About Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a way of life, much like having a job, raising a family, fighting for a cause, or any one of the numerous reasons. What makes Taekwondo different from these is that it is an activity for survival in extremely antagonistic situations. One must always overcome the enemy that is trying to cause harm. But simply winning a fight is not enough to guarantee one’s safety, because the enemy may recuperate and attack again. Moreover, there may be many other enemies than the one that was just defeated. One cannot ever feel safe unless one gains permanent peace. To attain this permanent or lasting peace, one needs unity. This is what Taekwondo aims at. Otherwise, Taekwondo would be no different from any other street-fighting skills.
Taekwondo is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, that teaches more than just physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation and stands among the official games in the Olympics.
Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of the word “Tae” “Kwon” “Do.” It is composed of three parts as shown in the English spelling, though it is one word in Korean. “Tae” means “foot,” “leg,” or “to step on”; “Kwon” means “fist,” or “fight”; and “Do” means the “way” or “discipline.” If we put these three parts together, we can see two important concepts behind “Tae Kwon Do”.
Taekwondo means “the right way of using all parts of the body to stop fights and help to build a better and more peaceful world.”
Taekwondo and the Olympic Games
The object of Taekwondo is to land kicks and punches on your opponent’s scoring zones: two points are awarded for a valid kick, one point for punch to the torso, four points for a valid spinning kick, four points for a valid kick to the head and five points for a turning kick to the head.
The action takes place inside an 8m x 8m zone called a court, with each contest made up of three two-minute rounds. Taekwondo is one of the two Asian martial arts included on the Olympic programme. Taekwondo made its debut as a demonstration Olympic sport at the 1988 Seoul Games and became an official medal sport at the 2000 Sydney Games.
In General
When you do Taekwondo, you should make your mind peaceful and synchronize your mind with your movements, and extend this harmony to your life and society. This is how in Taekwondo the principle of physical movements, the principle of mind training, and the principle of life become one and the same.
Taekwondo pursues harmonious growth and improvements of life through its unique activities. This is why one could say Taekwondo is a way of life. To ultimately enable ourselves to lead more valuable lives, we would do well by finding the guiding principles deeply hidden in Taekwondo.
