Taekwondo is a Korean martial art. It combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and exercise. Taekwondo 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 the foot”; kwon (권, 拳) means “to strike or break with the fist”; and do (도, 道) means “way of life”. 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 organisations.
Taekwondo training generally includes a system of blocks, kicks, punches, and open-handed strikes and may also include various take-downs or sweeps, throws, and joint locks. Pressure points, known as jiapsul, are used, as well as grabbing self-defense techniques borrowed from other martial arts such as Japanese judo, Korean hapkido, and Korean wrestling or ssireum.