About Taekwondo

Although Taekwondo's roots were first developed over 20 centuries ago in Korea, it was not officially recognized as a system of self-defense until the 1950s when a group of leading Korean martial artists came together and unified their various art forms under a single style of hand and feet fighting. They named this martial art Taekwondo, and in the last 30 years have developed it into one of the most effective styles of unarmed self-defense in the world.

Taekwondo literally means the "way of kicking and punching". It consists of sharp, strong angular movements with free flowing circular movements to produce a balance of beauty and power. With the addition of Taekwondo's trademark kicking techniques it is a complete system of self-defense and personal improvement. All of its activities are based on the defensive attitude that originally developed for protection against enemy attacks.

The most important fact about Taekwondo is that it is both a superior art of self-defense and a technique of mental discipline. It gives its practitioners self-confidence, self-respect, self-discipline, and coordination. These mental characteristics along with the physical ability are beneficial to the mental life of individuals as well as to their families and friends. With its practical means of self-defense and its complete regimen of physical conditioning Taekwondo offers a total fitness program integrating mind, body and spirit.

Today, Taekwondo is the most recognized martial art in the world, and a popular international sport. It was a demonstration sport at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games, and was a medal sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and will be a growing spectator sport for the 2004 Athens, Greece & 2008 Beijing, China Olympic Games. As of today, Taekwondo is the only martial art of its type to be an official Olympic sport.