Taekwondo, Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do is a Korean martial art, characterized by punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. The literal translation for tae kwon do is "kicking," "punching," and "the art or way of." It is a martial art that attacks or defends with hands and feet anytime, anywhere without any weapons, and the purpose of physical training is important, but it also has great significance in fostering the right mind through mental armament.
Hapkido is a hybrid Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, nunchaku, cane, short stick, and middle-length staff, gun, and bō (Japanese), which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.
Korean martial arts are fighting practices and methods which have their place in the history of Korea but have been adapted for use by both military and non-military personnel as a method of personal growth or recreation. The history of Korean martial arts can be traced as far back as the prehistoric era. The ancestors of modern Korean people migrated and settled in the Korean Peninsula as early as the 28th century BC, a geopolitical region besieged by thousands of known documented instances of foreign invasions. Consequently, the Korean people developed unique martial arts and military strategies in order to defend themselves and their territory.
Moo Duk Kwan is the name of a martial art organization founded by Hwang Kee in South Korea in 1945. Licensed Moo Duk Kwan schools teach Soo Bahk Do, formerly Tang Soo Do. 'Moo Duk Kwan' translates as "School of Martial Virtue". Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan translates to “the brotherhood and school of stopping inner and outer conflict and developing virtue according to the way of the worthy hand”
Hwa Rang Do, also known as "The Way of the Flowering Knights" is a comprehensive Korean martial art that was developed in the 1960s by Joo Bang Lee and his brother Joo Sang Lee. Hwa Rang Do as a martial art has multiple areas of focus including stand up fighting with open-hand striking, weapons, throws and takedowns, ground fighting, various types of meditative practices, intellectual and character development, and artistic and cultural pursuits.
Tang Soo Do refers to a Korean martial art based on Karate and may include fighting principles from subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. Before the Nine Kwans united and formed the martial art Taekwondo, Tang Soo Do was used by select Kwans to identify their Karate-derived martial arts style.
Choi Yong-sool, alternative spelling Choi Yong-sul, was the founder of the martial art Hapkido. He was born in today's Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, and was taken to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea when he was eight years old. Choi later stated that he became a student of Takeda Sōkaku, and studied a form of jujutsu known as Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu (大東流合気柔術) while in Japan. This is disputed by some parties, due to the historically acrimonious relationship between Japan and Korea, and lack of clear documentary evidence.
Jidokwan is one of the original nine schools of the modern Korean martial arts that became Taekwondo and was founded in what is now South Korea at the end of World War II. Its name translates as "School of Wisdom". The Jidokwan in Korea still exists today. It functions as a social fraternal order. Jidokwan supports and endorses the Kukkiwon method of Taekwondo, and supports World Taekwondo.
Korea Taekwondo Association, originally the Korea Tang Soo Do Association (1961), is the first taekwondo organisation. It was founded in 1959, although official South Korean sources give 1961 as its year of establishment. In 1966, some members of the KTA, led by H. H. Choi, broke off from the KTA and formed the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF). The Kukkiwon and the then-World Taekwondo Federation were created by the KTA in the early 1970s. The KTA sits under the Korea Sports Council, is aligned with Kukkiwon, and is a Member National Association (MNA) of the WT. Its goal is to promote the martial art taekwondo as a national sport within South Korea.
The Korean terms hyeong, pumsae, poomsae and teul are all used to refer to martial arts forms that are typically used in Korean martial arts such as Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do.
Chang Moo Kwan is a Korean martial arts group that was founded by Lee Nam Suk and Kim Soon Bae.
Chung Do Kwan, created by Won Kuk Lee in 1944, is one of the first of nine schools or kwan teaching Tang Soo Do, later the school began to teach what came to be known as taekwondo. This style of Tang Soo Do is known for its overall power and emphasis on kicks to the head.
Kwan in Korean literally means building or hall, but when used in martial arts it can also refer to a school or clan of martial artists who follow the same style and/or leader.
Kwon Tae-man was an early Korean hapkido practitioner and a pioneer of the art, first in Korea and then in the United States. He formed one of the earliest dojang's for hapkido in the United States in Torrance, California, and has been featured in many magazine articles promoting the art.
Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo is a modern Korean martial art formed in April 1965 by Kim Young Taek, Hong Chong Soo, and Lee Kang Ik, after a significant group of former students of Hwang Kee chose to leave the original Moo Duk Kwan organization in order to join the Taekwondo unification movement.
The original masters of taekwondo is a group of twelve South Korean martial art masters assembled by the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) in the early 1960s to promote the newly established art of taekwondo. In alphabetical order following Korean naming conventions, they are: Choi Chang-keun, Choi Kwang-jo, Han Cha-kyo, Kim Jong-chan, Kim Kwan-il, Kong Young-il, Park Jong-soo, Park Jung-tae, Park Sun-jae, Rhee Chong-chul, Rhee Chong-hyup, and Rhee Ki-ha.
Choi Chang-keun, widely known as C. K. Choi, is a South Korean master of taekwondo, and one of the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association. Following a career in the South Korean military, Choi emigrated to Canada in 1969, where he continues to teach his martial art.
Nam Tae-hi was a pioneering South Korean master of taekwondo, and is known as the 'Father of Vietnamese Taekwondo.' With H. H. Choi, he co-founded the Oh Do Kwan and led the twelve original masters of taekwondo of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association (KTA).
Lee Won-kuk was a South Korean martial artist, who founded Chung Do Kwan. He introduced karate to Korea in 1944, creating his own style known as Tang Soo Do Chung Do Kwan style, which became Taekwondo as of 1955; instilling a profound influence in this martial art through teaching future masters and authoring the book “Tae Kwon Do handbook“ in 1968.
Korea 