Taekwondo Shop | Taekwondo uniforms, gear & equipment
Taekwondo emanates from Korea and is the national sport of South Korea. The English translation or meaning of Taekwondo (sometimes spelt Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do), is ‘the art or way of the foot and fist’. Tae means to ‘strike or break with foot’; kwon means ‘to strike or hit with the fist’; and do means ‘way’, ‘art’ or ‘method’.
Two main styles of Taekwondo have developed over the recent past.
Kukkiwon style has probably had the most prominence in the past twenty years of Taekwondo and is more widely acknowledged because of rise of the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) style being an Olympic sport. The WTF events sanction only Kukkiwon registered black belts.
ITF style (International Taekwondo Federation) is closely associated with the late Choi Hong Hi would founded the federation in 1966. The ITF splintered into three groups in 2002, after Choi’s death and these private organisations all claim their right to be the world authority over ITF Taekwondo.
Whilst both taekwondo styles have developed separate distinctions over the decades, they both still have general emphasis on kicks in an attempt to use the greater reach and power of the limb (compared to that of the arm). The main differences lie in the sporting elements of the two arts, but the more traditional approach to taekwondo has many similarities with the training using blocking, punches, kicks, hand strikes, take-downs, throws and joint locks.
