Part 1 – Martial arts of old Korea
Part 2 – Formation of the martial art TaeKwonDo
Part 3 – Partition of TaeKwonDo inti styles and transformation into a sport
TaeKwonDo is a Korean martial art of self-defense and is one of the most effective combat systems in the world.
If we look at the reasons why this is the case, we will find that, historically, Korea has been constantly annexed on one side or the other by its position as a peninsula between China and Japan. The Japanese tried to conquer Korea and then advance to China, and the Chinese tried to conquer Korea for easier access to Japan.
From the 1st century the Kogurjo, Silla, Pekche dynasties, and from the 16th century the Choson dynasty faced numerous invasions until the late 19th century, when the power of the dynasties began to decline. In 1897, the Korean Empire was established, but it took only 13 years before Korea succumbed to colony occupation in hungry Japan in 1910. Speculations that the Korean Emperor was a Japanese ally continue to this day.
In 1795, at the behest of King Jeongjo, the oldest and most comprehensive surviving work was created in four volumes dealing with 24 ways of fighting with the name – Muye Dobo Tongji by Yi Deongmu (1741–1793), Pak Je-ga (1750–1805) and Baek Dong- soo (1743–1816). Muyedobotongji is considered one of the resources necessary to understand the nature and essence of Korean martial arts.
From the extensive work of Muyedobotongji, which includes, for example, strategies for horse riding, 5 styles are key to the development of martial arts in the modern world – Yang chang – spear, Kumdo – sword, Gwonbeop – fist, Pyeongon – nunchaku, Gon bong – stick.
In 1910, when Korea came under Japanese rule, of course, all kinds of Korean culture, including martial arts, were suppressed and banned. Karate, nahate, shurite, koryu, jujutsu and daito-ryu aikijutsu were taught. Thanks to the movements of monks, various styles of Chinese Wushu, Bajiquan, wǔ xíng – 5 forms of kung fu – the style of Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake and Dragon penetrated the southern part of Korea. Styles such as Wing Chun, Kuk Sool and the traditional form of Shaolin kung fu also appear in northern Korea.
All these styles were mixed with each other and in northern Korea they were popularly referred to as various Tang Soo Do styles, in the southern part of the peninsula as Kong Soo Do – both essentially translating newly formed Japanese karate, which was officially dominant along with judo.
Masters in the shadow of the mainstream taught secretly the traditional Korean styles of Moo Sool Gi, Ki Gon, Soo Bahk, or Kwon Bup (Gwonbeop) based on Muyedobotongji. Because public practice was banned, martial arts modeled on Chinese Wushu predecessors disguised themselves in folk entertainment and dance. Here we meet for the first time with the emergence of Taekkyeon as a fighting style.
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Part 2 – Formation of the martial art TaeKwonDo
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