, the foundation for a new Korean martial art was laid down, which was named Taekwondo on April 11, 1955. The spiritual level of Taekwondo is derived from the traditional Korean ethical and moral values.

Even if taek kyon and karate were sometimes used as a reference at the physical level, the techniques, based on scientific principles (especially the laws from physics), show that Taekwondo is a different martial art (ex. wave motion and the relationship strength-relaxation).

Meanwhile, Choi became General, so he introduced his sport first into the army. In 1966 (April 22), the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) was established. As a result of the political pressure and the growing frictions between North and South Korea, General left again his homeland in 1972; he settled in Canada.

In South Korea, WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) was founded in response. Both forms of taekwondo have the same base but they have grown so much apart that the differences are greater than the similarities.

With the evolution of time and the changing needs of society, The General made more adjustments. The ITF Taekwondo was not only under the influence of its founder, it is also an evolving sport too. On June 15, 2002 General Choi died. Master Tran Trieu Quan (VIII degree then) was elected president of ITF. The present President of ITF is CHANG UNG.

As a summary : Taekwondo was founded in 1955 in Korea by General Choi Hong Hi, on April 11; it was the first time the name "Taekwondo" was used. ITF was founded in 1966. Tae-kwon-do has approximately 3,200 techniques

Historical Background

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