TAEKWONDO - Just another sport?

 

What is Taekwondo?

Taekwondo is a form of martial art that originated in Korea. ‘Tae’ means ‘foot’, ‘Kwon’ means ‘fist’ or ‘fight’ and ‘Do’ means ‘way’. It basically means ‘the way of the foot and fist’. Taekwondo mostly specializes in kicking. From front kick (Ap Chagi) to the flying side kick (Twi Myo Yeop Chagi), Taekwondo features various kinds of kicks. One needs to have solid control over the movement of his legs and waist to master all these kicks. Well, practicing Taekwondo doesn’t mean you just learn kicking, you also learn how to fight properly and defend yourself like blocking hits, countering them and fighting back.

A Brief History

Taekwondo most likely originated in the 1940s. The long history of martial arts in Korea, the country's fight for independence and unity, and the influence of foreign martial arts from China, Japan, and other nations all had an impact on the development of Taekwondo. General Choi Hong Hi, who is frequently referred to as the founder of Taekwondo, as well as other well-known martial artists like Nam Tae Hi and Han Cha Kyo, were among the founding members. Some may say that Taekwondo looks more like a dance form than a martial art technique. That is because Taekwondo was invented during the Japanese occupation of Korea and the motive was to make it look like a cultural activity to the Japanese soldiers.

Dojang

The dojang is the place where you practice Taekwondo. Practicing Taekwondo involves falling on the ground a lot. To avoid damage due to it, the dojang floor is covered in mats. There are also different kinds of equipments, such as: kicking pads, headgears, guards for body parts, breaking boards etc. In the floor of the dojang, a student starts his journey as a Taekwondo fighter, learns new things, learns to fall and get back up again, learns to accept his shortcomings and overcome them. The calligraphy in the walls inspire him to be among the great people and serve mankind through his abilities.

Belts and Ranks

Belts are a way to grade Taekwondo students. The belts define the rank, strength and experience of a fighter. Each belt has a specific meaning to itself. A fighter needs to through several tests before earning each belt. For detailed scrutiny, the belts are divided into 3 categories and 13 sub-belts.
The categories are:

• Gup (Geup / Kup): All regular students above the age of 15 are graded according to it
  
• Poom (Junior): Students under 15 earning higher degrees of rank are graded as Poo
• Dan (Degrees): Black belt owners are graded as Dan, as they equip themselves with skills

There are 6 basic belts in taekwondo Gup category:

• White: Innocence
  
• Yellow: Earth
• Green: Growth
• Blue: Sky
• Red: Danger
• Black: Maturity
  

 

 

 

Also, there are sub-belts such as: white belt with a yellow stripe, yellow belt with a green stipe, green belt with a blue stripe, blue belt with a red stripe and red belt with a black stripe.
The ultimate goal is the black belt. It means you are ready to defend yourself in any adverse situation. Taekwondo Dan category offers several sub-ranks of the black belt: 

• 1^st Dan
• 2^nd Dan
• 3^rd Dan
• 4^th Dan
• 5^th Dan
• 6^th Dan
• 7^th Dan
• 8^th Dan
• 9^th Dan

 

Reaching red belt requires all the basic skills and techniques learned. But to earn the black belt, caution and control on self needs to be learned. You can’t just go around showing off your abilities and potentially hurt others in the processs.
To know more about belts and ranks: Click Here

Some Fascinating Facts

Taekwondo has become a part of the Olympic Games, making its debut in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It is one of the eight martial arts in the Olympics. Taekwondo is not just for professional competitive fighters or people wanting to learn self-defense. In some countries, military personnel are also taught Taekwondo as a combat technique. It is one of the main fighting techniques of military personnel in the Korean Army. Bangladesh Army also sends Taekwondo teams to various events and competitions. A fighter from Jordan, Ahmad Abughaush, earned the very first and only Olympic gold medal for his country in Taekwondo. Some popular movies like Boyka: Undisputed, Drunken Master 2, etc. have featured Taekwondo in their action/fighting scenes.

Taekwondo in Bangladesh

Taekwondo entered Bangladesh in 1997 with the establishment of the Bangladesh Taekwondo Federation. Since then Taekwondo in Bangladesh is gaining significant popularity. We have taken part in many events around the world through this organization, like, the South Asian Games, French Open 2022, 3^rd Islamic Solidarity Women’s Game etc. In fact, for the first time in Bangladesh, a Poomsae Live Championship was organized in Bangladesh in 2020. This is a great milestone for us.

 

Bangladesh earned many medals in various events, like: gold medals earned by Md. Mizanur Rahman in the 10^th South Asian Games Sri Lanka 2006 and Sharmin Sultana Rumi and Shammi Akter in the 11^th South Asian Games Dhaka. In the future, we may even bring medals from the Olympics, who knows?

Taekwondo in Modern Days

Taekwondo practitioners are thought to number in tens of millions and can be found in more than 160 nations. One of the biggest international Taekwondo organizations, World Taekwondo (WT), asserts to have more than 80 million registered members around the world. Taekwondo's emphasis on physical health and mental discipline is one of its main characteristics in modern days. Taekwondo training normally consists of a variety of exercises and techniques that boost one's strength, flexibility, agility, and endurance, as well as their ability to concentrate and maintain their focus. Taekwondo practices include sparring, forms (patterns of techniques: Poomsae), and breaking (breaking boards or other objects with strikes). Taekwondo has evolved to include a range of styles and approaches, each with its own unique emphasis and techniques. Some styles focus more on self-defense techniques, while others emphasize sparring and competition. That’s where the question kicks in: Is Taekwondo losing it’s worth?

The Controversies and Drawbacks

Ever since Taekwondo appeared as a competitive sport, controversies have risen. Taekwondo is becoming more sport-oriented, instead of focusing more on self-defense. Several controversial changes were made to the scoring system because of particular reasons, like the controversial quarterfinal in Beijing Olympics between Great Britain’s Sarah Stevenson and China's Chen Zhong. Throughout the game, Zhong had a narrow 1-0 advantage. Yet with only four seconds left, Stevenson delivered a direct blow to Zhong's face. The two points that would have propelled her through to the semi-finals were never recorded since fewer than half of the human judges present saw the evident hit. Taekwondo received more than a few changes after several reports of such incidents. London Olympics introduced electronic vests (hogus) to record blows to the torso. Rio Olympics featured electronic helmets for head hits and octagonal arena to avoid cornering opponents.

Even though the changes were made to ensure transparency of scoring and fair play, there were some drawbacks. Like, players started foot-fencing, which defies the rules of fair play. Some even started to block only the areas of their body that cover the hit-sensing pads of the vest and helmets, instead of actually blocking hits to avoid damage. Even the scoring system has it’s disadvantages, like the system crash in the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships in Russia. Jade Jones, the first and only taekwondo Olympic gold medalist for Great Britain, was denied a score as the system crashed just

 

In the end

Even though there are controversies, no one can deny that Taekwondo still has effective techniques for self-defense and improvement of physique and morals. Taekwondo continues to offer ways for a person to be a better version of himself through the students maintaining the five tenets: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. The Taekwondo students around the world can uphold the integrity of this art by chanting the oath reciting the tenets:

• Observe the tenets of Taekwondo.

•  Respect all seniors and instructors.

•  Never misuse Taekwondo.

•  Be a champion of freedom and justice.

• Help to build a more peaceful world.