Taekwondo

The national sport of South Korea is Taekwondo, which is characterized by its fast, high and spinning kicks. Most boys take Taekwondo with their other academy lessons, especially the younger kids. And since Taekwondo is uniquely Korean and I’ve had some exposure to it, I thought I’d blog about it.

Martial arts have been practiced in Korea for about a zillion years, but was originally called Teakkyon and Subak. Let’s fast-forward past the hard-to-pronounce dynasties and examine the modern history of this sport. When Japan was doing its thing here in Korea, Koreans studied Karate and Judo (from Japan) as well as Kung fu (from China) because remember, Korean culture was illegal, including Korean martial arts. After the occupation ended in 1945, martial arts schools, called kwans, opened throughout the country.

At the height of the Korean War, martial art exhibits caught the eye of the President who told a dude named Choi Hong Hi to teach this to the Korean army. He named the sport Taekwondo and the kwans supported him by forming the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) to unify a standard practice.

It’s estimated that 70 million people in 190 countries practice Taekwondo. It’s one of only two Asian martial arts that are included in the Olympic games (the other is Judo.) It started as a demonstration event when the games came to Seoul in 1988, and became an official medal event with the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.

Taekwondo differs from other practices because it emphasizes kicking. There are throwing arts, like Judo and Hapkido (another martial art from Korea.) The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a form of grappling and Muay Thai (from Thailand) is in the striking category. There are also weaponry focuses like fencing and numchucks.

People who practice Taekwondo consider it a way of life and students are encouraged to live according to the 5 tenets:

1. Courtesy: To be polite, thoughtful and considerate of others.
2. Integrity: To be honest and good. Practitioners should live by a code of moral values and principles.
3. Perseverance: To never give up in the pursuit of one’s goals. Challenges are welcome because they force us to grow and improve..
4. Self-Control: To have control of your body and mind, actions and reactions.
5. Indomitable Spirit: To have courage in the face of adversity. A Taekwondo student should never be dominated by, or have his spirit broken by another.

Everyone starts out with a white belt, representing innocence, it’s part of the uniform called a Dobok. The next belt is yellow. There are two tests between belt colors, passing the first test gives a stripe, the second is the full color. The yellow belt represents the earth and the rising sun.

The next color is green and is compared to a plant growing its leaves, starting to get power.

Blue is next. It represents the sky or heaven and strength in skills, like a tall plant growing to the sky. Physical and mental power start to stabilize here.

The following belt is red, for danger. It’s the color of blood, the essential life force. Maturity, honor and respect are exhibited and skills are perfected. The student is warned to practice control of his/her movements and also cautions any opponents.

And we all know the black belt is the final level, which represents maturity and rejecting darkness and fear. It is also the combination of all color. This is the final stage where technique is mastered.

Like I said, Taekwondo is known for its emphasis on kicking. The rationale is that the leg is the longest and strongest weapon a martial artist has, so kicks have the greatest power. It should also be noted that, historically, Koreans thought that hands were too valuable to be used in combat.

Taekwondo is popular with both genders and has a wide age range of participants. I often see senior citizens coming in and out of the local kwans on my morning walks. Physically, it develops strength, speed, balance, flexibility and stamina.

Another aspect of Taekwondo is Kyepka, more commonly called the break test. It’s a mandatory part of the black-belt exam and is popular in demonstrations. It’s believed that breaking an object is a good way to practice concentration, power, and precision on non-living objects. It’s used to learn the body is a very strong weapon and reinforce self-restraint when fighting another person. Breaking can be performed with any rigid part of the body. The most common are the hand or foot, but it can also be done with an elbow, knee or head.

There are two common classifications of breaks: speed and power. Speed breaks are breaks where the object isn’t held in place. The only way to break the object is to hit it with enough speed. Sometimes the board is held lightly between two fingers, sometimes it is dropped and must be broken while it falls. No matter how much power is used, the board will not break unless it is hit fast enough.

Power breaks are supported, either by a person or a structure. It is common for black belts to test with bricks, concrete or several boards.

The practice of breaking is controversial because a lot of times the material used is doctored in some way, giving the impression the performers are more powerful than they really are. In competitions, materials are inspected beforehand.

Another important aspect of Taekwondo is meditation. The goal is to be aware of everything and distracted by nothing.

Taekwondo stresses harmony with nature. It’s not just a physical expression, but a mental and spiritual conditioning as well. There is an entire philosophy to it. For instance:

• If you know your opponent and know yourself, then you will always win.
• If you do not know your opponent, but know yourself, you will win half the time.
• If you know neither your opponent nor yourself, you will always lose.
• Tactics don’t survive without strategy.
• With confidence there is no fear, without it, there is no hope.
• Success is only possible through desire, determination, drive, dedication and discipline.

I’m not sure if it writing an essay is mandatory to progress to a black belt, but as I’ve been researching this topic online, I’ve come across many essays. This is an essay written by Mike D’Agostino in December of 2005.

Tae Kwon Do - First Degree Black Belt Essay

When I first decided to get involved in tae kwon do I did so for the physical training. I hadn’t played an organized sport in over four years and daily workouts at the gym became boring and uninteresting. I needed a different way to incorporate a daily workout that is important to me to keep up a healthy lifestyle. Tae kwon do became a refreshing change.


The classes in the beginning were physically intense. I got headaches often from thinking about the classes all day and having a tough physical workout looming over me throughout the day. There definitely were times I hesitated coming to class because I knew it would be a tough workout. I think that at the time I didn’t know, or better yet understand, that it wasn’t the physical workout I was dreading, it was more the mental workout. It wasn’t that my body wasn’t prepared for the class or that I couldn’t do all the sit-ups or push-ups, it was the fact that I wasn’t sure if I was mentally prepared. The only thing I had to go by was that no matter how unwilling and lazy I felt, as soon as the class was over I felt so much better, so relieved and satisfied that I forced myself to come to class and that if I finished the workout, that I would completely forget about not wanting to go.



This went on for almost a year. Feeling apprehensive about going, taking the class, and then the feeling of satisfaction. I guess at around yellow or purple belt I made up in my mind that I was sticking with tae kwon do and that I was in it for the long haul. Slowly over the next year my attitude changed from having to force myself to go to class to wanting and needing to go to class. It was at this point the mental training tae kwon do offers started to take over the physical training.



I think blue belt was probably the biggest jump for me. Getting to blue belt signified a jump in training. I was no longer a “low-belt” and more exercises, or a more intense workout was required and expected, not just from Master Vince, but from myself. I wanted to be able to do all the exercises, I wanted to perform all the more difficult techniques. Like I said before, this required more than just a strong body, it required a strong mind.



I believe now that the mental training of tae kwon do far outweighs the physical training. The physical training has to stop at some point in the long run, but the mental training lasts a lifetime. I am able to perform in class and do all the exercises and all the techniques because I believe that I can. I believe that tae kwon do is a mental exercise. It requires focus and concentration and a willingness to believe that you can do whatever it is you want to do. Getting to black-belt is a symbol that I have the ability to put my mind to anything to accomplish my goals. Tae kwon do has helped me get to this point using little steps. When I first started out it was believing that I could do 30 sit-ups, then it got to 40, then 50…I think now we’re up to about 100. But it’s the ability to believe that I can do it that sharpens my mind and gives me confidence that I can do whatever I want to do.



The results speak for themselves. Almost four years ago when I started I had stopped going to school, didn’t have a job and had a hard time feeling comfortable in social situations. Fast-forward to today and I’ve graduated college, have a good job doing what I want to do, and actually enjoy myself in social settings. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t feel as comfortable with myself and the direction my life is going without tae kwon do.



I hope to pass on everything I’ve learned to other people at the school. I’ve gone through everything they are going through and hopefully by looking at me and what I’ve accomplished, through dedication and hard work, it will inspire them to keep training and push forward. I hope to start helping out teaching some of the classes. In the few classes I have managed to teach, even if just doing the warm-ups, I’ve learned a lot about how different people react to various forms of teaching techniques. And by figuring out how to inspire people and get them to train as hard as they can, I’m learning at the same time.



Tae kwon do has inspired me to become a better person and has given me the discipline and confidence to accomplish any of my goals. The impact from my tae kwon do training has only been positive.