Taekwondo History

[GojuBujin]

Something I've known and suspected for years is that Taekwondo was heavily influenced by Okinawan and Japanese Karate. The best evidence of this is the striking similarities and almost exact parallels the TKD forms have to that of Shotokan esp. but, also Kyokushin and Shorin-Ryu. I go the following out of the Dragon Times today, (www.dragon-tsunami.org)

I just wanted to get some fead back and see what the rest of you thought and whether anyone knew it all to be true.

This is by no means meant to be offensive to anyone or anyone's art. I'm just gathering information.


It will come as a disappointment to those who practice taekwondo to discover that their art is, in essence, Japanese Shotokan Karate.
Far from being a centuries old indigenous art, it was brought to Korea in the 1940s by students (of Gichin Funakoshi and Toyama Kanken) who had studied in Tokyo during the pre-war years and it was these young Koreans who became the leaders of Korean karate (latterly renamed taekwondo) in the immediate post-war era.
Apparently genuine Korean martial arts consist principally of archery and swordsmanship and are almost entirely imported from, or at least, heavily influenced by Chinese methods to the extent that it is not possible to even define a unique Korean art. This is hardly surprising when one considers that Korea had the misfortune of being subjugated by one or another of its neighbors for most of its history and was never able therefore, to develop a warrior class comparable with that of Japan or China..........


Michael C. Byrd
www.inigmasoft.com/goyukai

 

[Marginal]

Well, it depends. Personally, this "revelation" is not news, and has no impact on my enjoyment of TKD.

After all, they share similarities, but have diverged in quite a few ways as well.

 

[GojuBujin]

It wasn't news for me either...but it is to some....the article in the Dragon Times goes really into depth much more than just those few paragraphs. It also tells how the goverment of Korea has had an impact on Taekwondo.

Thanks,

Michael C. Byrd
www.inigmasoft.com/goyukai

 

[Cloud]

From what I understand General Choi earned a 2nd Dan in Shotokan Karate before returning home to Korea. So it didn't surprise me. So I guess it is a combination of Shotokan and Tae Kyon or whatever the old art was called.

All martial arts are connected to each other in some way so it really isn't a big deal.

 

[Bagatha]

It will come as a disappointment to those who practice taekwondo to discover that their art is, in essence, Japanese Shotokan Karate.
Far from being a centuries old indigenous art, it was brought to Korea in the 1940s by students (of Gichin Funakoshi and Toyama Kanken) who had studied in Tokyo during the pre-war years and it was these young Koreans who became the leaders of Korean karate (latterly renamed taekwondo) in the immediate post-war era.

Only a dissapointment to those who have been intentionally mislead. I would assume that most people already know this, as the history of TKD is taught in most schools.

 

[karatekid1975]

Marginal wrote:

"Well, it depends. Personally, this "revelation" is not news, and has no impact on my enjoyment of TKD.

After all, they share similarities, but have diverged in quite a few ways as well."

I totally agree with you here. I don't get into the "history" of arts for several reasons (the biggest one is politics and I hate politics). I roughly know the history of TKD and TSD. Yes they are both Japanese influenced (specially TSD). Do I care? No. I like both arts, and I enjoy training. That's what matters to me. If you like the art, keep training and train hard. Don't let this stuff bother you.

 

[MartialArtist]

Although TKD is quite new officially, it is based on both Japanese and traditional Korean arts.

Don't forget the old Korean arts did have some influence on old Japanese arts and visa versa, not to mention they all had some sort of Chinese and Mongol influences. MONGOLS ESPECIALLY... The Mongols, when they conquered Korea, they spread their style of combat wrestling which is found in combat TKD. But mostly, Japanese and Korean arts are very similiar.

 

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by MartialArtist

Although TKD is quite new officially, it is based on both Japanese and traditional Korean arts.

Don't forget the old Korean arts did have some influence on old Japanese arts and visa versa, not to mention they all had some sort of Chinese and Mongol influences. MONGOLS ESPECIALLY... The Mongols, when they conquered Korea, they spread their style of combat wrestling which is found in combat TKD. But mostly, Japanese and Korean arts are very similiar.

Interesting to note the Mongolian wrestling was the foundation for both Korean style sumo and Japanese sumo.

 

[Marginal]

GojuBujin missed one traditional art. The Koreans also had an art centering around rock throwing back before metal was used for weapon making. (Read that in a FAQ somewhere so it's gotta be true.)

 

[jkn75]

Originally posted by Marginal

GojuBujin missed one traditional art. The Koreans also had an art centering around rock throwing back before metal was used for weapon making. (Read that in a FAQ somewhere so it's gotta be true.)

I think this is also mentioned in Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts by Donn Draeger.