The Way of the Hand and Foot
Taekwondo origins have been carbon dated to over 3600 years, but some believe that it closer to over 5000 years.
The modern art of Taekwondo has evolved from other Korean martial arts of Taekkyeon, Subak, and Gwonbeop, Tang So Do and Hwrang-do which were practised in secret during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1907 to 1945.
After World War II the Korean masters started to rebuild their Martial systems and in 1952 unified under one name, Tae Soo Do. In 1955 General Choi Hong Hi suggested changing "Soo" to "Kwon" which was voted and excepted by the masters; the Taekwondo name was adopted.
Given the geographic situation of Korea the Korean people developed a strong Martial Art history as form of protection from much more powerful neighbours, and even today Taekwondo is known as a "hard style" because of how hard they fight.
One Of the oldest martial arts in the world!
What Is Taekwondo?
Taekwondo is not only one of the oldest Martial Arts in the world but also the single most practised Martial Art in the world. Our world body (World Taekwondo) has 212 national associations and over 90million members. There is at least one Taekwondo club in most cities worldwide.
Taekwondo hit the world by storm in 1988 Seoul Olympics with thousands of athletes preforming amazing demonstrations and sparring. Since then the martial art has undergone unprecedented growth.
In Barcelona 1992 Taekwondo again appeared at the Olympics as a demonstration sport and since Sydney 2000 Taekwondo has enjoyed status a full Olympic sport.
Taekwondo is best known in the Martial Art community for devastating, fast and powerful kicking. However this isn't an accurate representation of the full art, but just the sport side. Taekwondo has knees, elbows and full range of hand strikes to complement its powerful kicking. The arts originals are in self defence and many of the techniques have been tried and tested through centuries of warfare so the techniques are very practical but also easy to learn.
Traditional Taekwondo also includes mediation, values and rules that date back hundreds of years. It is full and complete Martial Art that, despite the odds, has survived, and in recent times thrived to take the world by storm for a good reason.
More on Taekwondo:
Taekwondo in New Zealand
Taekwondo, along with Hapkido, was brought to New Zealand by Great Grandmaster Lee Jung Nam in 1975. Then a 6th Dan Black-belt Master and retired captain in the Korean special forces he came to New Zealand under contract to the New Zealand government to teach our SAS (special forces), Army and Police hand to hand combat. Great Grandmaster Lee loved New Zealand so much he turned down contracts from the USA to stay here and develop the Korean Martial arts. Great Grandmaster Lee is known as "Father" of Taekwondo and Hapkido in New Zealand.
Soon after arriving in New Zealand Great Grandmaster Lee formed the New Zealand Taekwondo Federation (NZTF) in 1975 which is still running today. Up until 2006 the NZTF was the sole organisation in New Zealand recognised by our World Governing body. From 1994 other Taekwondo organisations started popping up with the influence from overseas, and within New Zealand that sort to supersede Great Grandmaster Lee and the NZTF.
Under the NZTF New Zealand had a strong presence internationally gaining a number of medals in World competitions and the Olympics. At its peak the NZTF had 12,000 registered members.
In 2006 Taekwondo New Zealand (TNZ) was formed as an umbrella organisation for all the Taekwondo organisations in New Zealand and as a result took the World Taekwondo recognition off the NZTF. TNZ was tasked with developing all organisations, and giving athletes/ instructors equal opportunities to resources, competitions and qualifications. Under the TNZ our top athletes had more opportunities to get overseas exposure, enter competitions, and qualify as international recognised officials. Unfortunately due to so many different organisations scrambling for power within TNZ the organisation has in the last few years been plagued with political agendas and infighting.
NPTHC joined TNZ as an independent but has kept its membership to NZTF and continues to maintain strong ties with other NZTF clubs and Great Grandmaster Lee as our linage is important to us. NPTHC also enjoys strong ties to the world body and international Black-belt certification through both the NZTF and TNZ.