Wichita Martial Arts Studio

3135 W Maple

316.944.0000

Brief History

The development of Tae Kwon Do can be traced back about 2000 years ago to the country known today as Korea. Tae Kwon Do literally means the "hand", "foot", "way of life". Through rigorous training, Tae Kwon Do enables the practitioner to defend himself and build self-confidence. A self-confident person is modest and generous. The development of physical and mental self-confidence is beneficial not only to the individual, but his family, community and country

Tae Kwon Do training consist of Poomse (forms), Gyoroog (sparring) and Kyukpa (breaking of solid objects such as boards or bricks). Tae Kwon Do is a modern, international, amateur sport, which remains steeped in its Korean traditions. All modern world championships are supported and conducted under the auspices of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF), which has its headquarters at the Kukkiwon in Seoul, Korea.

The World Tae Kwon Do Federation was founded in May 1973, by Dr. Un Yong Kim for the purpose of propagating and standardizing Tae Kwon Do instruction. The World Tae Kwon Do Federation was officially admitted into the General Association of the International Sports Federation in October 1975. The World Tae Kwon Do Federation was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 83rd General Session held in Moscow on July 17, 1980. Tae Kwon Do was approved as a demonstration sport by the IOC in June 1985, and included in the 24th Olympiad, held in Seoul, Korea in 1988 and at the 25th Olympiad held in Barcelona, Spain in August 1992. In September 1994, Tae Kwon Do was accepted as a Full Medal Sport for the 2000 Olympic Games to be held in Sydney, Australia.

Today, more than 120 countries (consisting of about 30 million practitioners) are members of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.