Northeast Iowa
April 12, 2014
Brief History Of Tae Kwon Do
I started Tae Kwon Do in August of 2010, which
was for me the beginning of third grade, so therefore I have been in Tae Kwon Do
for almost four years. The five tenets of Tae Kwon Do which are Courtesy,
Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control, and Indomitable Spirit in my opinion have
greatly improved my self discipline, which also in my opinion is very
important. Courtesy is the showing of politeness in
one's attitude and behavior toward others, an example would be simply holding
the door for another person or saying please and thank you. Integrity is the
quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, or simply doing the
right thing even when no one is watching. Perseverance is steadfastness in doing
something despite difficulty or delay in achieving, this means to keep working
until you have successfully overcame a barrier or goal in life. Self Control is
the ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires or the
expression of them in one's behavior, especially in difficult situations. An
example of this would be not losing control of yourself or getting overly
outraged at something that doesn’t deserve that level of rage. Indomitable
Spirit is the ability to be able to get through rough or hard times and not to
get overly discouraged.
1Tae Kwon Do is a martial art that has evolved over
the last 2,000 years by combining the abrupt linear movements of Karate, and the
flowing, circular patterns of Kung-fu with native kicking techniques. It also
consists of many other different styles of martial arts that existed in Korea
and some martial arts styles from countries that surround Korea. "The earliest
records of Tae Kwon Do date back to about 50 B.C. At this time, Korea was
divided into three kingdoms:Silla, Koguryo, and Boekje. Although Tae Kwon Do
first appeared in the Koguryo kingdom, it is Silla's Hwarang warriors that are
given credit for the growth and spread of Tae Kwon Do throughout Korea. Silla
was the smallest of the three kingdoms and was always under attack. As a result,
a few select Sillan warriors were trained in Taek Kyon(an earlier version of Tae
Kwon Do) from the early Koguryo masters. These warriors then became known as the
Hwarang. The Hwarang set up a military academy for the sons of royalty in Silla
called Hwarang-do, which means "The way of flowering manhood." The Hwarang
studied Taek Kyon, history, Confucian Philosophy, ethics, Buddhist Morality, and
military tactics. The guiding principles of the Hwarang warriors were loyalty,
filial duty, trustworthiness, valor, and justice. Taek Kyon has over time spread
all throughout Korea.
In 1909 the Japanese invaded Korea, took over,
and ruled for 36 years. During this time, in order to help control the Korean
people, all martial arts practice were banned including Tae Kwon Do. A few
Koreans practiced Tae Kwon Do in secret, or in remote Buddhist temples. Other
Koreans left and went to other countries such as China in order to study the
martial art. Once Korea was liberated Tae Kwon Do regained it’s popularity.
Since then Tae Kwon Do has been spread throughout the world with the official
date of modern Tae Kwon Do being on April 10, 1955. Now over 30 million people
in more than 156 countries, practice Tae Kwon Do today.
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