From: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com To: the_dojang-digest@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Subject: The_Dojang-Digest V7 #523 Reply-To: the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Errors-To: the_dojang-owner@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com Precedence: The_Dojang-Digest Sun, 6 Aug 2000 Vol 07 : Num 523 In this issue: the_dojang: Taekwondo: The Spirit of Korea the_dojang: Re: Yes: also this important point, re: screening applicants to various lists the_dojang: The Boot the_dojang: Re: Nice info. the_dojang: . ========================================================================= The_Dojang, serving the Internet since June 1994. 925 members strong! Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource Replying to this message will NOT unsubscribe you. To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe the_dojang-digest" (no quotes) in the body (top line, left justified) of a plain text e-mail addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. To send e-mail to this list use the_dojang@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com See the Korean Martial Arts (KMA) FAQ and online search the last five years worth of digest issues at http://www.MartialArtsResource.com Pil Seung! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ray Terry Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2000 21:57:56 -0700 Subject: the_dojang: Taekwondo: The Spirit of Korea I just received a super book and videotape on Taekwondo from the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Both are to serve as an intro to Korea and Taekwondo and were produced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism given Taekwondo's status as a regular event in the 2000 Olympics. The book is excellently produced in a 'coffee-table' format, i.e. large form and many beautiful photos (both historical and modern). The following is one of the chapters from the book. Any typos are mine, all mine. Excellent reading... Ray - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Taekwondo: The Spirit of Korea Dr. Steven D. Capener, edited by H. Edward Kim, photos by Suh Jae Sik Published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Republic of Korea, 2000 Chapter 3, The History of Modern Taekwondo in Korea The best place to start the story of the modern development of taekwondo is just after korea's liberation from Japanese colonization at the end of World War II in 1945. In the period between 1945 and 1947, the five main schools of what would later combine to become taekwondo were opened. These five schools were the Chongdogwan, or School of the Blue Wave, founded by Lee Won Kuk, the Mudokkwan, or School of Martial Virtue, founded by Hwang Ki, the Yonmugwan, or School of Martial Training, founded by Chon San Sop, the Kwonboptojang, or School of the Fist Method, founded by Yun Pyong In, and the Songmugwan, or School of the Pine Tree, founded by No Pyong Chik. At that time, these schools used various names to describe what they were teaching. For example, the Chongdogwan called its style Tangsudo which means the way of Chinese (Tang dynasty) hand techniques. The Mudokkwan also called its style Tangsudo while the Yonmugwan called its style Kongsudo which means way of the empty hand. The Kwonboptojang called its style Kwonbop which means fist method. In spite of the differences in names, what the schools were teaching was, in fact, very similar. As can be seen from these names, not much emphasis was given at that time to foot techniques. This, however, was to change very quickly. It was around the mid-1950s that the leaders of the various schools started to feel the need for a common name for what they were teaching. Several names were proposed, among them was the name taekwondo. For the time being, however, a name could not be agreed upon and the schools continued to teach under various names. Initially, all of these schools but the Songmugwan opened in Seoul. Immediately after opening they started to attract large numbers of students and their popularity spread quickly. The Korean War, which broke out in 1950 and lasted until 1953, was to interrupt the progress of martial arts in Korea for a few years, but by the mid-1950s the schools had re-established and several new schools had opened. It was in the early 1960s that taekwondo began to systematically organize itself both in matters of administration and technique. In 1961, the Korean Taesudo Association was formed in an attempt to organize the administration of the various schools. Finally, in 1965, the Korean Taekwondo Association was formed and the name taekwondo became official. In 1966, the International Taekwondo Federation was established for the purpose of promoting taekwondo outside of Korea. This was an important step in the international development of taekwondo. However, the most important changes that taekwondo underwent in the 1960s were in the way it was practiced and in the techniques themselves. In the 1950s, taekwondo sparring still resembled the system used by Japanese karate: the entire body was considered a target and no contact was allowed. This reflected the belief that taekwondo was first and foremost a method of self-defense where the entire body was a weapon and that contact between opponents would result in serious injury. In the early 1960s, however, some taekwondo leaders started to experiment with a radical new system that would result in the development of a new martial sport different from anything ever seen before. This new martial sport would bear some important similarities to the traditional Korean game of taekkyon. The first major innovation was the use of a chest protector, which allowed fighters to execute full-power techniques to the body. Next was the prohibition of throwing punches to the face. Only kicks to the face were allowed. The idea behind this was that it is relatively easy and natural to punch to the face while to kick an opponent's face is difficult and requires considerable training and skill. Along with these changes, taekwondo leaders experimented with another radical change. Previously, all action was stopped every time the opponents would clash so that a score could be determined. In the new system, continuous fighting was allowed and a running score was kept. The result of the changes was the development of new kicking techniques and strategies that were unlike anything seen in other martial arts. This system was first officially introduced in 1963 when taekwondo was accepted into the Korean National Sport Festival as a demonstration sport. The next year, taekwondo was officially adopted as a permanent sport in the sports festival using this system. With its inclusion in the Korean National Sports Festival, sport taekwondo experienced an explosion of growth in Korea. Middle school, high school, and university teams were rapidly formed and the number of competitors and competitions expanded every year. This growth, in turn, brought great changes to taekwondo. In 1965 the 1st National Open Taekwondo Championships were held with eight weight divisions from fin to heavy weight. The use of so many weight divisions was also a new innovation in martial sports. In 19966, the 1st National Middle School, High School, University, and Individual Taekwondo Championships were held, opening the way for the formation of middle, high school, and university teams across the country. Following this trend, in 1970, the 1st National Elementary School and Women's Taekwondo Championships were held further promoting the development of sport taekwondo for youths and women. During this time, with the large number of teams and individuals practicing and the increasing number of competitions, taekwondo's modern techniques continued to develop at an incredible rate. Initially, members of the original five schools did not have much contact with each other, but trained mostly with members of their own schools. However, after teams were formed and competitions began to be frequently held, students of the different schools started to compete against each other and, in the case of university teams, often found themselves teammates with people from the other schools. The result of this great exchange among the different schools of taekwondo was a period of intense experimentation with new techniques in order to become more competitive under the new rules which emphasized full-contact kicking. The 1960s and 1970s were when most of the technical innovations in sparring were developed such as the spinning and jumping kicks and the incredible footwork that allows competitors to execute complex and dazzling kicking combinations while moving forward or backward. By the 1980s, the modern nature of taekwondo as a sport including techniques and rules was firmly established. However, there continues to be subtle changes in strategy and technique which are a mark of dynamic and progressive nature of sport taekwondo. [end] ------------------------------ From: Ken McDonough Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2000 22:43:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: the_dojang: Re: Yes: also this important point, re: screening applicants to various lists SeSilz writes: Response: I really don't want to exacerbate any issues here. But, I will note this. If you go to the stated TKD net site you will also see that there is a clear policy directive indicating that you must provide your provider service address. For example, if you use a Yahoo or Hotmail account the TKD list insists that you provide your provider service address which in many cases would be an invasion of privacy. For example, I work in a high level Pentagon position. Do you think I want to provide my Pentagon address to some person, whom I do not trust, living in Hawaii ? I value my privacy. I am on several mailing lists. I must tell you that only the TKD list has this policy ? Additionally, if you write to this list to gain access, I believe you will be asked extremely personal information about your life, your Dojang, and your home telephone. This is made to filter and screen applicants to the respective list. However, I believe the Dojang Digest does not do this since there really is no paranoia among honest and ethical individuals. I also believe the Martial Science list does not do this. The Harley Davidson list does not do this, and many other lists do not ask personal information. Again, I only present the facts. I do not want to prolong a list debate. Just passing along information. I won't comment on this again until the dire need arises. I was not going to comment on this since I believe the issue should die. However, readers should know all pertinent facts and then draw their own conclusions. There is a clear hidden agenda which should be made public. Cheers, McD... __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ From: "Rudy Timmerman" Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000 02:01:56 -0400 Subject: the_dojang: The Boot > What this kind invitation fails to mention is that if you continue post to > Mr. Terry's list, you will be booted from the TKD NET for violation of the > moderator's long standing boycott. Now I understand why I no longer receive their list. I too received this invitation, only to find out that (within the week) I received the same boot because I must have violated a rule I knew nothing about. Oh well, I'm happy here, and I appreciate the fact that there are NO politics. In contrast. Ray helped me trough my first few posts, because I was totally lost on how to post. He even rewrote my first post in its entirety, because I sent it in the wrong format. I also thank Pu Sabum Nim Ron Bain for his suggestion that I join this list. It is great, and I now recommend it to my students and association members. Rudy, Kwan jang National Korean Martial Arts Association ------------------------------ From: Ken McDonough Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2000 07:17:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: the_dojang: Re: Nice info. Clint, nice info. I will forward to the Dojang Digest and MartialScience lists. By the way these are great lists with nice people. Check it out. Thanks, Ken McD... - --- Clint Stevens wrote: > I found the following review at > http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/3385/kuksoolwon.html From the site itself: < If you are trying to select a martial art to study, you must first ask yourself, "Why do I want to take martial arts?" The reasons are usually; to get in to shape, to do it as a sport, to defend yourself, or a combination. It is important to define your primary reason for taking it. This is because not all martial arts achieve all these goals equally. These are summaries of each of the martial arts. The first paragraph is a general description of the style of martial art, the second paragraph is my own personal observations and opinions I have about the style regarding its self defense applications. Remember, it's my opinion so if I say something negative about your particular martial art, don't be upset - my way is not necessarily your way. In the end each individual must decide what style works best for him or herself. Every martial art has its value, whether it be to teach self discipline, balance, coordination, punching, kicking, grappling, improve strength, flexibility, or self esteem. What I am focusing on here are the realistic street applications of the different systems. Choose the martial art you are interested in from the list on the left.> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ From: Ray Terry Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000 7:41:39 PDT Subject: the_dojang: . ------------------------------ End of The_Dojang-Digest V7 #523 ******************************** It's a great day for Taekwondo! Support the USTU by joining today. US Taekwondo Union, 1 Olympic Plaza, Ste 405, Colorado Spgs, CO 80909 719-578-4632 FAX 719-578-4642 ustutkd1@aol.com http://www.ustu.org To unsubscribe from the_dojang-digest send the command: unsubscribe the_dojang-digest -or- unsubscribe the_dojang-digest your.old@address in the BODY of an email (top line, left justified) addressed to majordomo@hpwsrt.cup.hp.com. Old digest issues are available via ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com. Copyright 1994-2000: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource Standard disclaimers apply.