Taekwondo

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Introduction

One of the most popular sports at present is Taekwondo. It is loosely defined in Korean as "the way of the foot and fist". It is from the word "Tae", which means "foot", "Kwon" for "fist" and "Do" for "the way or method". (Southwick, 1998) Thus, taekwondo is a free-fighting combat sport using bare hands and feet to repel an opponent. (Lee, 1995) It requires proper and skillful execution of techniques such as punching, jumping kicks, blocks, dodges, parrying actions with hands and feet. Taekwondo is a sport that uses the entire body as a weapon to attack and beat the opponent with his hands, feet, elbows, knees or any part of his body. A person who knows Taekwondo should be able to stand against any opponent, but its code forbids unfair assaults or unnecessary use of force. (Lee, 1995) This essay will define Taekwondo’s history, expected learning outcomes and how it is used as a means of self-defense.

History

The origins of Taekwondo come from the Koguryo, Baekchae and Silla Dynasties of Ancient Korea (Marinoy, Iordanov ,& Tzvetkova, 1998) . Mural paintings from royal tombs in Muyongchong and Kakchuchong were found in Koguryo Dynasty (Lee, 1995). Lee further explained that in Muyongchong’s mural paintings, there was a drawing of two men facing each other in a Taekwondo practice. While in the Kakchuchong’s royal tombs, was a painting of two men who were having a wrestling fight or like one of Korea’s traditional form of wrestling, cireum. A Japanese historian named Tatashi Saito said in the “Study of Culture in Ancient Korea” (as cited in Lee, 1995, p. 14) :

“The painting either shows us that the person buried in the tomb practiced Taekwondo while he was alive or it tells us that people practiced it, along with...

... middle of paper ...

...ondo: The five tenets of taekwondo. Taekwondo

(pp.19-23) . London: Amber Books Ltd.

3. Lee, K. M. (1995). The history of Taekwondo: Koguryo dynasty. Dynamic Taekwondo (pp.13-

14). United States of America: Hollym International Corp.

4. Lee, K. (1995). Overview and history: Introduction to Taekwondo. Dynamic Taekwondo (pp.2-5).

United States of America: Hollym International Corp.

5. Marinov M., Iordanov S., and Tzvetkova P. (1998) History. Oracle Think Quest. Retrieved

November 7, 2011, from http://library.thinkquest.org/16082/history/index.html

6. Southwick, R. (1998). A Brief History of Taekwondo. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from

https://www.msu.edu/~spock/history.html

7. World Taekwondo Federation. (2009) Ancient Timers. World Taekwondo Federation. Retrieved

November 7, 2011, from http://www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/site/about_taekwondo/ancient_timers.html

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