Taekwon-Do is the Korean martial art of Self-Defense. Its history spans back thousands of years into ancient system of self-defense, and has been blended with modern day physics into one of the most powerful martial arts in existence.
Taekwon-Do interpreted literally means "the way of the flying foot, and the smashing hand." The name was coined by the founder of Taekwon-do, General Choi, Hong Hi, when he founded the style in 1955. General Choi remains the Grandmaster and President of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) even to this day, keeping active in the art on a daily basis, and setting the direction for the ITF.
Taekwon-Do was founded by General Choi Hong Hi, as an officer in the Korean army. His background included study of Taekyon, an ancient Korean martial art, as well as Japanese Karate (learned during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the General earned a 2nd Degree Black Belt). Soon after the liberation of Korea in 1945, General Choi was given a privileged position as a founding member of the new South Korean Armed Forces. Through his past studies and now the training of Korean army, he was able to refine and develop new techniques, systematically, and have these evolve into a new martial art - Taekwon-Do in which General Choi named.
In 1965, Gen. Choi received approval from the South Korean Government to declare Taekwon-Do as Korea's National Martial Art and was the president of the first Taekwon-Do Organization - Korean Taekwon-Do Association (KTA). On March 22, 1966, General Choi founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) in Seoul, Korea, with the consent of nine countries. As a modern martial art, Taekwon-Do is refinement of centuries of martial art legacies. Drawing heavily from the 1,500 year old art of Tae Kyon, an ancient Korean foot fighting and Karate. Taekwon-Do blended the best of foot, hand, elbow, and knee techniques, in addition to throws, joint locks, and self defense combinations. In Particular, Taekwon-Do is known for its dazzling array of spectacular kicking techniques, including spinning, jumping, and flying kicks. Much training time is devoted to learning fast and powerful kicks that are possible through a thorough understanding of body mechanics, and the proper warm-up and stretching techniques. These disciplines allow the Taekwon-Do practitioner to train safely for many years, developing strength, flexibility, balance, while slowing the aging process.