Taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo (also spelled tae kwon do, taekwon-do, or more exactly taegwondo[1]) is a martial art (system of fighting) of Korean origin, similar enough to the Japanese karate. It is based on the utilization of the hands and feet in order to attack or to be defended from an adversary, although some techniques use fingertips, elbows, or knees in order to strike the opponent. Taekwondo is a national sport in South Korea, kyeorugi is a sport event in the Olympic Games. In the Korean alphabet hangeul, tae (跆) signifies "to strike with the foot"; gwon (拳) to "strike with the hand"; and do (道) signifies "way", "road" or "route". Taekwondo can therefore be translated as "way of the foot and of the fist".
Taekwondo refers to a great tradition of Korean martial arts (higher or under 2000 years), but exists in its current form only near 50 years. Today, it has been changed into a sport practiced very much. In the Olympic Games of Seoul 1988 and of Barcelona 1992 it became Olympic sport of exhibition and at present it has come to be Olympic sport of competition.

Taekwondo associations

There are several world-wide taekwondo associations. The most known of them are:
World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). It promotes Olympic version of taekwondo.
International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF). After the death of its founder, ITF has been divided into several organizations - each of them claims to be authentic.
Global Taekwon-Do Federation (GTF)
Tae Kwon Do International (TI)