First, let me set the scene. I
am not a Taekwondo Master. Nor even a Black Belt. In fact, I don't have a belt
at all. Indeed, I have never had a Taekwondo belt. So why, you are entitled to
ask, am I writing an article about Taekwondo?
The reason is simple. In my
day job at a leading UK team building company, a surprisingly large number of
our wider event team members over the years are Taekwondo practitioners. Most
of them are of black belt status and two of them have actually got on their
martial arts CV that they have represented England. The reason for this is
simple. One of the two is our Client Services Manager and she has roped in some
of her Taekwondo friends. Basically, I feel qualified to write this through
multiple third-party connections.
So here is what I have gleaned
from them. In keeping with the majority if not all martial arts, Taekwondo
offers a mixture of activity, self defence and approach to life in general - a
philosophy if you will. One factor that mas made it so popular around the world
and far from its Korean roots is that it is a very social activity, bringing
together people from all walks of life and even generations. While it is an
Olympic sport involving experts and watched by millions, it is also a very
participative activity that can be enjoyed by all. The tenets of the art
encourage camaraderie and even teamwork, so there's a link to my day job there!
So what is it? Well, it is a
martial art that originated in Korea. Its literal translation is "the way
of the foot and the fist", with Tae meaning to break with the foot, Kwon
meaning the same but with the fist and Do supplying the way. Interestingly, it
was born in the same year as me. 1955. It is certainly wearing its years better
than me! Choi Hong Hi, a South Korean General and martial arts expert. I gather
that Choi is something of a controversial figure within Taekwondo and not all
factions view him as its creator, but I'm going with the local flow here.
When I say it was born in
1955, that isn't strictly true. It gained its name then, but actually it has
been around for well over a thousand years. Back in that day it was called
Taek-Kyon. Basically, the people who unified Korea from the original three
kingdoms that existed managed to do so largely by force and the force in
question had Taek-Kyon at its disposal. The martial art helped the relatively
young (by age of its members) army of the Hwarang-Do unify Korea. Once they had
achieved this, they began to spread the word and get people across the kingdom
engaged with the marital art.
It survived a near extinction
event when the Japanese occupied Korea in Yi Dynasty times shortly after the
turn of the 20th Century (1910 to be precise) and really took off once the occupation
ended in the mid 1940s.
As I write, Taekwondo is
enjoyed in an organised fashion by people in almost 70 different countries.
Including this one, of course. And if the spirit and camaraderie of my
colleagues here is anything to go by, it isn't going away any time soon. So in
answer to the question I raise in the title, it seems to me to be a martial art
for all that engenders a great spirit among those who practice it together.
Even those who have never taken a lesson in their lives can benefit from that
if they know people who are already into it.
A team building specialist who
works with a team that includes many a person who enjoy Taekwondo kicks
[http://www.taekwondo-kicks.com/tkd-information/korean-terminology/kicks/] and
other moves.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Alan_Hunt/22808
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