Taekwondo – Popular Martial Art
Taekwondo is a very popular martial art and is becoming more popular all the time, especially with young people. Most Taekwondo organizations publicly agree that Taekwondo was derived from other Korean martial arts. There is however, arguably a Japanese influence from Karate resulting from the lengthy Japanese occupation of Korea in the last century.
Taekwondo organizations have evolved their own ranking systems by which students progress. They also have their own gradings, these are events where students of the art may progress up the ranks by demonstrating their ability in sparring, performing patterns and often by demonstrating their ability to use the correct Korean terms. Taekwondo is often translated from the Korean as “foot-fist-art”.
Taekwondo is famously known for its emphasis on fancy high kicking techniques, these distinguish it from other martial arts such as karate. If high fancy kicks interest you then this is a very good martial art to choose.
The best way to score high points in taekwondo sparring is by kicks to the head zone. Learning Taekwondo kicks requires a great degree of flexibility. So it really helps out to be young and preferably female. If you are an older male you will have to work on your flexibility with stretching exercises. It will take more time but you will get there in the end.
Taekwondo is included in the Olympic Games. The 1988 games in Seoul was a demonstration event but by the time of the Sydney Olympics Taekwondo was a full medal event. Olympic Taekwondo sparring is a full contact event and the ring where competitors fight is ten meters square. Taekwondo matches at the Olympics and elsewhere such as at club or national level are held according to weight categories.
Tags: Korean Martial Art, Martial Art, Taekwondo