History

The ITF style of Taekwondo was developed by General Choi Hong Hi during his early days spent in the Korean army in the late 1940s. The name ‘Taekwondo’, which means literally ‘foot and hand art’ was inaugurated on 11^th April 1955, whereby the burgeoning schools (or ‘kwans’) of Korean martial arts were brought together to become known under the one name, suggested by General Choi Hong Hi. Taekwondo was by created General Choi in reaction to Korea having been occupied by the Japanese for most of the first part of the twentieth century, during which time the Korean national identity was suppressed, along with its martial arts. It takes most of its stylistic influences from Taek-yon, a traditional Korean martial art that is known for its high kicks and Shotokan Karate, which General Choi held a 2^nd Dan grade in. During this time Korea was embroiled in a civil war, in which General Choi led the 29^th infantry division (for South Korea) and to whom he taught his fledgling martial art, initially called Tang Soo. In September 1954, he and his men demonstrated this new martial art to the Korean president, Seung Man Rhee, who was so impressed that he insisted that it be taught to the rest of the Korean military. Thus Taekwondo was born.

Up to 1966, Taekwondo was united under the one association, the Korean Taekwondo Association. However, due to South Korea’s turbulent politics, General Choi formed the International Taekwondo Federation, its aim being to unite all of the countries practising Taekwondo under one, non-political organisation. This grew rapidly over the next two years to consist of over thirty countries. However, in 1971 General Choi moved its headquarters to Canada due to his emigration and exile from South Korea to escape increased political pressure. In reaction to this, South Korea developed the World Taekwondo Federation (commonly known as ‘WTF’) which developed separately from ITF Taekwondo. From this time on, ITF Taekwondo spread into a globally practised martial art that is enjoyed by millions.

Principles and Training

ITF Taekwondo covers the breadth of a traditional martial art and is structured around the rank system of a traditional martial practice, using both discipline and courtesy as its main guiding principles. Its five guiding tenets are as follows:

Courtesy

Integrity

Perseverance

Self-control

Indomitable-spirit

A training uniform (or dobok) is generally worn, which is usually white for colour belts and white with a black edging for Dan grades. If you follow the minimum grading time, it takes approximately 3 to 4 years to reach black belt. See below for a list of belt ranks, along with their corresponding patterns.

Patterns (tul)

These are a key part to Taekwondo and are defined as a set series of movements, both defending and attacking, from a range of imaginary assailants. They range in difficulty from the basic Chon-ji to the complex black belt patterns with each having its own meaning that relates to either noted Korean people or historic points. There are 24 ITF Taekwondo patterns, which according to General Choi, symbolise the 24 hours in a day. These patterns all start and finish at the same location, thus ensuring the practitioner has used the correct stance and in the proper direction. Each movement in a pattern has its own application to an attack, but is also practised with an aesthetic perspective in the form of competitions.

Set sparring (Sambo Matsoki [3 step] Ibo Matsoki [2 step] Ilbo Matsoki [1 step] )

These also take an important part of the grading syllabus with most ITF associations including 1, 2 and 3 step sparring. These are a set series of defending and attacking movements that are practised with a partner. These will vary between the various associations but they generally increase in difficulty from yellow to black belt, from a structured set of blocks to a basic stepping punch to a complex response to an attack that has been created by the student themselves. These types of attack and defence scenarios are practised both with self-defence applications and preparation for free-sparring.

Free-Sparring (Jayoo Matsoki)

This is an important part of Taekwondo in both grading and competition. In ITF Taekwondo sparring is generally semi-contact, thus enabling a wider range of kicks to be used in the fighter’s arsenal. Competitions are either point-stop, whereby fighters are stopped every time a point is scored; or continuous where competitors spar for a set time and the points added at the end. Competitors wear full protective pads including, foot, shin, groin (for men), hand, head and gum shield. Scoring is generally; 1 point for any and technique, 2 points for a mid-section kick or 3 points for a head kick.

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