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| | History of Tae Kwon Do
(from: Taekwondo
Home Page in Korea [I*EXPO '96])
Walt Mason's 'Big D,' 2001
- Taekwondo is the name of the martial art turned modern international sport
which has been independently developed over about 20 centuries in Korea. The
main feature of Taekwondo is that it is a free-fighting combat sport using
bare hands and feet to repel an opponent.
- Taekwondo, no more the sport of an eastern small country, Korea, has
become one of the world's most prominent sports participated in by some 40
million people in more than 142 countries. The Taekwondo World Championships
and Taekwondo Asian Championships have been held ten times to date. Taekwondo
was a demonstration sport of the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, Korea and the
1992 Barcelona Olympics, Spain. In the end, in 1994, the International Olympic
Committee admitted the Taekwondo as an official event of the 2000 Sydney
Olympic Games, Australia. As a result, Taekwondo is poised to take another
leap in its advance towards new dimensions.
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1. The Origin of Taekwondo
Man by nature has the instinct to preserve his own life as well as his
race, and therefore engages himself in doing physical activities all the
time either consciously or unconsciously. Man cannot do without physical
motions and he grows and developes on them, regardless of time and space. In
ancient times people had no means other than the bare hands and body to
defend themselves; so they naturally developed the bare-hand fighting
techniques.
Even at the times when arms were developed as the defensive or offensive
means, people continued to enjoy the bare-hand fighting techniques for the
purpose of building physical strength as well as showing off through matches
at the rituals of tribal communities.
In the early history of the Korean Peninsula, there were three tribes
dwelling there, each enjoying warrior's martial art contests during the
ritual seasons.
At that time people learned techniques from their experiences of
fighting against the beasts whose defensive and offensive motions were also
the subject of analysis. It is believed that this was exactly the true
grounding of today's Taekwondo, whose name has descended from "subak", "taekkyon",
"takkyon" and so on.
Later in the latter part of ancient times on the Korean Peninsula, three
kingdoms came into existence, always rivaling among themselves for the
hegemony. They were Koguryo, Paekje and Silla, all indulged in growing
national strength with trained warriors. Therefore, the Korean history tells
that there were military personalities among the ell-known prominent
national leaders of the three kingdoms, which proves the military tendency
of ruling hierarchy.
As a result, youth warrior's corps were organized, such as "hwarangdo"
in Silla and "chouisonin" in Koguryo, which both adopted the martial art
training as one of the important subjects of learning. A renowned martial
art book of the days, called "muyedobo-tongji" said; "Taekwondo(the art of
hand-to-hand fight) is the basis of martial art, enabling one to build
strength by means of using the hand and foot freely and training arms and
legs as well as the body to be adaptable to any critical situations, which
means Taekwondo was already prevalent in that age. Thus, it can be easily
assumed that Taekwondo was originated from the days of tribal communities on
the Korean Peninsula.
Silla was kingdom founded in B.C.57 on the southeastern part of Korea
and Koguryo founded in B.C.37 on the northern part of Korea along the Yalu
River, both making great efforts to raise their youngsters into strong
warriors called "Hwarang" and "sonbae" respectively, certainly with
Taekwondo as one of the principal subjects of physical training.
2. Koguryo's "sonbae" and Taekkyon
Koguryo was founded on the northern part of Korea, surrounded by the
hostile Han(Chinese) tribes in the north. Therefore, in its initial stage of
national foundation, the kingdom organized a strong warrior's corps called "sonbae"
in its attempt to consolidate the centralized power.
According the scholars of history, the word "sonbae" is meant by a man
of virtue who never recoils from a fighting, that is, a member of the
warrior's corps. Later a history book on the old Chosun dynasty described
the life of Koguryo days, saying; "People gathered on March 10 every year at
a site of ritual, where they enjoyed a sword dance, archery, subak(taekyon)
contests and so on", implying that subak(Taekwondo) was one of the popular
events for the ritual in the Koguryo days. It also said that "sonbaes lived
in groups, learning history and literary arts at home and going out to
construct roads and fortresses for the benefits of society, always devoting
themselves to the nation."
Therefore, it is altogether natural that Koguryo put the priority of
interests on the taekkyon which was the basis of martial arts, as can be
proved by the wall paintings discovered at several tombs of Koguryo days. A
mural painting at the Samsil Tomb shows two warriors engaged in a
face-to-face match in takkyon(Taekwondo) stance, and a third at the same
tomb shows the scene of Korean wrestling bout, clearly distinguishing it
from the taekkyon.
A mural painting of one of the Royal Tombs depicting
the scene of a Korean wrestling bout
It can be assumed from the painting of taekkyon match that the dead was
either a taekkyon practicer or the subject of condolence with dances and
martial art.
3. Silla's "Hwarang" and Taekkyon
The kingdom of Silla was founded on the southeastern part of the Korean
Peninsula under the circumstances of no immediate threat from outside, but
along with the birth of Paekje Kingdom on its west flank and the start of
invasions by Koguryo from the north, Silla was impelled to arm itself with
the development of martial arts.
In fact, "hwarangdo" is the typical example of Silla's martial arts,
which is an assimilation of Koguryo's "sonbae" system. The members of the
youth group of hwarangdo were well trained with the senses of filial piety,
loyalty to the kingdom and sacrificial devotion to society to become
important personalities for the rein of kingdom. Notable among them were Kim
Yu-Sin and Kim Chun-Chu who made a definite contribution to the unification
of those three kingdoms.
The Chronicle of Old Chosun described the life of hwarangs, members of
hwarangdo:"hwarangs were selected by the kingdom through contests and, after
selection, they lived together in a group, indulging themselves in learning,
exercising subak(old form of Taekwondo), fencing and horse-riding, and
sometimes they enjoyed various games including the Korean wrestling(Ssirum).
In peace time, hwarangs served for the benefits of communities, working on
emergency aids and construction of fortresses and roads, and they were
always ready to sacrifice their lives at the time of war."
Hwarangs were particularly influenced by the Buddhistic disciplines and
therefore the bronze statues of a Hercules(a man of great physical strength)
currently exhibited at the Kyongju Museum clearly indicate that martial arts
were practiced at temples by showing a strong man's bare-hand defensive and
offensive stances.
Especially the shape of a first shown on the statue of Kumgang Yoksa(a
strong man) exactly resembles that of a "jungkwon"(right fist) in the
contemporary term of Teakwondo. The statue also shows today's "pyon
jumok"(flat fist) and the use of legs which are seen in today's Teakwondo.
It is really noticeable that in that Silla epoch the terms of "subak"(hand
techniques) and "taekkon" appear together, signifying that both hand and
foot techniques were used in martial arts as shown in today's Taekwondo.
Status of warrior
Kumgang in Sokkuram
cave |
Shapes of warrior Kumgangs's fit |
Bronze status of
warrior Kumgang |
4. Taekkyon Transmitted from Koguryo to Silla
As the art of taekkyon was popularized in Koguryo, it was also handed
down to Silla, which is justified by the following points of view;
(1) "Hwarang"(or sonrang) in Silla has the same meaning with the
word "sonbae" in Koguryo by indicating both the youth Warrior's corps from
their etymological origins.
(2) Both hwarang and sonbae had the same organizations and hierarchical
structure with each other.
(3) According to historical records, as sonbaes in Koguryo used to
compete in taekkyon games at the time of their national festivals, hwarangs
in Silla also played taekkyon games(subak, dokkyoni or taekkoni) at such
festivals as "palkwanhoe" and "hankawi", thus systematically developing the
ancient fighting techniques into the taekkyon(or sonbae) as the basis of
martial arts by around A.D. 200. from the 4th century the hwarangs took the
takkyon lesson as a systemized martial art at their learning houses to make
it also popularized among ordinary people, so much so that their techniques
were depicted on the mural paintings of ancient warrior tombs.
Again, it is also true that taekkyon, coming down to Silla, was further
developed into a school of martial art with the division of techniques,
i.e., bare-hand techniques and foot techniques, which can be proved by the
fact that both hand and foot techniques are clearly shown in the ancient
sculptures and Buddhistic statues.
The Koryo Dynasty which reunified the Korean Peninsula after Silla and
lasted from A.D.918 to 1392 had the taekkyon developed more systematically
and made it a compulsory subject in the examinations for selection of
military cadets.
The techniques and power of taekkyon martial art grew to become
effective weapons even to kill human beings. In the military, a pattern of
collective practice, called "obyong-subak-hui(5 soldier's taekkyon play),
was introduced so that it might be used in a real war.
In the early days of Koryo Dynasty, martial art abilities were the only
required qualifications to become military personnel because the kingdom
utterly needed the national defense capabilities after conquer of the
Peninsula. A certain plain soldier who mastered the taekkyon techniques was
promoted to a general, and young people were invited to taekkyon contests
where the skilled ones were selected to become military officers. There were
lots of other examples in which many taekkyon-mastered youths were picked up
as officials. At that time there already existed certain judgement norms of
taekkyon contests, which is proof that Taekwondo sports was originated in
that epoch. The Chronicles of Koryo Dynasty said; "At a power contest of
taekkyon techniques, Lee Yi-Min punched a pillar of the house with his
right-hand fist, then some of the props of the roof were shaken. Another
taekkyon practicer had his fist pierce through the clay-wall."
Taekwondo explained in the Koryo
History book |
Especially the kings of Koryo Dynasty were much interested in "subakhui"
(taekkyon contest), making it a compulsory course of military training.
Therefore, subakhui was also popular among the populace because contests of
subakhui were organized wherever a king went out for inspection tours in the
villages.
However, the Koryo Dynasty in its latest years had gunpowder and new
types of weapons available at hand, thus slowing down its support of martial
art training. Therefore, the subakhui remained as the folk games to be
transmitted as such down to the modern Korea, Chosun.
In the Modern Times of korea, which cover the Chosun (or Yi) Dynasty
(1392~1910), the Imperial Korea and the Japanese Colonial Rule until 1945,
Taekwondo was rather called "subakhui" than "taekkyon" and it suffered an
eventual loss of official support from the central government as the weapons
were modernized for national defense, although the subakhui was still
popular in the early days of Chosun.
The Yi Dynasty (Chosun) was founded on the ideology of Confucianism,
which resulted in rejecting all Buddhistic festivals and giving more
importance on literary art than martial art. Nonetheless, the Annals of
Chosun Dynasty tell stories about the contests of subakhui ordered by local
officials for the purpose of selecting soldiers and others ordered by the
kings who enjoyed watching subakhui contests at the time of feasts. It was
also ruled by the Defense Department that a soldier should be employed when
he won out three other contestants in the subakhui bouts.
However, as the systematic organization of government progressed, the
government officials began to lay more importance on power struggles than of
the interest of defense, naturally neglecting promotion of martial arts.
Then, it was only in the days of King Jungjo after the disgraceful
invasion of Korea by the Japanese (in 1592) that the royal government
revived strong defense measures by strengthening military training and
martial art practice. Around this period there was a publication of the
so-called Muyedobo-tongji, a book of martial art illustrations, whose 4th
volume entitled "hand-fighting techniques" contained the illustration of 38
motions, exactly resembling today's Taekwondo poomsae and basic movements.
Of course, those motions can not be compared with today's Taekwondo poomsae,
which has been modernized through scientific studies.
Even under the Japanese colonial rule, some famous Korean writers, such
as Shin Chae-Ho and Choi Nam-Sun, mentioned about Taekwondo, saying "Present
subak prevailing in Seoul came from the sonbae in the Koguryo Dynasty," and
"Subak is like today's takkyon which was originally practiced as martial art
but is now played mostly by children as games."
However, the Japanese colonial government totally prohibited all
folkloric games including takkyon in the process of suppressing the Korean
people. The martial art taekkyondo(Taekwondo) had been secretly handed down
only by the masters of the art until the liberation of the country in 1945.
Song Duk-Ki, one of the then masters, is still alive with the age of over 80
and testifies that his master was Im Ho who was reputed for his excellent
skills of taekkyondo, "jumping over the walls and running through the wood
just like a tiger."
Explanation of taekkon
techniques in Muyedobo-tongi |
General illustrations of
techniques |
Scene of contest |
At that time 14 terms of techniques were used, representing 5 kicking
patterns, 4 hand techniques, pushing-down-at-the-heel 3 patterns,
turning-over kick 1 pattern and 1 technique of downing-the-whole-body. Also
noteworthy is the use of the term "poom" which signified a face-to-face
stance preparing for a fight. The masters of taekkyondo were also under
constant threat of imprisonment, which resulted in an eventual fade-out of
taekkyondo as popular games.
- Upon liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonial rule after World War
II, the Korean people began recovering the thought of self-reliance and the
traditional folkloric games which resumed their popularity. Song Duk-Ki,
afore-mentioned master of teakkyondo, presented a demonstration of the martial
art before the first Republic of Korea President Syngman Rhee on the occasion
of the latter's birth-day anniversary, thus clearly distinguishing Taekwondo
from the Japanese Karate which had been introduced by the Japanese rulers.
- Martial art experts began opening their Taekwondo gymnasiums all over the
country and after the end of Korean War (1950~1953) Taekwondo was popularized
among the Dan-grade black-belters within the country, also dispatching about
2,000 Taekwondo masters to more than 100 countries for foreigners' training.
- After all, following the nomination of Taekwondo as a national martial art
in 1971, the present Kukkiwon was founded in 1972 to be used as the central
gymnasium as well as the site of various Taekwondo competitions. The a year
later on May 28, 1973 the World Taekwondo Federation came into existence,
currently having 108 countries as its members.
- In 1973 the biennial World Taekwondo Championships was organized, the
final results of which up to 1985 are shown Table 1.
- Again in 1974, Taekwondo was admitted to the Asian Games as an official
event. the results of Asiad Taekwondo Championships are shown in Table 2.
- In 1975 Taekwondo was accepted as an official sport by the U.S.Amateur
Athletes Union (AAU) and also admitted to the General Association of
international Sports Federations (GAISF), followed by the adoption of official
sports event by the International Council of Military Sports (CISM) in 1976.
In 1979 President of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) was elected chairman
of the World Federation of Non-Olympic Sports. The WTF became an
IOC-recognized sports federation in 1980, making Taekwondo an Olympic sport.
Then the adoption of Taekwondo as an official event was followed by the World
Games in 1981, the Pan-American Games in 1986, and finally by the 2000
Olympiad to be held in Australia.
Bibliography:
Ra Hyon-soeng, "History of Korean Sports",
4th ed. (1975)
Shin Chae-ho, "The Whole Collection of Tanje
Shin Chae-ho", part I (1972)
Jindan Academic Society, "History of
Korea-Ancient Times" (1959)
Lee Ran-young ed., "Hankuk Keumsokmun chubo
(Korea's Old and Modern Literary works)" (1968)
Choo, Saito, "Study of Korean Culture in Ancient
Times" (1940)
An Kye-hyon, "Palgwan Hoigo", part IV of
"A Study of the East Nation" (1951)
Chung Chan-mo, "The Process of
Taekwondo Development in Ancient Korea", doctoral
thesis (1972)
Historical Chronicles of Korea
- "Chronicles of Three-Kingdoms"
- "Muyedobo-Tongji(Illustration of martial art
techniques)", Vol.IV
- "History of Koryo", Volumes 126~129
- "Shindongkuk Yojiseungram (New Geographical
Introduction of East Nation)", Vol.34
- "Chronicles of King Sejong", Vols. 9 and
51
- "Chronicles of King Taejong", Vols. 21
and 32
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