INDIA TAEKWONDO
India Taekwondo is a governing body of Taekwondo Sports in India. India Taekwondo is member of World Taekwondo and Asian Taekwondo (WT Asia). India Taekwondo is developing taekwondo sports in India under World Taekwondo and WT Asia.
ORIGIN OF TAEKWONDO
Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art dating back more than 2000 years. Meaning the “way of kicking and punching”, it was initially viewed as a form of military training which varied considerably in form.
For some 2000 years, a range of martial arts were practiced on the Korean peninsula. During the early 20th century, taekwondo became the dominant form of martial arts practiced in Korea. Subsequently taekwondo was designated as the Korean national martial art to be promoted internationally.
In 1973, World Taekwondo (WT; formerly named the World Taekwondo Federation) was created as the sport’s global governing body. The first World Championships were held in Seoul, Korea, that year.
In 1980 it was recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which fast-tracked taekwondo’s development from a Korean martial art to a global sport as it is today.
TAEKWONDO TODAY
Two competitive formats exist for taekwondo: Poomsae and kyorugi. Only kyorugi is an Olympic event. There are a plethora of national, regional and global kyorugi championships, from Cadets and Juniors to Seniors and Masters; from Opens to Worlds. An invitational Grand Prix series was instituted in 2013 to create a regular circuit for the sport’s elite athletes, to develop stars and upgrade the sport’s media exposure. This was enhanced even further in December 2017 when the Grand Slam Champions Series was launched which is open to only the very best athletes and showcases the latest innovations in the sport and offers record prize money.
World Taekwondo also promotes team taekwondo which is a fast and dynamic discipline in the sport. World Championships are held in team taekwondo and the winners of the mixed-gender team category at the last edition in Wuxi will take part in a demonstration at Tokyo 2020.
In its basic form, taekwondo requires no real equipment other than the human body, making it economical and easy-to-deploy. Widely practiced in the developed world, taekwondo is also an especially ideal sport for developing countries, and is taught in many refugee camps.
Taekwondo develops flexibility, agility, speed, power, stamina, making it a 360-degree fitness regimen. Due to its roots in martial arts, it also demands discipline and courtesy, while offering practitioners self-defense and self-belief. And at Olympic level, taekwondo’s wide range of constantly evolving kicking techniques, challenges the limits of human athletic endeavor.
Today, taekwondo is practiced by an estimated 80 million people in 210 countries, administered by five Continental Unions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Pan America and Oceania) – making it one of the world’s most popular sports.