ATA History

Although martial arts in Korea can be dated back some 1300 years, there is no documentation for these arts. Legends passed down by different instructors and masters are the only source of history. Often, there is little fact among these legends. The only documented history begins in the mid-1900's with General Choi.

You must understand that past history does not change to meet your current needs. It is often true, yet disturbing, that masters and instructors of various arts (including Taekwondo) change or alter past history to make themselves seem more important than they really are; to appear to be the only "real" martial art; or to show that they were the "first" of the current arts. Of course, it is difficult to answer any of these questions concerning any ancient material because there is no documentation.

Original forms
Although we all agree that the technique of Taekwondo can be traced back in Korea over 1300 years, it is historic fact that Taekwondo as an organized art is relatively modern. Even the oldest "Taekwondo" forms are derived from Japanese and Okinawan forms systems. The original forms developed under the name "Taekwondo" were the Cheon-jee (or Chahng-hun) forms developed in the mid-1960's. Following this system were the Pal-gae forms in the early 70's. Both sets of forms systems were based on Japanese forms and did not demonstrate the incredible kicking skills of Taekwondo nor its traditional values or philosophy.

Songahm Taekwondo
As a result of evaluating all the forms systems and realizing the absence of tradition, Master Haeng Ung Lee, assisted by Master William Clark (with additional input by Masters Soon Ho Lee, Jee Ho Lee, and Robert Allemier) developed a forms system that encompassed the kicks, traditions and philosophy of traditional Taekwondo. This system was known as "Songahm."

"Taekwondo" made official
The word Taekwondo was officially adopted as the name of this hand and foot art in 1955. The name was derived from the ancient name Taekyon. Prior to the dubbing of the new name, the art was scattered among he martial arts of Su-bak Do, Gong Soo Do, and Tang Soo Do.

General Hong Hi Choi had a vision of unifying all the Korean arts. He realized that Korea was adopting the forms and movements of the Chinese and Japanese arts, emphasizing the kicking, and calling them Korean martial arts.

General Choi wanted to emphasize the kicking skills. So, he created a word meaning foot called "Tae" and added the "Kwon" (hand) and "Do" (the way). Thus, the name of "Taekwondo" was officially introduced to Korea and the world.

The word was chosen because it best describes the summary of the art. Taekwondo literally means the way of hand and foot. The emphasis was put on the word "way," meaning a way or philosophy of life, and devoting one's energy to the improvement of the physical, mental and emotional self through training with this style using the hands and feet. It did not just mean the way to kick and punch.

Taekwondo training
In the Korean mindset, the thought of just training the body in a fighting style for the sole purpose of fighting as we know it did not exist. Combat fighting was one of the least important aspects of the training. Fighting, of course, does not always mean "physical contact."

The growth in the person's physical structure, the mental discipline, and the control of one's emotions were far better reasons to spend many years in training. To become a master did not represent that the person was the best fighter. Rather, that person had mastered all things in his or her life.

Good students of Taekwondo focus on personal development and not on how soon they will develop the skill to defeat their enemies. The physical skill of fighting for protection and self defense was a part of the traditional training...however, it was the dessert and not the main course.