How was Taekwondo named?

Answer 1

The short answer is that the name Taekwondo was derived from the former native Korean Martial Art of Tae Kkyeon (Kicking method), and combined with the concept of Chinese boxing taught in Korea (Tangsudo or Tang Soo Do), and the study of Japanese Shotokan Karate. At a meeting on April 11, 1955, the term "Tae Kwon" ("Tae" for foot, and "Kwon" for fist) was believed to have been submitted by military General Hong Hi Choi, among several ballots, and chosen as the new name for Korean Martial Art.

Historical Background:

The Martial Art as a form of soldier training, self defense, spiritual enlightenment, and character development has existed in Korea for more than two thousand years, but little is known about its early curriculum, and the structure of training was not like we know Martial Art schools to be today. One of the early forms of fighting that existed in ancient Korea was the predominant use of kicking to injure or topple an opponent. This skill became labeled as Tae Kkyeon ("Kicking method").

This evolved from a isolated tactic among many other skills in the 1st century AD, to a refined method used by the Hwarang in the 7th century AD, to an art form by the late 19th century. By this time, most forms of combat had become frowned upon by the upper class, and even banned in open practice, leaving it to survive only among soldiers in military training, through folk games in villages, and among thugs in gangs around the streets.

In the early 20th century, Japan occupied Korea, and annexed the country attempting to wipe out any historical records and cultural identity. The Koreans maintained as much of their native culture as they could in secret, including some of Martial Art skills. During the occupation, some Koreans traveled to China and Japan and studied Martial Art abroad.

Near the end of World War II, the first official Korean Martial Art school was opened in Seoul by Won Kuk Lee, a college professor who had become a high ranking Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, and had studied the Korean version of Chinese hand fighting called Tangsudo (Tang Soo Do), and had also learned some Tae Kkyeon from street gang members. Lee called his unique method of teaching "Chung Do Kwan"

(school of the Blue Wave).

When World War II ended in 1945, many Martial Art schools known as "Kwans" opened up, teaching a variety of skills under various names. Many of those schools were annex Kwans by Black Belt graduates of the original Chung Do Kwan. One of the former Chung Do Kwan Black Belts was Hong Hi Choi, who became a military General, and pushed for the unification of all the Kwans in one organization. He also favored the use of the term "Taekwon" instead of the Japanese Karate, or Chinese Tangsudo.

On April 11, 1955, Gen. Choi called a meeting for the naming of the newly developing Korean Martial Art. At this meeting representatives of the Chung Do Kwan, the military Oh Do Kwan, and prominent politicians and historians voted on ballots. The name "Tae Kwon" was unanimously chosen. In 1961, this name was used when the first organization was formed as the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA). General Choi was elected as the first President of the KTA.

In 1962, Gen. Choi was sent to Malaysia as an Ambassador, During his absence, there was an attempt to bring in more Kwan leaders under the KTA, but many did not want to fall under the authority of the KTA, and several did not want to change the name of what they taught to Taekwondo. In a compromise, the second president of the KTA changed the term to Taesudo. When General Choi returned from Malaysia, he was voted in as the third President of the KTA, and subsequently changed the name back to Taekwondo. He later had the South Korean President write a scroll that labeled Taekwondo as the official Martial Art of Korea.