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Taekwondo Sports |
Taekwondo is a hard martial art that originated in Korea. It
is an amalgamation of Chinese, Japanese, and traditional Korean
fighting styles. With its popularity, taekwondo has become the
world's most commonly practiced martial art. It is the national
sport of Korea as well as an Olympic sporting event.
Taekwondo is also spelled as "tae kwon do" or "taekwon-do."
In Korean, 'tae' means (derived from hanja) "to strike or smash
with the foot"; 'kwon' means "to strike or smash with the
hand"; and 'do' means "way" or "path".
Hence, "taekwondo" is translated as "the way of the
foot and the fist".
TAEKWONDO TECHNIQUES
- Front Kick (ap chagi): In this the practitioner raises their
knee to their waist, pulls their toes back and then quickly
extends their foot at an opponent. It is also known as the snap
kick.
- Side Kick (yop chagi): It is a very powerful kick. In this,
first the practitioner raises his knee, rotates their body 90
degrees, extend their leg striking with the side or heel of
their foot.
- Roundhouse Kick or Turning Kick (dolyo chagi): In this kick
the practitioner raises their knee, turns, pulls their toes back
and extends the kick horizontally across his target, usually at
a 45 degree angle.
- Hook Kick (hoorye cha kee): It is less popular kick. In this
the practitioner raises the knee in a fashion similar to the
side kick, then extends the foot in a dorsal arc (clock-wise for
the right foot) with the heel as the intended striking weapon.
- Crescent Kick (Bandal Chagi): It is very popular due to
sparring competitions. The knee is raised in front, the leg is
then extended and pulled down with the heel pointed downward. It
is typically targeted toward the head or shoulders.
- Axe Kick (Naeryo Chagi): It has two variations, outer
crescent and the inner crescent. In outer crescent the
practitioner raises the extended leg as high as they can, and
slightly across the body, they then sweep to the side in a
circular movement. In the inner crescent, the motions are the
same, but the direction of the kick changes, this time
originating from the outside of the body, heading towards the
inside of the body.
- Spin Kicks (dora chagi): A number of spinning kicks exists
that involve the rotation of the entire body before the kick is
released. It include the back pivot kick (dweel cha kee),
spinning hook kick (dweel hoorye cha kee), spinning axe kick,
returning kick, 360 turning kick, and a number of other kicks of
varying popularity.
- Jump Kicks (ee dan chagi): A number of kicks involves jumping
before their execution. These kicks include jumping front kick
(ee dan ap cha kee), jump side kick (ee dan yop cha kee), flying
side kick, jump roundhouse (ee dan dol ryu cha kee) jump
spinning hook kick, shuffle jump kick, jump (or counter) back
kick, and jump spinning side kick.
TAEKWONDO RANKS AND BELT
COLORS
- 10th (kup) - White Belt
- 9th (kup) - Yellow Tags
- 8th (kup) - Yellow belt
- 7th (kup) - Green Tags
- 6th (kup) - green belt
- 5th (kup) - Blue Tags
- 4th (kup) - blue belt
- 3rd (kup) - Red Tags
- 2nd (kup) - red belt
- 1st (kup) - Black Tags
- 1st Dan - Black Belt
TAEKWONDO DAN TITLES
For those who have passed the sabum test at the Kukkiwon
Academy, these are the official sabum classifications:
- 4th and 5th Dan "Sabum 3rd Class": Graduate of 3rd
Class Course
- 6th and 7th Dan "Sabum 2nd Class": Graduate of 2nd
Class Course
- 8th and 9th Dan "Sabum 1st Class": Graduate of 1st
Class Course
Officially, the Kukkiwon recognizes the following titles for
dan ranks:
- 1st Dan/Poom - 5th Dan: "Master"
- 5th Dan - 10th Dan: "Grandmaster"
In America, the following is an example of how schools may
assign titles to Dan ranks:
- 1st Dan - 2nd Dan: "Assistant Instructor"
- 3rd Dan - 4th Dan: "Instructor"
- 5th Dan - 7th Dan: "Master"
- 8th Dan - 10th Dan: "Grand Master"
TAEKWONDO ADDRESSING TERMS
- Panjanim - Higher Ranking Student
- Sunbaenim - Senior Student
- Kyosanim - Assistant Instructor
- Sabumnim - Teacher
- Kwanjangnim - Kwan Leader
- Kuk Sa Nim - National Teacher
Taekwondo