Taekwondo History660-892 A.D. Silla Dynasty • Silla Dynasty reigned in Koryo ( an ancient name for Korea ) • Korea is a small peninsula south of Communist China. They have continually been at war. They desperately need an effective army to protect their country. • The 24th King of the Silla Dynasty formed an Officers Warrior Corps named Hwa Rang Dan. The warriors in this group were called Hwa Rang Dan Warriors or Subak Warriors. • They sudied the fighting habits of wild animals and isolated the techniques that would be effective. Then, they incorporated strict discipline, rigorous exercises and intense concentration. • This system was named: Soo Bak (SUBAK) Do or TaeKyun. It became the most effective hand and foot fighting known to man. 935 A.D.- 1392 A.D. Koryo Dynasty • During the Koryo dynasty, the name was changed to Korea . • Rulers were strictly military, in order to defend the country against invadions. The soldiers were among the finest produced and their bravery was a source of inspiration for the people. • Subak Do became a sport for exercise and competition. Military competitors with good tournament abilities were usually promoted to higher military ranks. 1392 A.D. begins the Yi dynasty • Subak Do became more popular as a national sport among the general public. • Subak Do was given as part of the test to be employed by the military department of the royal government. • The Yi dynasty was a period of peace. The security and stability prompted a rise in the "peaceful arts," such as painting and literature, and a decline in the martial arts. • Subak Do declined in general popularity. • It was at this time that the tradition of passing Taekwondo from father to son developed. Sino-Japanese War of 1894- World War II • Korea was involved in continuous war. • Three traditional Korean fighting styles called Tae Kyon are taught in the city of Seoul in the early 1800's. • The Korean government puts a stop to martial arts training because several groups or gangs were misusing the martial arts. • Japan occupies Korea and makes martial arts illegal to teach or study any martial art including Tang Soo Do. • Won Kuk Lee moves to Japan for college education and discovers that Tang Soo Do training is very popular there. He becomes a student and realizes that the Korean people are being deprived of their national history and legacy of martial arts. He moves back to Korea from Japan with a goal to legalize martial arts in Korea once again. • 1944 As a college professor, Won Kuk Lee (founder of Chung Do Kwan) is given permission by the government to re-introduce Tang Soo Do in Korea . • 1945 Japanese vacated Korea . Korea has it's independence. There is much political problems. Gangs and political groups fought each other in the streets. Some of the gangs used Tang Soo Do as a fighting technique, so the government tried to discourage the teaching of Tang Soo Do in the same way that Tae Kyon was suppressed after it was misused. The government refused to allow teaching of Tang Soo Do in any government facilities such as public schools. • By 1950 there were 17 different kwans. Grandmaster Uoon Kyu Uhm becomes Chung Do Kwan President. • 1961 Korean government recognized 5 kwans. Chung Do Kwan is the largest. • 1965 Korea Taekwondo Association was formed to organize, certify and credential Taekwondo. • 1967 U.S. Chung Do Kwan Association formed. • 1972 Taekwondo became the National Sport of Korea. • 1973 Twenty countries from around the world formed the World Taekwondo Federation and officially made the Kukiwon their headquarters |