History of Tae Kwon Do
A Very Shortened History of Tae Kwon Do
Fighting arts are as old as mankind and must have been used between primitive men and also as a defence against beasts.
There is much debate over the true source of traditional martial arts and whether they originated from India, China, Japan, or even Shaolin temples. Each of these countries (and also many other countries) have contributed to the growth of the martial arts. It isn't possible for any one style, country or organisation to say that it was the birth place of martial arts.
Tae Kwon Do is strongly linked to Korea. Korea's geographic position between China and Japan has caused Korea to be influenced by many Asian cultures. Korea was periodically invaded by the Chinese, Japanese, Manchurians and Mongols. The fact that Koreans have been able to retain so much of their culture and identity is a strong testament to the fortitude and resolve of the Korean people.
Korea and its Ancient Martial Arts
Korea has a long martial arts history. In 1935 Japanese archaeologists exploring the Tung-hua province of Manchuria discovered tombs dating back to the 10th Kingdom of Koguryo. Murals on the ceilings of the Kak-Je and Myong-chong temple depict figures in fighting postures. The
Sok Kul, a Budhist cave temple, is guarded by a statue of Kumgang Yuksa, a famed warrior who served during the reign of King Hye-Gong, standing in a martial arts pose. These martial poses show that martial arts and fighting techniques go back to ancient times in Korea.
The early history of the Korean peninsula is full of tribal warfare and invasion by peoples of the north. There are few written facts, but some artifacts from this period remain. Early Chinese records write about early tribal people. In 109 BC the Chinese invaded northern Korea and established a measure of control over the Korean peninsula for 400 years. During this period of Chinese influence many of the local tribes unified to form the Koguryo Kingdom under King T’aejo. The Koguryo were said to be a nation of fierce warlike people..jpg)
The 4th century AD is known as the time of the three kingdoms, Koguryo, Silla, and Baek Je respectively. There are artifacts from this period indicating that the Koreans may have practiced an ancient form of the Chinese martial art Kwon Bop. By the end of the seventh century AD the Korean peninsula was unified under the Silla Kingdom.
Silla’s success was partially due to its military class. During this time an elite paramilitary youth group known as the Hwarang flourished. The primary goal of the Hwarang was to nurture and develop the talent of young upper class males. The Hwarang were organised on a local basis with a defined social and rank structure and were a national example for morality and spirit. They upheld traditional Korean values such as communal living, friendship, and mutual understanding through training in the arts of military tactics, poetry and music. The Hwarang had a moral code whose five main commandments were loyalty to the throne, devotion and duty to one’s parents, faithfulness to one’s companions, the prohibition of retreat during battle and not to kill except for defense or survival. During the unification wars the Hwarang were recognised as fierce warriors displaying not only skills in military tactics but also proficiency in martial arts including wrestling, Soo Bak-Gi and Taekyon (an ancient kicking based martial art adapted from games). The peace that followed this period reduced the need of the Hwarang to have such a high military focus so the organisation then began to move its focus to the development of arts.
In 936 AD the Silla Dynasty fell to the Koryo (an abbreviation of Koguryo) Dynasty under the leadership of a strong war-lord named Wang Kon. The modern name of Korea is derived from the Koryo Dynasty. During the Koryo Dynasty Soo Bak regained popularity as a sport. The soldiers of Koryo were also enthusiastic practitioners of Kwon Bop (or fist method). One of its greatest fans was King 
Chung Hae, a daring military figure who wasn't unduly concerned with its moral side but who was single minded in his devotion to the physical aspects. Every spring and fall he organized competitions which he attended. Because powerful fists were highly prized, Koryo troops were obsessed with the practice of hand toughening. They would often slam their fists into blocks of wood and even walls. According to legend, a few could strike with such force that walls cracked under their blows. It's importance was such that two political leaders of the time, Lee Yi Min and Kyong Sung Du, received their appointments by the king because of their phenomenal fists. The Koryo Dynasty lasted until the 13th Century and it helped the Mongols with some of their conquests. Koryo was used as a launching ground for Mongol attacks against Japan. These attacks against Japan were ultimately thwarted by heavy storms so the Mongols were never successful in invading Japan.
By the 14th Century, during the Koryo Dynasty, the Chinese Ming Empire beg
an to expand as the Mongols withdrew. Yi Songgye came into power in Koryo in 1392 and philosophical aspects of Buddhism were replaced by Confusianism. Confucianism’s emphasis on classical Chinese thinking, which down played the more physical aspects of life, encouraged music, reading, poetry and other classical arts. It may well have stiffled the development of Korean Martial Arts.
The Yi Dynasty lasted until 1910 when Korea was annexed by Japan. The final King of the Yi Dynasty sat on the throne for a mere 24 days before the new treaty with Japan stripped him of all power. The Japanese undertook immediate efforts to subdue the Korean people. The Korean language press was immediately banned and Japanese became a compulsory subject in all schools. During this time much of Korean culture was frowned upon or banned including Korean martial arts. It has been suggested that Japan wanted to turn Korea into an illiterate slave labour force. When Japan entered World War II many Koreans, especially those living in Japan, were forced into military service for the Japanese.
Near the end of the war the United States invaded Korea to push back the Japanese so as to gain control of the Southern Korean Peninsula. In 1948 Korea was divided into the Republic of Korea (South) with Syngman Rhee as President under American control and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North) under Soviet control. Both North and South Korea claimed rights to all of Korea. In 1950 the North Korean Military invaded South Korea beginning the Korean War which lasted until July 27th, 1953.
The Birth of Tae Kwon Do
Even though the Japanese banned the study of Korean Martial Arts, many Koreans practiced arts such as Soo Bak and TaeKyon in secret. Also, during the Japanese occupation many Koreans studied Japanese Martial Arts.
Although generally banned by the occupying Japanese, the Korean Martial Arts of Soo Bak, Tae Kyon, Kong Soo and Hwa Soo and others survived by being practiced in secret. In later years the Japanese martial arts were often learnt by Koreans from their invaders. Tae Kyon was secretly practiced and passed onto a handful of students by men like Han Il Dong and Duk Ki Song. Another student of the outlawed arts was Hwang Kee, the future founder of Tang Soo Do and the Moo Duk Kwan (martial arts School). By the age of 22, Kee had become expert in Soo Bak and Tae Kyon and in 1936 he travelled to Northern China to study the "T'ang method". He then worked until 1945 to combine the Korean and Chinese styles into Tang Soo Do (the way of T'ang hand).
Japanese Karate has also had an influence on recent Korean martial arts. The original meaning of the term Karate was "T'ang Hand", Te meaning hand and Kara an ideogram to describe the Chinese T'ang. In 1936, Okinawan Masters got together, at the request of a newspaper, to change the ideogram Kara to the one meaning "empty", as it has the same pronunciation. In the later part of the Japanese occupation many Koreans went to Japan to further their education and to learn Martial Arts. One of these was Choi Yong-I, born in Korea in 1923 who had started studying Korean Kempo at the age of nine. He went to Japan in 1938 to study aviation using the name Masutatsu Oyama but put most of his efforts into the study of Karate to become, many decades later, the founder of Kyokushinkai Karate.
Another Korean, Choi Hong Hi, went to Kyoto, Japan in 1937 to study calligraphy. Choi had been studying calligraphy and TaeKyon in Korea under Han Il Dong and upon arrival in Japan he started to study Shotokan Karate as a student of a Korean named Kim. After two years of intensive training he was presented with a first Dan Black Belt in Shotokan. He then went onto Tokyo University where he gained his second Dan and became an instructor at the YMCA. During WW2, unlike Oyama who stayed in Japan, Choi was forced to enlist in the Japanese army and was posted to Pyongyang in Korea. There he became involved in the Korean Independence Movement, resulting in his imprisonment. Until his liberation at the end of the war he practiced and developed much of his martial art, which was later named Tae Kwon Do.
The actual name of Tae Kwon Do wasn't official until 1955. At that time General Choi Hong Hi organised a movement to unify Korea's various martial arts styles (Called kwans) and presented the name "Taekwondo" to a committee specially formed to select a name for the new martial art. On April 11, 1955, Taekwondo was given as the name for this new, officially recognised Korean martial art. As a side note, the word Taekwondo itself is made up of three Chinese/Korean words: Tae, meaning to kick or jump; Kwon, meaning fist or hand; and Do, which means "the way". Loosely (if not literally) it can be thought of as "The Way of the Hand and Foot."
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