Taekwondo
Taekwondo evolved in Korea. Before about 670AD, Korea was divided into three kingdoms.
- Koguryo (37 B.C. - 670 A.D.)
- Paekje (18 B.C. - 668 A.D.)
- Silla (57 B.C. - 936 A.D.)
The Silla unified the kingdoms after conquering the Paekje and Koguryo. The martial arts of the “Hwa Rang Do” (Flowering youth) played an important role at this unification. The Hwa Rang Do was an elite group of men, devoted to cultivating mind and body, that served the Silla kingdom. The HwaRang Do had an honor-code. Their martial arts included both “Taekyon” and “Soo Bakh Do”. The honor-code of the HwaRang is the philosophical background of modern Taekwondo.
What followed was a time of peace and the HwaRang turned from a military organization to a group specialized in poetry and music. In 936 A.D., Wang Kon founded the Koryo (short for Koguryo) dynasty. The name Korea is derived from Koryo. During the Koryo Dynasty the sport Soo Bakh Do, first used as a military training method, became popular as a sport. During the Yi-dynasty (1392 A.D. - 1910 A.D.) the emphasis on military training disappeared. King Taejo, founder of the Yi-dynasty, replaced Buddhism by Confucianism as the state religion.
Modern-day Taekwondo is influenced by many other Martial Arts especially Japanese Karate. Japan dominated Korea from 1910 through the end of World War II (in this period many Korean soldiers trained in Japan). Taekwondo adopted many of the quick, linear movements that characterize the various Japanese systems.
