How was Tae Kwon Do changed or improved since it was first created?

Answer 1

Before answering this question, one must be aware of the controversy over exactly when Taekwondo was "created." Some experts interpret all of Korea's ancient fighting skills as earlier versions of Taekwondo, and the modern "creation" is merely a name change, with updated and refined techniques and tactics. After all, any Martial Art system is just as much about it's core principles, philosophy, social culture, and knowledge of the human anatomy and natural laws of physics as it is about what kicks, punches, throws and holds are used.

These things have been passed on through the generations of Koreans, but little is known about early technical aspects except generalities such as that ancient Subak contained grappling and hand strikes, most likely patterned after Chinese hand-fighting of the T'ang Dynasty, and Korea's native Tae Kkyeon (with modern system written as "Taek Kyon") was based on kicking as the primary weapon. Today's Taekwondo has the same elements, but with a more expansive variety of advanced kicks, and application of those kicks in combination with other strikes, throws and grappling skills.

Under the Japanese rule during WWII, Koreans retained some native skills in secret, but were only occasionally allowed to study Japanese Martial Art systems such as Judo, Aikido, and Karate-do. Some Koreans visited China, and studied hand fighting there. After Korea was liberated in 1945, at the end of WWII, many schools opened teaching a variety of skills, including striking with the feet, hands, knees and elbows, as well as throwing and grappling techniques. The unification process brought all of these together under one umbrella title of "Taekwondo." In the early stages, the schools who united were still teaching very differently from each other, so a few of the more prominent Masters worked toward a standardized curriculum in the KTA (Korea Taekwondo Association) established in 1961.

The defining characteristic about early Taekwondo was the prominent use of the kicks as the primary weapon in self defense, but each of the other areas of striking, throwing, and grappling were still important aspects. In an effort to encourage advancement and strides in better kicking skills, the Masters agreed that Taekwondo should be developed equally as a Martial Art and as a sport. Through national and eventually world competitions, they hoped that the most talented, young athletes would push the envelop and develop greater skills and a better understanding of how the kicks could be best applied.

While this helped to shape the research and development of modern Taekwondo, it also created a realm of sport oriented coaches, instructors, and entire schools that placed an unbalance emphasis on competition and sports. Many of these schools began to drop a vast majority of the entire self defense curriculum from their program in favor of training athletes to win championships.

The introduction of Taekwondo into the Olympics (debut as a demonstration in 1988) was seen by both Taekwondo Masters and the Korean government as beneficial to the reputation of the Korean Martial Art, and a place for the country of Korea on the international stage. It would also be a boost to the Korean economy. However, this also introduced the general public to a truncated sport version of Taekwondo which they saw on television, that gave a false representation of the original Martial Art.

With the popularity of Taekwondo growing rapidly around the world throughout the 60's. 70's, and 80's, many unauthorized, uncertified, and even completely bogus schools opened teaching substandard skills. They promoted students, Black Belts, Instructors, Masters and Grandmasters without proper credentials from Korea. Even with legitimate credentials, many of the modern schools focused on the Olympics, and some became nothing but sport clubs, virtually abandoning the Martial Art aspect. In contrast, some schools remained completely traditional, with no sport involvement, while others maintained a healthy balance of both Martial Art and sport.

Even today, a significant number of authentic Taekwondo schools and organizations retain the core curriculum, while benefiting from the advanced kicking skills that emerged out of international competitions and world-wide exposure. Taekwondo has evolved by proving that the human body can do astounding things with jumping, spinning and flying kicks, or breaking boards and bricks in spectacular demonstrations. Nevertheless, the greatest attribute is when a Master of these skills uses them to challenge his own abilities, while helping to make the simplicity of realistic self defense basics much easier to perform.

Taekwondo has grown as a wide-spread and popular international Martial Art and sport with diversity as well as stability in its traditions and proven techniques and tactics. There are many more kicks now, and many more advanced variations of kicks, but these are not the standard techniques typically taught for self defense. Taekwondo has improved because generations of Masters refining the ancient skills have maintained a core curriculum while encouraging flexible adaptation to modern circumstances and new developments which are shared through international instructor training, competitions, and even the social media of the internet. Unfortunately, a lot of false information and poor technical skills are also being spread through this medium.