Tae Kwon do is an ancient Korean art of self-defense. Translated literally, this means "art of hand and foot fighting." This art is the ultimate in self-defense and is as old as mankind. Tae Kwon Do is an extremely specialized form of it. Its origins as a martial discipline go back to the beginning of human history.

In the long history of men there has always been a need for self-defense. Since one of the strongest instincts is self-preservation, even primitive man had to discover some pattern of defense against the elements, against animals, and against other human beings. As civilization developed and life became more complex, survival rested on more and more sophisticated skills until today they are beyond the knowledge of any one person.

Whereas plant and animal survival is largely a matter of physical superiority or adaptation to environment, Homo Sapiens can generalize his experience to the point of not merely "surviving," but of prevailing over his surroundings. Of course, before the invention of weapons, man’s sole defense was the combination of intelligence itself. What better defense is there, then, than the full development of human potential vested in mind and body? These are always with us and no one can take them away.

Tae Kwon Do as an art in self-defense originated in Korea and its history grew with the history of the Korean nation. Though its tradition is ancient, many accounts, both written and verbal, as primary sources were lost or destroyed. The story told here has been gleaned and arranged over the years from a multitude of sources.

Approximately 1,300 years ago (near the end of the seventh century A.D.), the Korean peninsula consisted of three kingdoms; the Shila, the Koguryo, and the Beck Je. Shila, the smallest of these, was under constant harassment and threat of invasion by its two powerful neighbors to the north and west.

Park Hyuk Gose founded the kingdom of Shila (57 B.C. - 935 A.D.) and made Kyung Ju in the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula its capital. Consisting initially of weak, disorganized tribal groups seeking unity, Shila finally emerged as a power in the fourth century. Because of its geographic location, it escaped occupation by its neighbors Koguryo and Beck Je. The small kingdom, however, was not spared military raids. These came not only from the neighboring kingdoms on the peninsula itself, but from Japan as well. Thus, survival dictated the marshalling of a strong army in Shila.

Shil’a military leadership grew from the intense loyalty of its tribal clans. In fact, so cohesive did their unity become, it proved superior to the strength of Beck Je and Koguryo. Instrumental in brining this about was the twenty-fourth king of Shila, Chin Heung. He was able to assemble the Hwa Rang Do, an elite fighting corps. These men received not only regular military training with the then-known weapons of war, but learned discipline of mind and body beyond this. They voluntarily exposed themselves to severe hardships in order to condition themselves to long endurance, comparable to what we know as the most rigorous survival training programs.

Won Kang, monk and scholar, is said to have originated the five principles that today still form the basis of Tae Kwon Do:

1. Loyalty to one’s king;

2. Obedience to one’s parents;

3. Fidelity to one’s friends;

4. Perseverance in combat;

5. Killing with honor

This program is as viable today as it was then, though it may be expressed in newer language. In any country, loyalty to lawful rulers, honor to parents and friends, bravery in battle and mercy mixed with justice in necessary killing are held as basic to human dignity. They are still the foundation of a full and virtuous life, serving to inspire heroism.

Needless to say, the deeds of he Hwa Rang Do became legendary not only on the battlefield, but in their entire way of life. It inspired the people of Shila to throw off their enemies, to gather disparate loyalties, and to form the Korean peninsula with its victories. With this unification under Shil’a banner (337 A.D. - 935 A.D.), the original martial art of the Tae Kwon Do came under popular and enthusiastic study.

This activity was also concentrated in the northern section of the peninsula under the Koguryo dynasty, found in 37 B.C. There is documentary evidence of the existence of specialized hand and foot fighting even this far back. Ruins of royal tombs built during this period contain murals depicting scenes of unarmed combat practice.

In 1935 a group of Japanese archaeologists discovered Myuong Chong and Kakchu Chong, two royal tombs dating to the Koguryo dynasty. The tombs were located in Tungku, China, in the Tung-hua province of Manchuria where Koguryo had its capital. The ceiling of the Muyong Chong carried a painting portraying two unarmed men confronting each other. The mural painting of the Kakchu Chong shoes two men wrestling. Since the construction of the two tombs mentioned took place between the years 3 and 427 A.D., one may surmise how old the art of Tae Kwon Do is.

While these scenes show men actually assuming postures of early Tae Kwon Do, there is even more evidence. At the entrance of the Sok Kul Am is the statue of a figure in typical fighting position. Sok Kul Am is a small Buddhist cavern temple going back to 751 A.D., in the reign of King Kyung Duk (742 - 765) which was erected during the reign of King Hye-Gong (765-780), proving that the art of Tae Kwon Do was a continuous development from the time it began.

So popular did Tae Kwon Do become as a sport, it was entered as a regular feature of state festivals and a regular feature of state festivals and athletic competitions combined with the celebration of seasonal changes and religious ceremony. Soo Bak (foot fighting), wrestling, tug of war, hopping, Jeki-chogi contests all had their place. The last is particularly significant in that it requires a special nimbleness of foot. The game resembles that of keeping a number of tossed balls in the air simultaneously by one person, except that Jeki-Chogi requires that this be done with the feet instead of the hands.

Some people erroneously believe that Tae Kwon Do originated from Kwon Bop, the ancient Chinese form of self-defense. They argue as follows: according to a Chinese document, Kwon Bop was introduced as a means of physical conditioning by Buddhist said, Dharma, who taught monks of Hsiaolan temple in the Chinese province of Honan. Saint Dharma came from Inida to China about the year 520 A.D., spending nine years in the Hsiaolin temple. The evidence from the Koguryo tombs, however, discredits the claim that Tae Kwon Do originated here.

Oyama Matsutatsu gives an interesting account of how Tae Kwon Do spread beyond its immediate boundaries:

In present-day Japanese, the work Karate is written with symbols meaning literally "empty," KARA and "Hand," TI. The etymology of the word is not quite so simple as it could seem. Until only fairly recently the accepted symbol for KARA was one that one that originally means "China," and the implication of the written word was simply that karate was a Chinese method of fighting. If one presses that matter still further, he finds that in ancient times, KARA referred not to China, but to the kingdom of Karak, which was at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula, and which was also known Japan as Mimana. Some Japanese ethnologists believe that the Japanese race originally came from Karak, but whether this is true or not, there was a closer relation between Karak and Japan in the early centuries of the Christian era than most modern Japanese realize. At least some of the ancestors of the Japanese people came from this Korean kingdom, and they performed an important role in the introduction of continental civilization to Japan. Because of the beauty and superiority of the various objects and utensils imported from Korea at this time, the word KARA came to have a connotation of general excellence.

(THIS IS KARATE, Tokyo and New York, 1968, p. 36.)

The "golden age" of Tae Kwon Do seems strangely linked to the history of Korea. In 935 A.D., the kingdom of Shila was overthrown and the kingdom of Koryo founded. From "Koryo" comes the western name, "Korea." During the Koryo dynasty, The Kyon Flourised, as Koryo’s survival depended on its retaining a strongly material spirit. During this time the country produced some of its finest warrior heroes.

According to An Je San, a noted historian, the Yoo Sui school (which would not be classed as Jujitsu), was known under the name of Soo Bak Gi or Tae Kyon. Every May the king of Chosun held a match for unarmed combat at Kak Chon Pavilion on Ma Am Mountain. Whoever won the contest received a prestigious government post. Tae Kwon became a compulsory part of every soldier’s training. Three winners in the annual contest, Lee Yi Men, Jang Joong Boo, and Sa Kyang Sung, eventually became leading generals during the Koryo dynasty. Thus, the art, having its inception in religious discipline, received oral patronage and became a permanent segment of national life.

The Record Book of Military Arts (Muye Dobo Tong Ji), written in 070, contains illustrations that substantiate the theory that Tae Kwon Do quickly developed into a sophisticated form of combat technique. Even the pictures and statues mentioned earlier reveal expressions and postures quite advanced relative to similar arts at that time. Hence, the terms "primitive" applied to Tae Kwon Do means "early" rather than "rudimentary" or "clumsy."

After 500 years of rule, the Koryo dynasty declined and with it, the art of Tae Kwon Do. The new reign was not only non-military, it was anti-military. A period of "civil enlightenment" set in during which anything related to military training was frowned upon. By the end of the Yi dynasty the martial arts seemed to have completely disappeared. The final blow to the arts came with the Japanese occupation in 1909, when it was forbidden to practice any martial arts. Tae Kyon, however, secretly survived among a remnant of stalwarts, by going underground, as it were, and was successfully passed on to a handful of students. Meanwhile, many Koreans, oppressed at home, emigrated from their country to study and work in other parts of the world, including China and Japan. No restrictions on unarmed martial training existed in these countries, and for the first time in over a thousand years, Tae yon was exposed to other forms of unarmed self-defense. This, indeed, proved to be an exciting development. Tae Kyon not only survived, but, with the challenge of being matched on its own ground, it became stronger by refinement and ultimately prevailed over its rivals. With the liberation of Korea in 1945, its post-occupational émigrés returned, brining with them the newly improved form of Tae Kwon. They brought too, various names indicative of particular emphasis in Tae Kwon Do, such as Tang Soo Do, Kwon Bop, Kong Soo Do, and Soo Bak. In 1955, however, a board of instructors, historians and other prominent promoters of the new Tae Kwon chose the name, Tae Kwon Do, as the new title of Korea’s national martial art. The name is particularly apt in describing its meaning:

Tae means "to kick or smash with the feet"; Kwon refers to "punching" or "destroying with the hand or fist;" Do means "way" or "method." Tae Kwon Do then, is the technique of unarmed combat for self-defense that is an accumulation of well organized, deliberately styled forms intended to do the work usually accomplished by mechanical weapons.

Today, anyone practicing Tae Kwon Do, whether he is Korean or not, is proud of this 2,000-year history. From a disciplinary exercise among a small band of determined aristocratic worriers, it has spread to practically all the countries of the world, as a sophisticated art among countless thousands of students. The combination of traditionally proven techniques with up-dated concepts and forms has resulted in a means of self-protecting unrivaled by any other form in the worlds.

Tae Kwon Do is practiced in 138 countries worldwide. We estimate that over one million adults and children practice the art in the United States, comprising 80% of the total marital art practitioners, including Karate, Judo, etc. Tae Kwon Do is a member of the National Governing Body (NGB) of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Along with many other Olympic sports, Tae Kwon Do is an official game for the Pan-Am Olympic Games of Asian Olympic Games. It was a demonstration Game for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and is scheduled as a demonstration game for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Back to Main Page: