Taekwondo written exam for Red Belts at Phoenix Martial Arts Academy, Dadar East, Mumbai , INDIA

Where did Taekwondo come from ?

The practice of Taekwondo dates back to about 50 B.C. when Korea was divided into three kingdoms: Silla,  Koguryo and Paekche. Tae Kyon (also called Subak) is considered the earliest known form of Taekwondo. Although Taekwondo first appeared in the Koguryo kingdom, it is the Silla's Hwarang warriors that spread Taekwondo throughout Korea. The Taek Kyon trained warriors then became known as the Hwarang. The Hwarang set up a military academy for the sons of royalty in Silla called Hwarang-do, which means "The way of flowering manhood." During the Silla dynasty (A.D. 668 to A.D. 935) Taek Kyon was mostly used as a sport and recreational activity. Taek Kyon's name was changed to Subak and the focus of the art was changed from fitness to primarily a fighting art during the Koryo dynasty (A.D. 935 to A.D. 1392). In 1909 the Japanese invaded Korea and occupied the country for 36 years. To control Korea's patriotism, the Japanese banned the practice of all military arts, Korean language and even burned all books written in Korea. Many Koreans organized themselves into underground groups and practiced the martial arts in remote Buddhist temples. Other people left Korea to study the martial arts in other countries like China and Japan. in 1926, Mr. Won Kuk Lee travelled to Japan and studied Shotokan Karate under Grandmaster Gichin Funakoshi. In 1943 Judo, Karate and Kung-fu were officially introduced to the Korean residents and taught under the name Tang Soo Do and the martial arts regained popularity. In 1945 Korea was liberated. In the last few years before liberation, there were many different variations of Subak/Taek Kyon in Korea. This was due to all of the other martial arts influence on it. The first Taekwondo school (Kwan) was started in Yong Chun, Seoul, Korea in 1945. Many different school were opened from 1945 through 1960. Each school claimed to teach the traditional Korean martial art, but each school emphasized a different aspect of Taek Kyon/Subak.. The Korean Armed Forces were also formed in 1945 and in 1946 Second lieutenant Choi Hong Hi began teaching Taek Kyon at a Korean military base called Kwang Ju.  The first 5 key dojangs set up were - Chung Do Kwan, Song Moo Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Ji Do Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan. There arose misunderstandings between the leader of the 5 Kwans. This period is called ‘The Disoder Period’. Between 1950 & 1960 the process of unifying the Kwans began. In this period 40 more Kwans came into existence. During the period 1950-1953 of the Korean War, the country was split into North and South Korea and so was all the Kwans. In the year 1955, the name TAE KWON DO was officially accepted. In 1965, the various Kwans of the modern Korean martial arts were merging under the banner of Taekwondo. In 1961, all the Kwans were unified and in 1965, Gen.Choi Hong Hi renamed it as Korean Taekwondo Association (K.T.A.). In 1966, Choi Hong Hi established International Taekwondo Federation (I.T.F.)  to spread the art globally. But he left the country (South Korea) for the fear of being arrested by the President. In 1973, The Korean Taekwondo Association was named as World Taekwondo Federation. Taekwondo entered the Olympic as a full medal sport in the year  2000. Today Taekwondo is practiced in 205 countries worldwide and over 25 million practitioners with 4 million black belts.