TAEKWONDO

Taekwondo /ˌtaɪˌkwɒnˈdoʊ/ (Korean 태권도 (跆拳道) [tʰɛk͈wʌndo]) is a Korean martial art. It combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and exercise. Gyeorugi (pronounced [kjʌɾuɡi]), a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. Taekwondo was developed by a variety of Korean masters during the 1940s as partial combination of taekkyeon, Okinawan karate and other traditions.

In Korean, tae (태, 跆) means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon (권, 拳) means "to strike or break with fist"; and do (도, 道) means "way", "method", or "path". Thus, taekwondo may be loosely translated as "the way of the foot and the hand.The name taekwondo is also written as taekwon-do, tae kwon-do or tae kwon do by various organizations. The name taekwondo was coined by Choi Hong Hi, the man that the International Taekwondo Federation, one of the three major divisions of taekwondo practictioners, claims to be the sport's founder and A taekwondo student typically wears a uniform (dobok 도복/道服), often white but sometimes black (or other colours), with a belt (ddi 띠) tied around the waist. There are at least three major styles of dobok, with the most obvious differences being in the style of jacket: (1) the cross-over front jacket that resembles traditional Asian clothing, (2) the V-neck jacket (no cross-over) typically worn by WTF practitioners, and (3) the vertical-closing front jacket (no cross-over) typically worn by ITF practitioners. The belt colour and any insignia thereon indicate the student's rank. In general, the darker the colour, the higher the rank. The school or place where instruction is given is called the dojang (도장). The grandmaster of the dojang is called a gwanjangnim (관장님); Master (senior instructor or head of dojang) is called sabeomnim (사범님); Instructor is called gyosannim (교사님); Assistant Instructor is called jogyonim (조교님)creator.