Hidden Taekwondo

Taekwondo has been in the back spot for many years now undermined by many martial artists as well as fighters, perhaps even the general public. But perhaps the blame is not on the spectators but the light which the Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Fedration (WTF) and International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) shine on themselves. Taekwondo has taken a back step from being used as a deadly martial art with very effective techniques to becoming a very subtle sport oriented marital art. In order to understand better why Taekwondo became the way that it is right now one has to understand briefly the roots of this martial art.



In reality the modern form of Taekwondo is a form of mixed martial arts that was influenced greatly with the martial arts that the Korean peninsula was affected by throughout its history. It starts from 50 BC with the ancient martial arts Taekkyun or Taekkyon, which is perhaps the oldest most original form of Korean martial arts where the emphasis of kicking was born, this martial art went through many transformations to becoming used by the once elite Hwarang warriors of the Silla Dynasty in its form that was called Hwarandg-Do, and the martial art was limited to military use at that time. Later the name was changed to Subak and was accessible to the general public, not only that it also started to revolve around the general health benefit of the human body as well as was transformed into a game for social coherence (ie not always fighting to protect one's self but also to have fun).One thing to keep in mind and that as the Koreans were in constant contact with China there was much influence from different styles of Kung Fu or Gong Fu, specially the circular hand motion movements. However Taekkyun in its purest form until today remains Korean with almost no influence.



Soon after the Japanese invaded the country the use of Korean martial arts was prohibited as well as Korean art, culture, writings. Everything was supposed to have been in Japanese manner. To the martial arts world in Korea that meant very heavy influence from the predominant martial arts at that time in Japan, Karate and Judo.


After the Japanese expulsion from the nation it was in the 1940's that General Choi Hong Hi started teaching Taekkyun to different brigades in the military, an awakening that was sparked while the Japanese were occupying the country. He soon was recognized by his efforts from within Korea and outside (mostly the US) and was asked to teach to different people. Along with other teachers at the time they have put together the deadly martial art of Taekwondo meant mostly for military and elite commando units use.

Taekwondo nowadays have been reduced to a sport to gain popularity and live a long life and the biggest "academic" achievement of the art is that it was actually recognized as a sport that is acceptable in the Olympics, joining wrestling and boxing. Also the protective gear and many safety rules make it more user friendly, letting many parents put their children in it to learn how to kick punch and stay fit while not coming home with a blue eye (for the most part that is!). Taekwondo is also renown for its high, flashy, spinning kicks that comes mostly from the Taekkyun aspect but also the fact that the students of Taekwondo in the early days when they were facing off other martial arts in competitions they wanted to stand out in their demos so they pushed the limit for fancy kicks.

No one can blame the face of Taekwondo from being absent the rough and tough world of MMA and Vale Tudo, it is just simply the agenda of those who are in control of it. In all actuality all the dangerous techniques exist out there for every Taekwondo practitioner to learn and perfect, the key is to find an instructor who is willing to teach it to you properly and to freshen up on the the research to understand all the comprehensive techniques that the General founded based on years of research and experience.



One has to also remember that because it was meant for commando use Taekwondo was meant to attack vital areas and points as fast as possible as swiftly as possible. Just like Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Chaiya, Krav Maga, Russian Systema or any other deadly martial art that exists in this wide world there are pretty much no rules in the fight only effective techniques and pretty much the attitude to utilize all you need to neutralize or eliminate your opponent. Some of the techniques that are not emphasized by the sports Taekwondo are the straight punch, hook punch, back fist, knife hand, finger attacks, elbow strikes, knees as well as grappling and grappling defense; however Taekwondo grappling is not very similar to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappling because again it concentrates on putting the opponent down and attacking the vital points as well as quickly escaping the ground just in case his friends are around. Other things like self defense joint manipulation techniques, similar to those in Aikido also exist, as well as neutralizing different weapons attacks, that can be seen in an array of Taekwondo demonstrations. All those techniques also live through the Poomses and Taeguk's (forms) until now that is why it is important to learn and perfect those because they act as a good base to using the techniques in real life. The more you have perfected the technique in an ideal situation the more it will be close to perfection in the real situation.

Strength and conditioning is also a very important part of the marital arts, in the next 2 videos Grand master Kyu Hyung demonstrates briefly some strength aspects of the martial arts in a magnificent display of power breaking.








Here is a video of master Kang Shin Chul showing basic stretching warm ups. He is extremely flexible:







Many world class fighters as well have utilized Taekwondo to the max and used their skills to benifit them in their matches. Here are three fighters with Taekwondo backgrounds that we can see clearly Taekwondo skills in their arsenal. I am not saying that they are invincible because they utilize Taekwondo but indeed reckognizable for their skills. First is Serkan Yilmaz, the Turkish kickboxer





Last but not least we see the UFC fighter David "The Crow" Loiseau utilizing a perfect dolyo dwit chagi (spinning back kick) to KO his opponent






All in all what is more important than just how a marital art is presented is what it holds in matters of teaching, techniques and spirituality. What is more important than that is what does the practitioner choose to do with all those tools and how far someone develops or how good he becomes depends on hard work and talent, this is why it does not matter what martial art one practices as long as he stays true to himself and purpose.


Just in case anyone is wondering about Taekkyun, it still exists today in the form of a fight-game that looks something like Capoeira characterized by a circle and two fighters in the middle. It is based on a point system as well. Moreover, demos are also a part of this martial art.





Look out for part 2 of this article which is going to show the more effective self defense techniques in Taekwondo also known as Hosinsul.