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Traditional Taekwondo

The term traditional Taekwondo typically refers to martial arts practised in Korea during the 1940s and 1950s by the nine original kwans, or martial arts schools, after the conclusion of the Japanese occupation of Korea at the end of World War II. The term Taekwondo had not yet been coined, and in reality, each of the nine original kwans practised its own style of martial art. The term traditional Taekwondo serves mostly as an umbrella term for these various styles, as they themselves used various other names such as Tang Soo Do (Chinese Hand Way),Kong Soo Do (Empty Hand Way) and Tae Soo Do (Foot Hand Way). Traditional Taekwondo is still practised today but generally under other names, such as Tang Soo Do and Soo Bahk Do.In 1959, the name Taekwondo was agreed upon by the nine original kwans as a common term for their martial arts. As part of the unification process, The Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) was formed through a collaborative effort by representatives from all the kwans, and the work began on a common curriculum, which eventually resulted in the Kukkiwon and the Kukki Style of Taekwondo. The original kwans that formed KTA continues to exist today, but as independent fraternal membership organizations that support the World Taekwondo and Kukkiwon. The kwans also function as a channel for the issuing of Kukkiwon dan and poom certification (black belt ranks) for their members. The official curriculum of those kwans that joined the unification is that of the Kukkiwon, with the notable exception of half the Oh Do Kwan which joined the ITF instead and therefore uses the Chan Hon curriculum.

ITF/Chang Hon-style

International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF)-style Taekwondo, more accurately known as Chang Hon-style Taekwondo, is defined by Choi Hong-hi’s Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do published in 1983.

In 1990, the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) split from the ITF due to the political controversies surrounding the ITF; the GTF continues to practice ITF-style Taekwondo, however, with additional elements incorporated into the style. Likewise, the ITF itself split in 2001 and again in 2002 into three separate federations, headquartered in Austria, the United Kingdom, and Spain respectively.

The GTF and all three ITFs practice Choi’s ITF-style Taekwondo. In ITF-style Taekwondo, the word used for “forms” is tul; the specific set of tul used by the ITF is called Chang Hon. Choi defined 24 Chang Hon tul. The names and symbolism of the Chang Hon tul refer to elements of Korean history, culture and religious philosophy. The GTF-variant of ITF practices an additional six tul.

Within the ITF Taekwondo tradition there are two sub-styles:

The style of Taekwondo practised by the ITF before its 1973 split with the KTA is sometimes called by ITF practitioners “traditional Taekwondo”, though a more accurate term would be traditional ITF Taekwondo.
After the 1973 split, Choi Hong-hi continued to develop and refine the style, ultimately publishing his work in his 1983 Encyclopedia of Taekwondo. Among the refinements incorporated into this new sub-style is the “sine wave”; one of Choi Hong-hi’s later principles of Taekwondo is that the body’s centre of gravity should be raised-and-lowered throughout a movement.

ATA/Songahm-style

In 1969, Haeng Ung Lee, a former Taekwondo instructor in the South Korean military, relocated to Omaha, Nebraska and established a chain of martial arts schools in the United States under the banner of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). Like Jhoon Rhee Taekwondo, ATA Taekwondo has its roots in traditional Taekwondo. The style of Taekwondo practised by the ATA is called Songahm Taekwondo. The ATA went on to become one of the largest chains of Taekwondo schools in the United States.

The ATA established international spin-offs called the Songahm Taekwondo Federation (STF) and the World Traditional Taekwondo Union (WTTU) to promote the practice of Songahm Taekwondo internationally. In 2015, all the spin-offs were reunited under the umbrella of ATA International.

Jhoon Rhee-style Taekwondo


In 1962 Jhoon Rhee, upon graduating from college in Texas, relocated to and established a chain of martial arts schools in the Washington, D.C. area that practiced traditional Taekwondo. In the 1970s, at the urging of Choi Hong-hi, Rhee adopted ITF-style Taekwondo within his chain of schools, but like the GTF later departed from the ITF due to the political controversies surrounding Choi and the ITF. Rhee went on to develop his own style of Taekwondo called Jhoon Rhee-style Taekwondo, incorporating elements of both traditional and ITF-style Taekwondo as well as original elements. Jhoon Rhee-style Taekwondo is still practised primarily in the United States and eastern Europe.

Kukki-style / WT-Taekwondo

In Kukki-style Taekwondo, the word used for “forms” is poomsae. In 1967 the KTA established a new set of forms called the Palgwae poomsae, named after the eight trigrams of the I Ching. In 1971 however (after additional kwans had joined the KTA), the KTA and Kukkiwon adopted a new set of color-belt forms instead, called the Taegeuk poomsae. Black belt forms are called yudanja poomsae. While ITF-style forms refer to key elements of Korean history, Kukki-style forms refer instead to elements of sino-Korean philosophy such as the I Ching and the taegeuk.

WT-sanctioned tournaments allow any person, regardless of school affiliation or martial arts style, to compete in WT events as long as he or she is a member of the WT Member National Association in his or her nation; this allows essentially anyone to compete in WT-sanctioned competitions.

Other styles and hybrids

As previously mentioned, in 1990 the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) split from the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) to form its own style of Taekwondo based on ITF-style. Essentially this can be considered a variation of ITF-style.

Additionally, there are hybrid martial arts that combine Taekwondo with other styles. These include:

Extreme Taekwondo: a complex version of World Taekwondo Federation, which combines elements from all Taekwondo styles, Tricking (martial arts), similarities from other martial arts
Kun Gek Do(also Gwon Gyokdo): combines Taekwondo and muay thai.
Han Moo Do: Scandinavian martial art that combines Taekwondo, hapkido, and hoi jeon moo sool.
Han Mu Do: Korean martial art that combines Taekwondo and hapkido.
Teukgong Moosool: Korean martial art that combines elements of Taekwondo, hapkido, judo, kyuk too ki, and Chinese martial arts.
Yongmudo: developed at Korea’s Yong-In University, combines Taekwondo, hapkido, judo, and ssireum.

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