The rise of Taekwondo is an extraordinary tale. Founded only forty years ago, it has grown so vigorously that it has become one of the most popular martial arts in the world. During its formative years, Taekwondo was nearly indistinguishable from its parent art, Okinawan karate-do

The rise of Taekwondo is an extraordinary tale. Founded only forty years ago, it has grown so vigorously that it has become one of the most popular martial arts in the world. During its formative years, Taekwondo was nearly indistinguishable from its parent art, Okinawan karate-do ("Tang [dynasty] hands way" originally, later "empty hands way"). The Korean kongsudo ("empty hands way") and tangsudo ("Tang [dynasty] hands way") of the late 1940s became the t'aesudo ("smashing-kick fist way") of the 1950s. In the 1960s, t'aesudo was renamed taekwondo and thereafter received the official support of the South Korean government, developing into a uniquely Korean martial art. The building of the Kukkiwon and formation of the World Taekwondo Federation (W.T.F.) in the 1970s largely finalized the system of modern taekwondo. The internationalization of taekwondo begun by Gen. Hong-Hi Choi in the 1960s was continued by the W.T.F. in the 1970s, which resulted in the introduction of taekwondo into the 1988 and 1992 Olympics as a demonstration sport. In the year 2000, taekwondo will become the second Asian martial art (the first being Judo) to become an official Olympic sport.

Of course, most literature on taekwondo describes the art as "thousands of years old," but this is simply not so. Most of the martial arts practiced in Korea before the nineteenth century were merely reflections of Chinese martial arts. The three most common pieces of evidence for the antiquity of taekwondo -- the tomb murals of Koguryo kingdom, the statue of Kumkang-Yuksa, and the Muye tobo t'ongji (1790s) -- actually show that early Korean martial arts were largely derivative of Chinese martial arts. First, the tomb murals of the Koguryo dynasty (3-427 A.D.) do indeed show martial arts being practiced, but these murals are now located in modern Manchuria, not Korea.

This of course is a mere technicality, since the Koguryo kingdom included much of both northern Korea and Manchuria, but it is also true that the Koguryo kingdom was heavily influenced by the Chinese. In fact, Koguryo was the easternmost outpost of Han dynasty China (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), and the martial arts depicted in Koguryo tomb murals closely resemble those in the tomb murals of the Eastern Han, located in what is now eastern China. This suggests that the form of Koguryo-era martial arts emerged because of Chinese cultural influence, rather than independent development by the future Koreans. Secondly, the statue of Kumkang-Yuksa at Sokkuram, which is often cited as the figure of an ancient warrior practicing taekwondo, is in fact a Buddhist guardian figure found through-out East Asia, and thus cannot be said to be unique to Korea either. Lastly, and most conclusively, the Muye tobo t'ongji (Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts) of the 1790s describes Chinese tactics and martial skills including quan-fa ("boxing"; lit. "fist method"), quotes classical Chinese sources, and was written by a scholar famed for his erudition in classical Chinese. Indeed, it seems nearly identical to the Jixiao Xinshu or New Book for Effective Discipline (1561) by the Chinese general Jiquang Qi (1528-1587). Thus, the three pieces of evidence most often cited as supporting the existence of an ancient form of taekwondo actually support the opposing viewpoint, and demonstrate that Korean martial arts imitated Chinese martial arts until at least 1800.

The most popular martial art in Korea prior to the nineteenth century was kwonbop ("fist method"; in Mandarin, quan-fa). Kwonbop entered Korea through its close association with China, especially through the Koguryo dynasty, as already mentioned. When King Kwankkaet'o of Koguryo sent warriors to aid Sinra against the wako (Japanese pirates), they also trained Sinra warriors who later became the core of the famous warrior band, the Hwarang ("flower youth"). The hwarang are often described as the finest warriors in Korean history, but they trained in kwonbop, a Chinese martial art. The Chinese martial arts achieved their greatest fame during the Tang dynasty, and as a result, kwonbop is sometimes referred to as tangsu ("Tang hand"). This fame, incidentally, was also reflected by Okinawans, since karate originally meant "Tang hand" before Gichin Funakoshi changed its meaning to "empty hand" in 1933. A third term for Chinese martial arts in Korea was subak ("striking hand"), although kwonbop remained the most popular of the various terms.

Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim on Taekwondo Master Kim has over 30 years of experience teaching Taekwondo and personally teaches most of the adult classes. There are very few 9th degree black belts in the world and even fewer who still teach. Master Kim has always prided himself on being a devoted teacher who considers his students and their development as martial artists to be his primary concerns. S.J. Kim's Taekwondo, Master Kim teaches all level of students every day, from beginners to his most advanced black belts.

The only uniquely Korean martial arts before the twentieth century were ssirum and t'aeggyon, and neither of these had a great impact on the early development of taekwondo. Ssirum was a form of wrestling that became popular as a sport by the thirteenth century. It is still practiced in Korea, but had no obvious effect on the development of taekwondo. T'aeggyon appeared in the early 1800s, about the same time that the Chinese martial arts became less popular, and in its modern form is an art emphasizing circular kicking, leg sweeps, and leg trapping followed by a throw. There does seem to be some link between modern t'aeggyon and taekwondo, since both arts emphasize circular kicking (roundhouse kick, spinning kicks) rather than linear ones (side kick, front kick), but any influence that t'aeggyon may have had upon taekwondo’s development was not evident in the techniques of the latter until the 1960s. The Koreans in the late nineteenth century valued scholarship, not athleticism, and by 1900 there was little serious interest in the martial arts of either China or Korea, except perhaps as games for children to play at festivals. Interest in t'aeggyon was further reduced because it was popularly associated with thugs and criminals. By 1945, there were only two masters of the art left, so few people had the chance to study the art at all. It was not until Dok-Ki Song and Hwan Song gave a demonstration of t'aeggyon in 1958 at a birthday party for Republic of Korea (R.O.K.; South Korea) President Sung-Man Yi (aka. "Sung-Man Lee") that there was a resurgence of interest in the art. This renewal of interest preceded taekwondo’s development into a more circular style, which took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This suggests that taekwondo’s transition may have been in part due to the recognition of the circular traditions of t'aeggyon.

History of Taekwondo

The occupation of Korea by the Japanese from 1894 to 1945, on the other hand, had an enormous impact on the Korean people. Japan originally entered Korea in 1894. China came to Korea's aid but was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War (1894). When Queen Min was murdered by Japanese agents in 1896, King Kojong sought protection from the foreign legations, and the Russian legation sheltered him from the Japanese for nearly a year. Japan later defeated Russian claims to the area in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), at which point the U.S. tacitly recognized Japanese control of Korea with the Taft-Katsura Memorandum (1905). Japan then reduced the Korean army and took over the government. The Korean emperor was forced to abdicate in 1907 and in 1910 Korea was officially annexed to Japan. Segregated Korean and Japanese public schools were established, with the Koreans receiving an inferior education. There was little attempt by the Koreans to revolt, except for the assassination of Japanese Prince Hirobumi Ito in 1909 and the disastrous Declaration of Independence in 1919 in which thousands of Korean demonstrators were killed by the Japanese army. As the years passed, Japanese control tightened further. The Japanese language was taught in the schools rather than Korean, and many Koreans raised in that era still cannot read the Korean language. During the Second World War, over half a million Koreans were taken to Japan to work, primarily in mining and heavy industry. Sixty thousand of these died in Japan during the war. Back home, Korean women were forced to serve as "comfort women" (prostitutes) for the Japanese Army. By the time freedom finally arrived in 1945, the Koreans had little love for the Japanese.

Keywords : martial arts, taekwondo, karate do, martial artist, combat, martial arts history

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