What is Taekwondo?
Taekwondo is a very systematic approach to the martial arts, that instills just more than physical fighting skills. Taekwondo, is a discipline that Instills ways of increasing our spirit and life through training our mind and body. Today, it has become a worldwide sport that's acquired an international reputation, and stands among the games of the Olympics.
What is meant by the word Tae Kwon Do?
It's made up of three distinct parts "Tae-Kwon-Do", however, it's made up of only one word in Korean. "Tae" which means "foot," "leg," or "to step on"; "Kwon" means "fight," or "fist"; and "Do" means the "way" or "discipline." If we put these three parts together, we can see two important ideas behind TaeKwonDo.
First, Taekwondo is the enlightened way of applying "Tae" and "Kwon" which are comprised of your "fists" and "feet", or all of your body parts that can be used like fists and feet.
Second, it is a path to ensure control of a fight and in the end producing peace. This idea comes from the meaning of Tae Kwon "to put fists under control". Thus Taekwondo's ultimate definition is: "the right way of using all of your body parts to stop fights and help to work torwards a life of peace."
Taekwondo and Korea grew up together and has been given many different names throughout its history. In Korea, Taekwondo started out as a martial art for defense called "Taekkyon" or "Subak," and developed as a way of training body and mind in the ancient kingdom of Koguryo, under the title of "Sunbae." In the time period of Shilla, it had become the staple of Hwarangdo and at that time was responsible for creating the countries leaders.
Taekwondo is comparable to martial arts in other Asian countries and combines features with each of them, because throughout its history it has obtained many varying styles that were in the countries that surrounded them, like China and Japan.
But Taekwondo is very different from many oriental martial arts in a couple respects. First, physically it is very active with active movements that utilize an
assortment of foot skills. Second, the aim is is to have the physical elements and movement blend with the students life as a whole not to be seperate. Third, it gives birth to a dynamic poomsae (see poomsae in the martial arts) from another perspective. Taekwondo is characterized by unity: the unity of body, mind, and life, and the unity of the poomsae and confrontation.
When you learn Taekwondo, you should quite your mind and synchronize your mind with your moves, and extend this harmony to your life and society as a whole. This is how the principle of the physical moves, the principle of mind training, and the principle of life become one and the same.
Taekwondo is an attitude about life, much like having a job, raising a family, or fighting for something in which you believe in. What makes Taekwondo different from these is that it is an activity for survival in extremely negative situation in ones life. One must always overcome your opponent that is trying to hurt you. But simply winning a fight is not enough to insure one's safety, because your opponent may recuperate and attack again. Moreover, there can be other enemies than the one that was just defeated. One cannot ever truly feel safe unless that person obtains unwavering sense of peace. To obtain this persistent or lasting peace, one needs wholeness. This is the aim of Taekwondo. Otherwise
Taekwondo would be no different from any other street-fighting skills. Taekwondo pursues harmonious growth and improvements in ones life through its unique activities. This is why one could say Taekwondo is a way of life. To ultimately enable ourselves to lead more valuable lives, we would do well by living the guiding principles at the core of Taekwondo.
