Broadly, martial arts can be categorised as weapon styles or unarmed styles. Weapon styles are very cool, but we can’t carry weapons around for self defence. We have laws against that in New Zealand.
Unarmed styles of martial arts can be further classified into striking styles and grappling styles. Here it comes down to preference. International Taekwon-Do is a striking style of martial art – we kick and punch (and strike and thrust and block and cross-cut). We also practise releasing from grabs and breakfalls; we don’t spend a lot of time grappling.
Of course, martial arts are more than just self defence. They are an art form, and the art of International Taekwon-Do is beautiful to watch. We have a set of 24 patterns, or tul (kata in Japanese, or forms in some martial arts), which together are called the Chang-Hon style. It takes years to learn and master all 24 patterns – we learn the final pattern at 6th degree black belt.
The art of International Taekwon-Do also contains beautiful and devastating flying kicks It is possible to fly high in the air and throw two, three or even four kicks before you land!
Martial arts may also be classified by origin. Taekwon-Do comes from Korea. It is a new martial art, named in 1955, and it is heavily based on scientific principles: we develop power by understanding how the human body works, and understanding the physics of what power is. Read more about the scientific basis of Taekwon-Do.