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1) It's Tae Kwon Do=
The Way of kicking & punching. 2) We emphasize kicking (about 80%).
3) We trace the roots back over 2000 years to a
style called Tae Kyun=Focused Kicking.
4) It has been influenced by Shaolin Temple Boxing as well as Okinawan & Japanese Karate.
5) As Koreans started coming home when Japan was collapsing in WW II, many brought back ideas & training methods from Japan. They formed several schools or Kwans. At this time, several different names were used, primarily Karate & Tang Soo Do (way of the hands of Tang, from China). We think that the name Tae Kwon Do was selected because it indicated the emphasis on foot techniques & sounds somewhat like Tae Kyun.
6) There are many reasons for using more foot techniques. The "official" reason was that your hands are valuable, you need them to earn a living. In practice, your legs are longer & stronger than your arms, giving you more power & longer range. It is also better exercise as it burns more calories & develops balance & flexibility.
7) Many people only know the Olympic version which emphasizes speed at the cost of power, but that is not the tradition. Traditional TKD focuses on power.
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