A Short History of Tae Kwon Do.

The rich traditions of Tae Kwon Do began more than 2,000 years ago. Traditional Korean combat was performed in religious ceremonies that would resemble the Olympics held to honour Zeus. This was the first form of primitive Tae Kwon Do. 2002 Korea was separated into three kingdoms: Koguryu (37 BC), Bekjae (18 BC), and Shilla (57 BC) which ruled the Korean Peninsula and the northeastern part of China form 18 BC to 936 AD. During this time, Tae Kwon Do was called Taekyon or Subak and it became a systematic martial art that was actively practiced by warriors as well as civilians. It was gradually promoted as a form of healthy exercise and as a spectator sport with competitions held in the royal court. During the 4th Century, Shilla created the Hwarang youth group, which were warriors characterized by determination, simplicity, honesty, honour, bravery, and loyalty to their state. The bare hand and foot system of Taekyon was developed and perfected by the Hwanang group and proved its technique to be effective in battle during and throughout great periods of the 5th and 6th centuries. The HwaRang Ogae (Five Secular Commandments) was written in the early 7th Century to help the survival of Hwarang's traditions. The five principles read: loyalty to the king, filial piety in regards to parents, sincerity in relations to friends, not to retreat in battles, and selectivity in the killing of living things. These were the major roots in the development of early 'Tae Kwon Do'. In 1910 the Japanese forcibly occupied Korea, dissolving the Korean military and banning traditional Korean martial arts and other cultural activities including the language in an effort to destroy the Korean national identity. However, Tae Kwon Do persisted in the spirit of the Korean people and the martial art survived to be passed on to younger generations through continued instruction in the anti-occupation organizations such as the Independence Army. It was not until the Independence of Korea in 1945 that the ban of Tae Kwon Do was liberated. Many schools opened, and the techniques derived from the traditional forms while combining the basic philosophies and codes of harmony from the HwaRang Ogae. In 1955, General Choi Hong Hi, who is the Founder of the International Taekwondo Federation, suggested that the name Tae Kwon Do be used to represent a totally Korean martial art. And so was born Tae Kwon Do. On October 9, 1963, Tae Kwon Do became an official event for the first time in the 44th National Athletic Meet. The United States Amateur Athletic Union recognized Tae Kwon Do as an official sport in 1974. The sport was recognized by the International Military Sports Council and the General Assembly of International Sports Federation in 1976. In 1988, Korea brought the introduction of Tae Kwon Do as an exhibition sport in the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. It retained this status in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain and has finally been inaugurated as an official Olympic sport. The first competition as an official event will be held at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Contrary to popular beliefs or to what has been portrayed in martial art movies, Tae Kwon Do is a non-violent sport. It is an educational system devoted to train both the mind and body in which great emphasis is placed on the development of the trainee's moral character - the builder of modesty, integrity, self-control, perseverance, and indomitable spirit. Since Tae Kwon Do first originated, it has overcome many modern obstacles, mainly those of politics on every level, to rapidly develop into today's most practical, explosive, and culturally rich martial art.