Korean martial arts can be traced back to the Koguryo dynasty, founded in 37 B.C. However it was during the Silla dynasty (668-935) that a group of young warriors, called Hwarang, made martial arts popular. The Hwarang were a group of young knights who trained their bodies and minds by devoting themselves to hunting, studying, and the martial arts. The code of honor on which the Hwarang was based was loyalty to the nation, respect and obedience to one's parents, faithfulness to one's friends, courage in battle and avoidance of unnecessary violence and killing. Hwarang-Do (the way of the flower of manhood) was an essential part of Silla뭩 struggle to unify the country.

Martial arts maintained its popularity in Korea through to the Koryo dynasty (935-1392). During this dynasty the practiced martial arts were referred to as Subak (in more modern times this is still referred to as Soo Bak Do) and they were practiced by the military as a skill to improve health, as a sports activity and as a martial art. History shows that this was the first occurance of martial arts contests being held for spectator appreciation.

During the Yi dynasty (1392-1907), the rulers held scholarship and learning in high esteem and military related pursuits fell into disrepute. As a result, martial arts known as Subak and TaeKyon became popular with the general population. There was even a book published to teach the martial art and the sport.

In 1909, during the Japanese occupation of Korea which lasted 36 years until 1945, the Resident General banned the practice of martial arts. The martial arts continued to be practiced secretly and were passed on, by forms, from father to son. Also, many patriotic young men visited China or Japan to study martial arts becoming the first to blend Korean martial arts with other Asian styles. Back in Korea the popular art called TaeKyon was secretly being kept alive.

The end of World War II saw thousands of post occupation Korean immigrants, filled with patriotism and national pride, return home from other parts of the Orient. As part of the national movement to restore Korean traditions, the martial arts were revived and many experts established schools. Thus were born the Kwans (schools) of Korean martial arts.

The first schools opened in 1945. The original five Kwans were the Chung Do Kwan (Blue Wave Training Hall), the Yun Moo Kwan, which later became the Ji Do Kwan (Wisdom Way Training Hall), the Song Moo Kwan (Pine Tree Training Hall), the Chang Moo Kwan (Development of Martial Arts Training Hall), and the Moo Duk Kwan (Military Virtue Training Hall). These five Kwans generally called what they were teaching Tang Soo Do or Tae Soo Do.

By the end of the Korean War (1954), other Kwans had branched off from the original five Kwans. These were the Oh Do Kwan, the Han Moo Kwan, and the Jung Do Kwan. Now there were eight different major schools, each espousing a different style.

Fragmented by the pre-war secrecy of their teachings and the post-war confusion of reconstruction, it took some ten years before these stylistic spin-offs and adaptations were able to consolidate into a single martial art. On April 11, 1955 at a pivotal conference of Kwan masters, historians, and TaeKyon promoters it was decided to standardly adopt the term Tae Kwon Do, which was created and submitted by General Choi, Hong Hi. The name was approved because of its resemblance to TaeKyon, providing continuity and maintaining tradition. Further, it describes both hand and foot techniques. The number of Kwans which then consolidated into Tae Kwon Do is the subject of much debate and historical confusion. This dissension among the Kwans went on for six years, and it wasn뭪 until September 14, 1961 that the groups once again organized into a single association, as ordered by an official decree of the new military government. It was called the Korea Tae Kwon Do Association (KTA), with General Choi, Hong Hi elected as its first president. On March 22, 1966, Choi founded the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF), for which he also served as president. He later resigned as KTA president and moved his ITF headquarters to Montreal, Canada, from where he has concentrated on organizing Tae Kwon Do internationally. His emphasis is on maintaining Tae Kwon Do as an art, rather than as a sport.

Poomse (Forms)

The original student or colored belt forms taught in the Korean kwans were the PahlGwe series of forms. There was one form for each of the eight trigram patterns called Gwe (four of the eight Gwe are shown on the Korean flag). After the WTF was organized, they developed a new series of eight color belt forms called the TaeGuk series named after the red and blue circle on the Korean flag. While the TaeGuk series of forms are now the standard color belt forms, many schools additionally teach the PahlGwe forms.

Gyuroogi (Sparring)

Martial arts training carries with it the desire and the need to experience competition and so it was natural that a method of sparring which bore some realistic resemblance to actual fighting should be developed.
Sparring can be viewed conceptually in two basic structures. First, perfect sparring which is unrestricted as to rules or limitations and perfectly resembles real combat and second, safe sparring is sparring with certain provisions which guarantee the safety of the participants. The general concept of sparring among the average participants in martial arts training is that sparring should be perfect and safe at the same time.
Even though there exists as many different sparring methodologies as there are different martial arts, any sparring system뭩 developmental level can be analyzed according to two criteria; the range of allowable techniques and, the level of permissible contact. Another important, albeit auxiliary method of classifying sparring methodology is the type and extent of protective equipment used. The original difficulty in finding a compromise between safety and perfection in sparring was, to some extent resolved by the degree of limitations imposed on the system. The limitations are, first of all, the number and type of techniques permitted in sparring. Second, is the limitation placed on the degree of contact. Third, is the limits restricting legal target areas. In analyzing the methodology of martial art competition, especially martial arts which employ striking, an interesting negative correlation is found between the degree of allowable contact, and the number and type of permitted techniques.

Tae Kwon Do competition was formed on the techniques which represented the essence of Tae Kwon Do's martial art nature and this structural system forms the technical philosophy of Tae Kwon Do. The original innovators of modern Tae Kwon Do competition formed this type of competition for the purpose of creating a competition of a dynamic and powerful nature, in which striking techniques, specifically kicking would be developed to such an extent that other martial arts could not compare.

The characteristics of the Tae Kwon Do competition developed by the WTF are: a) participants are not allowed to attack the face with hand techniques, b) participants are not allowed to attack below the waist, c) grappling is not allowed, d) the use of full contact techniques and protective body equipment is allowed, and e) a system of technical evaluation emphasizing the real delivered power of the technique (scoring system) was created.

To an individual, the threat of an actual combat situation, ultimately the most extraordinary and unpredictable instant a person might face, in which all the potential of that person뭩 physical and mental characteristics must be concentrated, cannot be experienced except in actuality. The ultimate motive of marital art training would be the strength of will to challenge the intensity of the moment of actual combat. The real value of Tae Kwon Do as "mudo" can be found in extreme, intense moments of spiritual challenge when, instead of violent inclinations, a moment of genuine self-awareness is produced. Tae Kwon Do competition then, was formed under a full contact system to inject a realistic element into the training for the purpose of developing a highly educational method of practice and application.

Tae Kwon Do competition is not the whole of Tae Kwon Do. Tae Kwon Do competition, such as we have been discussing, is one form of Tae Kwon Do training which contests the technical superiorty within a certain limited system, of selected techniques which are central to and most characteristic of the overall Tae Kwon Do technical system. Tae Kwon Do as a martial art also includes various techniques and aspects of its nature in terms of different spiritual and cultural values that are difficult in include in competition. While competition is placed approximately in the center of the general concept of Tae Kwon Do, it is a mistake to think that competition is the whole of Tae Kwon Do or that the WTF is promoting Tae Kwon Do only as sport and that competition techniques are the only official techniques.

Rather than uselessly argue the merits of competition, it would be more beneficial for Tae Kwon Do people to assimilate and apply to general technical system of Tae Kwon Do the products of technical research such as new strategies and structures which are discovered and systemized as the result of numberless contests between players and performance of various techniques in competitions.

Part of our efforts should include a way to research techniques within the training hall which cannot be included in competition. The original competition techniques, techniques newly developed through competition, and techniques outside of competition are not antagonistic in nature but should be viewed together as part of our overall technical vocabulary. To be fluent in the diverse technical language of Tae Kwon Do is the essence of Tae Kwon Do itself.

The WTF standardized rules and scoring procedures to the satisfaction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) such that in February of 1982 the IOC adopted Tae Kwon Do as a demonstration sport for the 1988 Games to be held in Seoul, Korea. This style of sparring is usually referred to as Olympic style sparring.

The WTF has about 142 member nations. Each nation has a single, sole organization that represents the WTF and acts as the country뭩 National Governing Body (NGB) for Tae Kwon Do. The United States Tae Kwon Do Union (USTU) is our NGB and the sole representative of the WTF in this country.