Taekwondo 태권도 is a korean, weaponless martial art. The word Taekwondo 태권도 is a connection of the three syllables tae 태 (foot), kwon 권 (fist) and do 도 (way), what means in whole ” The way of fighting with foot and fist”.
However, there are not only sportive aspects in taekwondo 태권도, it also includes philosophical aspects and is attended with a spirital growth, what is remarked with the syllable “do”.
Classical Taekwondo 태권도 is subclassified in three keystones.
| forms | Poomsae | 품새 |
| fight / free fight | Gyorugi / Chayu taeryon | 겨루기 / 자유대련 |
| break test | Kyokpa | 켝파 |
This martial art is mainly impressed by the korean General Choi, Hong-Hi , who learned karate while the japanese occupation in 1945. He defined the concept „Taekwon-Do“ about 1955 and founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation on March 22, 1966 in Seoul.
Please note the accurate syntax of the word. To point out that this martial art is leg-laden, the syllable tae 태 is positioned in the first place. Most of the practices are leg-practices. This is very noticeable at Events like the Olympic Games or the World Championships, where hand- and arm-practices are nearly never used. This is also – not unintended – refected by the symantic analogy to the word Taekyon. Taekyon is an old korean „foot-martial-art“.
The syllable do 도 is seperated from the physical practices by a hyphen and stands, like already mentioned, for the more spritual than a physical growth of the Teakwondoin.