Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Kukkiwon at Present

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MARTIAL ARTS-KUKKIWON INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
Contact No: +91.9874091619 E-Mail: prof.nag@gmail.com E_Mail: wmac@india.com

 
Upon liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonial rule after World War II, the Korean people began recovering the thought of self-reliance and the traditional folkloric games resumed their popularity. Song Duk-Ki, afore-mentioned master of Taekkyon, presented a demonstration of the martial art before the first republic of Korea president Syngman Rhee on the occasion of his birthday, clearly distinguishing Taekwondo from the Japanese Karate which had been introduced by the Japanese rulers.
Martial art experts began opening Taekwondo gymnasiums all over the country and after the end of Korean War (1950-1953) Taekwondo was popularized among the dan-grade black-belters within the country, also dispatching about 2,000 Taekwondo masters to more than 100 countries.
After all, following the nomination of Taekwondo as a national martial art in 1971, the present Kukkiwon was founded in 1972 to be used as the headquarters as well as the site of various Taekwondo competitions.
Then a year later, in 1973 the World Taekwondo Federation was established. In 1973, the biennial World Taekwondo Championships was organized.
In 1984, Taekwondo was admitted to the Asian Games as an official event. In 1975, Taekwondo was accepted as an official sport by the U.S Amateur Athletic Union [AAU] and also admitted to the General Association of International Sports Federations [GAISF – later renamed SportAccord], followed by the adoption of official sports event by the International Council of Military Sports [CISM] in 1976 and by International University Sports Federation [FISU] in 1986 . The WTF became an IOC-recognized sports federation in 1980, making Taekwondo an Olympic sport. Then the adoption of Taekwondo as an official event was followed by the World Games in 1981, All Africa Games in 1983, and the Pan-American Games in 1986.
Taekwondo participated in 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games as a demonstration sport. On September 4, 1994, the 103rd IOC Session in Paris voted to include Taekwondo in 2000 Sydney Olympic Games as an official sport. (As a result, in 2006, September 4 was designated as Taekwondo Day by the WTF.)
Taekwondo made its debut as an official sport in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Since then, Taekwondo's entry in the Olympics has increased from 103 athletes to 128 athletes. And from the Beijing Olympics the number of bronze medals increased from one to two. Taekwondo is confirmed through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Taekwondo is also included in the Youth Olympic Games, beginning with the inaugural edition in Singapore in 2010.
The WTF introduced the 1st WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in 2009, and has since then promoted inclusion of para-taekwondo in the Paralympic Games. Taekwondo first participated in the Deaflympics in 2009.
Taekwondo is an official sport of almost all international multi-sport games as well as continental games. With an ever-growing number of taekwondo practitioners worldwide, the WTF now has 206 Member National Associations located at all corners of the globe. And the WTF has also made ceaseless effort to make taekwondo a sport for all, irrespective gender, race, age, religion, culture and with or without physical or mental disabilities in cooperation with various international sports organizations.

Kukkiwon Origins

Taekwondo History

The historical background of Taekwondo development will be explained following the chronological order of 4 different ages; ancient times, middles ages, modern ages and present times.

Taekwondo History

  • Origins

  • Middle Age

  • Modern Times

  • Present day

Man by nature has instinct to preserve his own life as well as his race, and therefore engages in physical activities either consciously or unconsciously. Man cannot do without physical motions that he grows and developed on them, regardless of time and space. In ancient times people had no means other than the bare hands and body to defend themselves; so they naturally developed the bare-hand fighting techniques. Even at times when arms were developed as defensive or offensive means, people continued to enjoy the bare-hand fighting techniques for the purpose of building physical strength as well as showing off through matches at rituals of tribal communities.
pic24In the early days of the Korean peninsula, there were three tribes, each enjoying warrior's martial art contests during the ritual seasons. At the time, people learned techniques from their experiences of fighting against the beasts whose defensive and offensive motions were also the subject of analysis. It is believed that this was exactly the true grounding of today's Taekwondo, which names have descended from "Subak", "Taekkyon" and so on.
In the latter part of ancient times on the Korean peninsula, three kingdoms were rivaling among them for the hegemony. They were Koguryo, Paekje and Shilla all indulged in growing national strength with trained warriors. Therefore, the Korean history tells that there were military personalities among the well-known prominent national leaders of the three kingdoms, which proves the military tendency of ruling hierarchy.
As a result, youth warriors were organized, such as "Hwarangdo" in Shilla and "Chouisonin" in Koguryo, which both adopted martial art training as one of the important subjects of learning. A known martial art book of the days, called "Muyedobo-Tongji" wrote "Taekwondo is the basis of martial art, enabling one to build strength by using the hand and foot freely and training arms and legs as well as the body to adaptable to any critical situations," which means Taekwondo was already prevalent in that age. Thus, it can be easily assumed that Taekwondo was originated from the days of tribal communities on the Korean peninsula.
Shilla kingdom founded in B.C. 57 on the southeastern part of Korea, and Koguryo founded in B.C. 37 on the northern part of Korea along Yalu river, both made great efforts to raise their youngsters into strong warriors called "hwarang" and "sunbae" respectively, certainly with Taekwondo as one of the principal subjects of physical training.

Koguryo's Training and Taekkyon

Koguryo was founded on the northern part of Korea, surrounded by hostile Han [Chinese] tribes in the north. Therefore, in its early days, the kingdom organized a strong warrior corps called "Sunbae" in its attempt to consolidate power.
origins1According to the scholars, a man of virtue who never recoils from a fight means "sunbae", which is a member of the warrior corps. Later, the chronicle of the Old Chosun Dynasty described the lift of Koguryo days, saying; "people gathered on march 10 every year at a site of ritual, where they enjoyed a sword dance, archery, Taekkyon contests and so on," implying that Taekkyon was one of the popular events for the ritual in the Koguryo days. It also said "sunbae" lived in groups, learning history and literary arts at home and going out to construct roads and fortresses for the benefits of society, always devoting themselves to the nations.
Therefore, it was natural that Koguryo put the priority of interests on the Taekkyon which was the basis of martial arts, as can be proven by the wall paintings discovered at tombs of Koguryo days. A mural painting at the Samsil tomb shows two warriors engaged in a face-to-face match in Taekkyon stance, and a third at the same tomb shows the scene of Korean wrestling bout [Ssireum], clearly distinguishing it from Taekkyon. It can be assumed from the painting of Taekkyon match that the dead were either a Taekkyon practical or the subject of condolence with dances and martial art.

Shilla's "Hwarang" and Taekkyon

The Kingdom of Shilla was founded on the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula where there were no immediate threats from outside, but along with the birth of Paekje Kingdom on its west flank and the start of invasions by Koguryo from the north, Shilla was impelled to arm itself with development of martial arts.
In fact, "hwarangdo" is the typical example of Shilla's martial arts, which is an assimilation of Koguryo's "sunbae" system. The youth group hwarangdo were well trained with the senses of filial piety, loyalty to the kingdom and sacrificial devotion to society to become important personalities for the rein of the kingdom. Notable among them were Kim Yu-Shin and Kim Chun-Chu that made definite contributions to the unification of those three kingdoms.
The chronicle of Old Chosun described the life of hwarangs, members of hwarangdo: "hwarang were selected by the kingdom through contests and, after selection, they lived together in a group, learning, exercising subak, fencing and horse-riding, and sometimes enjoyed various games of communities, working on emergency aids and construction of fortresses and roads, and they were always ready to sacrifice their lives at the time of war."
pic22Hwarangs were particularly influenced by the Buddhistic disciplines and therefore the bronze statues of a Kumgang Yoksa [a man of great physical strength] currently exhibited at the Kyongju Museum clearly indicate that martial arts were practiced at temples by showing a strong man's bare-hand defensive and offensive stances.
Especially the shape of a fist shown on the statue of Kumgang Yoksa exactly resembles that of a "jungkwon" [proper fist] in the contemporary term of Taekwondo. The statue also shows "pyon jumok " [flat fist] and the use of legs, which are seen in today's Taekwondo.
It is really noticeable that in the Shilla epoch the terms "subak" [hand techniques] and "taekkyon" appear together, signifying that both hand and foot techniques were used in martial arts as shown in today's Taekwondo.

Taekkyon transmitted from Koguryo to Shilla

As the art of taekkyon was popularized in Koguryo, it was also handed down to Silla, which is justified by the following points of view;
  1. "Hwarang"(or sonrang) in Silla has the same meaning with the word "sonbae" in Koguryo by indicating both the youth warrior's corps from their etymological origins.
  2. Both Hwarang and sonbae had the same organizations and hierarchical structure with each other.
  3. According to historical, as sonbaes in Koguryo used to compete in taekkyon games at the time of their national festivals, Hwarangs in Silla also played taekkyon games (subak, dokkyoni or taekkyoni) at such festivals as "palkwanhoe" and "hankawi" , thus systematically developing the ancient fighting techniques into the taekkyon(or sonbae) as the basis of martial arts by around a.d.200. from the 4th century the Hwarangs took the takkyon lesson as a systemized martial art at their learning houses to make it also popularized among ordinary people so much so that their techniques were depicted on the mural paintings of ancient warrior tombs. Again, it is also true that taekkyon, coming down to Silla, was further developed into a school of martial art with the division of techniques, i ,e bare-hand techniques and foot techniques, which can be proved by the fact that both hand and foot techniques art clearly shown in the ancient sculptures buddlistic statues.

Kukkiwon Experience Program

Experience Program

Kukkiwon will heighten a interest in Taekwondo worldwide. As a part of Korean tourism, Kukkiwon operates the Taekwondo Experience Program to allow tourists and foreign visitors to experience Taekwondo.
The program is held three times a day from Tuesday to Sunday to draw the interest and responses of foreign tourists to the basic Taekwondo techniques such as self-defense and breaking.
Through this event, Kukkiwon can heighten the people's interest in Taekwondo and promise tourists happy Taekwondo memories and experiences from their visit to Korea, thereby expanding and introducing the Korean traditional culture of Taekwondo worldwide. 









Taekwondo Performance

Present the new paradigm of Tawkwondo demonstration culture Since 2007, in cooperation with city of Seoul, Kukkiwon has been holding regular Taekwondo demonstration at the Kyunghee place for international tourists visiting Korea. The Performance is held from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm every Wednesday and Saturday from March to December on the palace grass yard.
The program is held three times a day from Tuesday to Sunday to draw the interest and responses of foreign tourists to the basic Taekwondo techniques such as self-defense and breaking.
Through this event, Kukkiwon can heighten the people's interest in Taekwondo and promise tourists happy Taekwondo memories and experiences from their visit to Korea, thereby expanding and introducing the Korean traditional culture of Taekwondo worldwide.

Kukkiwon-TKD Masters Worldwide

Kukkiwon Dispatch Taekwondo Master

Spreading the Taekwondo culture of Korea
Kukkiwon has dispatched 31 Taekwondo Masters to 30 developing countries for the purpose of promoting friendship and introducing the Taekwondo culture.

The dispatched Masters are tasked to teach the Taekwondo skill and spirit to the police, supervisors of national teams, and youth national team members in the respective countries.
They highly contribute to the growth of Taekwondo and the Taekwondo culture in their own countries.
The dispatched Masters with their highest ability and characters are devoting to introduce the martial arts and develop Taekwondo culture in the developing countries. They contribute to keep Taekwondo as an official Olympic game.
In addition, they are also promoting friendship between Korea and these countries upon heightening the interest and understanding of Korean culture.
Kukkiwon will do its utmost to introduce Korea worldwide and promote friendship with developing and underdeveloped countries by enhancing and cultivating the qualities and abilities of its Masters in cooperation with the government. Kukkuown hopes to increase the number of countries to be visited.
2013 Kukkiwon Dispatch Taekwondo Masters
Continent Nation Name
Africa Republic of South Africa CHO JUNG HYUN
Asia Nepal KWON YEONGDAL
Asia Republic of the Union of Myanmar YU UNG CHO
Asia Bangladesh LEE JU SANG
Africa Senegal PARK SOON KEUN
Asia Syria JEON SANG HO
Asia Sri Lanka LEE KISU
Asia Cambodia CHOI YONGSOK
Asia Kyrgyzstan LEE SEUNGGYU
Asia Indonesia SHIN SEUNG JUNG
Asia India LEE JEONG HEE
America Honduras KIM HOSUK
America Nigeria KIM JIN BEOM
America Ghana KIM GIBOK
America Dominican Republic JUN SANGKEUN
America Nicaragua JIN KWANGGYUN
America Venezuela KIM SEONG HOON
Africa Tunisia JANG HO SUNG
America Uruguay KIM TAEHYEONG
Africa Lesotho LEE DEOK HWI
Africa Algeria JUNG WOO MIN
Africa Kenya LEE JAE SUK
America Colombia LEE HONG WON
America Panama LEE YEONG HWAN
America Mexico KIM JUN SIK
Asia Thailand CHOI YOUNG SEOK
Asia Malaysia LEE BYUNG HEE
Asia Indonesia KWAK YOUNG MIN
Asia Tajikistan KIM KWANG JOO
Asia Uzbekistan BAEK MUN JONG
Asia Japan KIM HANNO
Asia Laos JIN JEONG WOO

Kukkiwon International

Kukkiwon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kukkiwon
Formation 1972/1973
Type GO
Purpose Martial art and sport
Location
  • Seoul
Official language
Korean
President
Jeong Mansoon
Parent organization
Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism
Website www.kukkiwon.or.kr
Coordinates: 37.5020°N 127.0303°E
Kukkiwon (국기원; 國技院), also known as World Taekwondo Headquarters, and home of the World Taekwondo Academy, is the official taekwondo governing organisation established by the South Korean government.[1] It is supervised by the International Sports Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.[2]

History

Kukkiwon
Hangul 국기원
Hanja 國技院
Revised Romanization Gukgiwon
McCune–Reischauer Kukkiwŏn
Kukkiwon is based at 635 Yeoksam-dong (역삼동) in the Gangnam-gu (강남구) district of Seoul, South Korea.[3][4][5] Construction of the main building commenced on 19 November 1971, and was completed on 30 November 1972, with the organisation being officially named on 6 February 1973.[6] The main building accommodates up to 3,000 people for events.[3] Standing at three stories in height, the building's roof features kiwa (blue Korean tiles)—the same type of roofing as the Blue House (the official residence of the President of South Korea).[7]
In May 1973, the Korea Taekwondo Association and Kukkiwon hosted the first World Taekwondo Championships, with 200 taekwondo competitors from 17 countries in attendance.[8][9] Kukkiwon has had a permanent taekwondo demonstration team since September 1974.[1][6]
Un Yong Kim was the first President of Kukkiwon,[10][11] and resigned from the position on 15 November 2001.[12][13] Woon Kyu Uhm of the Chung Do Kwan was elected President on 2 March 2004.[6] The President in late 2005 was Yong Gye Um.[14] On 10 December 2009, Seung Wan Lee of the Jidokwan was elected as Kukkiwon's next President.[15][16]
In mid-2010, Won Sik Kang became the president;[17] he was also the current president of Song Moo Kwan, Korea. President Kang stepped down at the end of his term of office in early 2013. After him the interim president while awaiting an election was Grandmaster Kyu Sok Lee, who also serves as Secretary General for the Asian Taekwondo Union. Kim Chung Gun later acted as the Chair-in-Office. The next president was Grandmaster Lee Kyu Hyung (9th dan) after being provisionally named by the Director of the organization’s board as of August 20, 2013;[18] he resigned after a really short period, claming he was unable to perform the role to the best of his abilities due to political issues.
The current president is Grandmaster Jeong Mansoon,[19][20] a professor of Taekwondo and ex-dean of Chungju University.
Flagpoles and flags of the World Taekwondo Foundation and of the Korean Taekwondo Association at the Kukkiwon

See also

References

  1. Min, B.-H. (2005): Kukkiwon, the spiritual home of Taekwondoists (11 July 2005). Published on the website of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the USA. Retrieved on 10 January 2010.
  2. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea: Bureau of Office Retrieved on 9 January 2010.
  3. Life in Korea: Kukkiwon Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
  4. GangNam-Gu Internet Broadcasting Station: Cultural facilities Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
  5. Seoul Global Center: Kukkiwon Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
  6. Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo Headquarters: Kukkiwon history Retrieved on 25 May 2007.
  7. Gillis, A. (2009): From spooky Kukki to WTF Totally Tae Kwon Do, 1:31–32. Retrieved on 10 January 2010.
  8. Korea Taekwondo Association: History Retrieved on 20 January 2010.
  9. Park, Y. H., & Seabourne, T. (1997): Taekwondo techniques & tactics: Skills for sparring and self-defense (p. 13). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics (ISBN 0-88011-644-7).
  10. Parandeul Tours: Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarter) Retrieved on 11 January 2010.
  11. Yushen Lai's Taekwondo Academy: History of Taekwondo Retrieved on 11 January 2010.
  12. Ko Mu Do Kwan: Taekwondo Retrieved on 11 January 2010.
  13. Toi-Gye Taekwon-Do: Olympic Tae Kwon Do Retrieved on 12 January 2010.
  14. Tae Kwon Do New Zealand (2005): Taekwondo New Zealand goodwill visit to WTF Headquarters and Kukkiwon Headquarters Fight Times. Retrieved on 11 January 2010.
  15. Kim, J., & Jung, D. G. (2009): Seung Wan Lee elected as Kukkiwon Chairman MOOKAS (11 December 2009). Retrieved on 30 January 2010.
  16. Kukkiwon (2009): Announcement for selection of "Kukkiwon Overseas Branches" (31 December 2009). Retrieved on 13 January 2010.
  17. New Kukkiwon President: Won Sik Kang Tae Kwon Do Times (4 June 2010). Retrieved on 13 November 2010.
  18. Lee Kyu Hyung, new President of Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Media (20 August 2013). Retrieved on 22 August 2013.
  19. [1] (2 February 2014). Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  20. [2] (6 January 2014). Retrieved on 13 May 2014.

External links