Imagine Seoul, the capital of Korea, in 1945. For many years Japan had ruled Korea. Now that has ended, and all over the city new fighting schools are opening. 1,52 Each school is called a . 1,52 This is where the story of begins.
A soldier who loved to learn
Choi Hong Hi was born on 9 November 1918. 2 He grew up to be an army officer and then a general. 2 His own story, which UK ITF still tells, says that as a teenager he learned an old Korean kicking art called Taekkyeon, and that he learned karate in Japan. 101
Many Koreans had learned karate in Japan by the time the occupation ended. The Kukkiwon, the headquarters of Olympic taekwondo, says so itself. 52
Two stories about the roots
Where does taekwondo really come from? The Kukkiwon and World Taekwondo say it grows from two very old Korean traditions: , written about in old Korean histories, and , a kicking game from long ago. 46,52
Historians do not all agree. Some say taekwondo is mostly Korean. Others, and this is the main view today, say it grew mostly out of Japanese karate, brought home by Koreans who had studied in Japan. 1 The Kukkiwon says kicks "inspired by Taekkyeon" were added after 1945. 52
The kwans
The new schools, the kwans, opened in Seoul after 1945. 1,52
The kwans did not share one name yet. Some called their art Tang Soo Do, some Kong Soo Do, some Tae Soo Do. 1
What the word means
The word that would bring them together has three parts. means foot. means fist. means the way. So taekwondo is roughly "the way of the foot and the fist". 46 The Kukkiwon says taekwondo is a martial art of attack and defence with bare hands, famous above all for its kicks. 52
In 1945 nobody was saying that word yet. Ten years later, a general would call a meeting to choose it.