There are many different forms of martial arts in the world, and you may be wondering what the difference between all the different styles of martial arts is.
In this article we will briefly discuss what is taught in a typical Tae Kwon Do program today and what the different elements of this martial art are.
Let's start with the meaning of Tae Kwon Do.
"Tae" is translated as "foot," "Kwon" is translated as "fist," and "Do" can be translated as "the way.
" So, in loose translation, Tae Kwon Do simply means "the way of the fist and the foot.
" This should not be surprising to anyone who is in the least bit familiar with martial arts - nearly everybody expects martial arts to involve kicking and punching.
Where is Tae Kwon Do From? Tae Kwon Do originated in Korea, although the history of the sport is too long to go over in this article as it spans about 2,000 years.
For much of its history, it was not yet organized as a sport outside of Korea, and for most of its history it wasn't even considered a "sport" in the sense that we consider it to be one today.
However, today Tae Kwon Do is practiced all over the world and now it is even a part of the Olympics.
For more information about the history of this martial art watch for my next article.
What Do You Learn in Tae Kwon Do? Kicking and punching techniques Of course, one of the basic parts of martial arts is learning kicking and punching techniques.
Tae Kwon Do is famous as a kicking sport.
When you watch sparring matches in the Olympics there are virtually no hand techniques used - the competitors only throw kicks.
If you look up videos online of professional Korean Tae Kwon Do demonstration teams you will see a lot of fancy kicking demonstrations that involve jumping, flying through the air, multiple spins and rotations, etc.
So naturally, as a part of any class you will learn at least basic kicking techniques as well as hand techniques.
Poomse (forms) Tae Kwon Do isn't all kicking though, far from it.
Another huge traditional part of the sport is poomse, or forms.
A form is a series of movements that involves strikes and blocks to help the student perfect their movements, learn how to flow between techniques, and improve their coordination, timing, and balance.
Nearly every major martial arts tournament, outside of the Olympics, includes poomse divisions.
Kyorugi (sparring) If you watch martial arts in the Olympics, then this is what you are seeing.
Sparring is a competition between two people where they try to land their techniques on their opponent to score points.
Olympic sparring has gone through much development as a sport and has very specific rules - for example, hand techniques are rarely scored, which is why you virtually never see sparring competitors use anything but kicks; and head shots will generally score more points than body shots.
Simply put, sparring is just the application of physical techniques against an opponent.
Kyukpa (breaking) Breaking is another way that martial arts students can practice the physical application of their techniques.
They can test their power and accuracy with a technique by breaking through a solid object like a board or a brick.
Weapons training Many martial arts schools, though not all, will include traditional weapons in their Tae Kwon Do curriculum.
Weapons like jong bong (long staff), kama, sai, chux, etc.
are commonly taught in martial arts programs, although not all schools will include them in their curriculum.
Training with weapons helps the Tae Kwon Do student develop coordination and strength as well as safety and awareness around weapons.