History of Patterns - Development of Taekwondo Patterns

Development of Taekwondo Patterns

As mentioned in the Taekwondo history topic, Korean fighting arts probably originated from observing Chinese martial techniques during the Chinese invasion of Korea about 108 BC. From this early origin, came centuries of development of indigenous fighting styles spurred on my periods of civil conflicts, wars with neighboring counties, and numerous foreign occupations. When the three Korean kingdoms unified in 676 AD, the relative peace that followed stifled martial training and the martial culture was gradually replaced by yangban, or bureaucratic, culture. As weapons of war evolved with increased range, the need for hand-to-hand fighting decreased and was indeed frowned upon as diplomacy gained prominence. By the time of the Chosun dynasty, martial arts as an organized method of training had practically disappeared. Martial arts had been relegated to games and sporting events.

During the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945, when weapons and anything Korea was discouraged or banned, Koreans began to appreciate their martial arts heritage but there was little left of the ancient arts upon which they could learn. Because Korean martial artists had been trained, either voluntary or forcibly, in the Japanese martial arts, the resurrection of Korean martial arts were greatly influenced by the Japanese martial arts, mainly Shotokan karate. The supposedly Korean martial arts techniques being taught in kwans were actually just variations of standard karate techniques. Koreans who were second or third degree black belts in Japanese karate before the resurrection, suddenly became high ranked "masters" of Korean karate.