Preface - Introduction - Ancient Beginnings - Korean Geography - Ancient Korea - Three Kingdoms Era - Subak and Sonbae - Subak and Hwarang - Koryo Dynasty - Gojoseon Dynasty - Korea Divided - Korean War (1950-1953) - Modern Taekwondo - Early Masters - Taekwondo Development - International Groups - Road to Olympics - Sport Taekwondo - Traditional versus Sport - Taekwondo in the United States - Taekwondo Today - References

By 1900, Taekkyon had become a game in which two partners squared off and tried to knock each other down using their feet. It was used to exact revenge for a slight or to win an opponent's concubine through betting. Due to its gambling and other unsavory aspects, most Koreans lost interest in their native martial arts, Taekkyon included. Taekkyon was forbidden and even youngsters seen playing it were chased with a switch by the village elders. 

Like other Far Eastern countries, Japan had an early history of unarmed fighting styles. Jujitsu was one of the earliest arts and was the basis for Judo, which was founded in 1882 by Jigero Kano. Judo, after its decisive victory in a competition held in 1886 at the Tokyo Police department, eventually superseded Jujitsu.

After Japan's occupation of Korea, Japanese colonial rule tightened its grip on the Korean economy and the people. Its purpose was to suppress the Korean populace and to erase the Korean identity. Japanese businesses were given preferential treatment and they took advantage of Korea's natural resources. The country was renamed Chosen. The Japanese resident general officially prohibited all Korean cultural activities, folkloric games, and team sports, including Taekkyon, by native Koreans. Korean national dress was forbidden. The wealthy Korean aristocracy began changing their names to Japanese names. Koreans were forbidden to speak their own language, only the Japanese language could to be spoken. The Korean language press was banned and a Japanese educational curriculum was imposed on all Korean schools. This meant that all Korean schoolboys were taught the sportive forms of Japanese Judo and Kendo, not the Korean martial arts. However, even this training came to an abrupt end in 1909 when the Japanese banned the practice of any fighting arts in Korea for the next 36 years, until near the end of World War II.

Even under the Japanese colonial rule, some famous Korean writers, such as Shin Chae-Ho and Choi Nam-Sun, wrote of Taekkyon, saying "Present Subak prevailing in Seoul came from the Sonbae in the Koguryo dynasty," and "Subak is like today's Taekkyon which was originally practiced as martial art but is now played mostly by children as games." During the occupation, 14 types of techniques were used in Taekkyon: 5 kicking patterns, 4 hand techniques, 3 pushing-down-at-the-heel patterns, 1 turning-over kick pattern, and 1 technique of downing-the-whole-body. Also noteworthy was the use of the term "poom" which signified a face-to-face stance in preparation for a fight. Today, a poom is a beginner black belt. Since the masters of Taekkyon were under constant threat of imprisonment, Taekkyon eventually faded out as a popular game.

Taekkyon was kept alive by various masters who practiced it in secret with the local people. Buddhist monasteries and certain local schools trained young people in Taekkyon. These young people later coalesced into resistance armies or "independent armies." Some of the army members were those who came back from other countries where they had been living to join in the attempt to drive the Japanese from their homeland. These armies were active throughout the Japanese occupation. However, because of its underground nature, the resistance was disorganized and Korea could not free herself from Japanese rule without foreign intervention.

Taekkyon still exists. Its traditions were carried on by Song Tok-Ki (1893-1987), and it was organized as a sport in the 1970's. Taekkyon is unique to Korea. Other countries had martial arts around this time, however, Taekkyon was not influenced by other countries' martial art styles. Taekkyon  was acknowledged as Korea's Traditional Martial Art on June 1, 1983, and held as the 26th Intangible Cultural Asset. Modern Taekkyon practitioners  understand that its meaning is based on mutual prosperity through offense and defense within the boundaries of social ethics and moral codes. These codes include sound character, strong mind and strong body.

As an expression of respect, Up is used. Up is a half bow, done while training, because there usually was not enough space for a full bow. The other element of respect is chol. This was done at the start and end of training, in the direction of the flag, before the highest leader, and the opponent. Chol is based on the form listed in Karyejip'ram (Anthology of the Etiquettes), written by Kim Chang-Saeng in 1599.

Taekkyon is an art form that looks like a dance, but has much more power and agility. Some techniques are:

• Pumbalbk'ki. The basic stepping motion, where the feet are moved in a triangular motion (from the Chinese character "pum"). This follows rhythm and pattern, but changes by situation. The actual movement is done by taking one step forward, shifting weight to the other leg, and continue, back and forth. This can be done on the right or the left side, and has many variations.

• Hwalgaejit. This means, waving both arms. There are two intentions for this. First, is to prepare for the attack, and second to enhance the energy of the upper body. There are also many variations, such as othundulgi, cross wave; kawijil, scissor like motion; matdulgi, simultaneous wave; tupal hundulgi, shaking both arms; and dolligi, spinning.

When Japan became involved in World War II, many Koreans, particularly those living in Japan, were forced into the Japanese military. Over half a million Koreans were taken to Japan to work, primarily in mining and heavy industry. Sixty thousand of these died in Japan during the war. Korean women were forced to serve as "comfort women" (prostitutes) for the Japanese Army. The Japanese took some Korean masters to Japan and made them teach techniques to the Japanese military. This led to Taekkyon techniques being incorporated into the Japanese martial art of karate. Many Koreans were forced to flee Korea during the years before World War II; they predominately immigrated to the United States, China, Manchuria, and Siberia. The immigrants carried Taekkyon with them and taught the art to their new neighbors.

The Japanese ban on the martial arts was obviously not entirely effective. In fact, Yeon-Hee Park and Bong-Soo Han believe the ban actually increased their practice. Martial arts training  moved to the Buddhist monasteries, a traditional place of refuge for out-of-favor warriors. Taekkyon continued to be practiced at Tan O Nol (youth festivals) until the art was outlawed in 1920. 

The ban on martial arts did not include members of the Japanese army stationed in Korea, and several important martial artists began their careers there. About the time of the Russo-Japanese war, British Judo pioneer Gunji Koizumi studied kenjutsu and Jujutsu in Korea at a school run by Nobukatsu Yamada. Many years later, Teruo Yamaguchi began learning karate-do while stationed in Korea. The ban also did not include Koreans training in Japan.