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Similar to art of Taekwondo itself, modern Taekwondo patterns are steeped in history, but are a fairly modern development that is in a constant state of change. To understand Taekwondo fully, one must understand the evolution of the modern patterns and how they have contributed to the worldwide growth of the art.

The passing down of information through physical movement is probably as old as mankind itself. Ancient cultures used sequences of physical movements to pass their culture to the next generation. Part of this culture would be the fighting techniques that had refined and found to be most successful. Since combat is a physical activity, the most effective way to learn combative skills would be to copy the movements of the elders. The elders would demonstrate the combative movements, and younger men would try to emulate these movements. These skills would then be further refined and passed to subsequent generations. This process created the first martial arts patterns.

Development of Shotokan Patterns

Since Taekwondo's development was deeply influenced by Shotokan Karate, it is best to start Taekwondo pattern history with a look at the history of Shotokan patterns.

Karate was founded on the island of Okinawa, one of a chain of islands collectively known as the Ryukyu Islands. Okinawa lies about five hundred and fifty miles east of Mainland China, approximately halfway between China and Japan.

During the eleventh century, a number of Japanese warriors fleeing from the Taira–Minamoto wars made their way to Okinawa. Many of the Minamoto samurai took Okinawan wives and remained upon the island for the rest of their lives. The bujitsu of the Minamoto Samurai had a large influence upon the fighting methods employed by the Okinawan nobles. One part of Minamoto Bujitsu that had an influence upon the development of karate was the idea that all motion is essentially the same. Whether striking, grappling, or wielding a weapon, the Minamoto samurai taught that all combative methods relied upon similar physical movements. A student would be taught a particular physical movement and then be shown how that movement could be adapted to other situations. This philosophy can still be seen in modern karate when an individual pattern technique is applied to different circumstances and attacks. This use of one technique in multiple applications permitted each pattern to convey great amounts of information. The use of multiple applications also helps ensure a quick response in combat since the user did not have to learn many different movements for many different situations.

In 1377, the king of Okinawa expressed his allegiance to the emperor of China, which resulted in a huge influx of Chinese culture and customs, including Chinese combative systems. In 1392, thirty-six Chinese families emigrated to Kume village in Okinawa as part of a cultural exchange. Amongst these thirty-six families were a number of Kempo experts who had a huge influence upon the growth and development of the native Okinawan combat systems. The Chinese transported many of the pattern practiced within modern karate to Okinawa, and their methods were the inspiration behind many others. Many of the patterns are named after the Chinese martial artists who created or inspired them e.g. Kushanku, Wanshu, Chinto, etc.

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