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History of Tae Kwon Do
Origin
On the Korean Peninsula and around Manchuria, which is east of mainland
China, tribal states of Korean ancestors were formed. In these tribal states,
religious rites called Yongko, Muchan, Tongmaeng, et. were held: praying for unity among
tribe members and good harvests by heaven worship through singing, dancing and playing.
Singing, dancing, and playing in these big festivals naturally became
competitive and had the character of competition similar to that of the Olympiad of
ancient Greeks which was a religeious ritual before gods.
To defend and expand the strength of the tribes, they had to improve
their battle skills. Naturally, the physical activities in heaven worship religious
rites reflected on combat situations. Tae Kwon Do was created as an ancient form of
traditional Korean combat as performed in the religious ceremonies.
Ancient Times
Several tribal states were gradually annexed and integrated into three
states: Koguryo (37BC), Baekje (18BC), and Shilla (57BC). They ruled the
Korean peninsula and the northeastern part of China.
Tae Kwon Do was called Taekyon or Subak at that time and was widespread
as a basic training for martial arts. Koguryo and Shilla created a collective youth
education system called Seonbae and Hwarang, respectively. They practiced military
arts while touring the existing states.
Ancient historical documents that relate to Tae Kwon Do such as mural
paintings, Buddhist statues, and written records still remain.
Especially in the case of Baekje where historical documents were lost
due to its fall, there remain records in Japanese history that the Japanese royal court
invited people from Baekje to live with young, elite Japanese. This leads us to
believe that the Baekje people taught bare hand martial arts to the Japanese.
Middle Ages
In Koryo, Taekyon (Tae Kwon Do), which was practiced in the three
states, became a systematic martial art and was actively practiced by warriors.
In the history of Koryo, Tae Kwon Do is recorded as Subak.
Records indicate that Subak (Tae Kwon Do) in the Koryo dynasty was not only a martial art
but also a sport which was well organized enough to be a spectator sport.
Furthermore, Subak was used in actual battles. In the history of
the Japanese invasion of 1592: "At Geumsan, because our loyal troops ran out of
weapons, they had to fight with oncoming Japanese using Subak." One of the
historical documents in "Muye Dobo Tongji", a complete textbook on martial arts
published by King Chongjo, includes illustrated explanations.
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