Taekwondo: What is it & where is it from?
Taekwondo is a relatively young martial art from (South) Korea. Taekwondo as we know it today was developed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, by Korean martial artists that practiced various styles - karate, Chinese martial arts and native martial arts such as Subak, Taekkyon (looks familiar, doesn’t it?) and Gwonbeop.
The birth of Taekwondo as we know it was roughly around the end of World War II and the Japanese Occupation (1910-1945). New schools, or Kwans, began to appear in Seoul, South Korea. The martial artists had backgrounds in Karate and Chinese Martial Arts, the native styles mentioned before having been mostly forgotten with time and repression from the Japanese occupational government. Each Kwan had it’s own unique style. At this point, the name “Taekwondo” had been thought of, but the term “Traditional Taekwondo” refers to this period of development.
Check out the following link to learn more about the History of Taekwondo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo
But what is it?
Taekwondo, sometimes written as Tae Kwon Do, is probably best known for it’s kicks, especially kicks aimed at the head, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. One of the ways Taekwondo practitioners utilize that speed is have a narrower, taller fighting stance vs. other stances found in Karate for example.
Each school is different, in many aspects. There are also many federations and styles that are descended from “Traditional Taekwondo”.
MAIB is a Kukkiwon/WTA (World Taekwondo Association) sanctioned school.
Images above found on google search