ABSTRACT
During its development, taekwondo has been presented in popular literature, and by institutions affiliated with the South Korean government, as an indigenous Korean martial art with a lineage traceable to ancient times. The most common association made is between taekwondo and t’aekkyŏn.1 T’aekkyŏn has recently received much attention in the South Korean press.
After a long effort for acknowledgment, in late 2011, t’aekkyŏn was listed, as the ‘first martial art,’ by UNESCO as an Intangible World Cultural Heritage.2
Furthermore, its roots are reported as being traceable to the early Korean kingdom of Koguryŏ. Some murals of this era supposedly depict t’aekkyŏn or its forerunner, which is often thought to be subak.3 The same murals are also claimed by the World Taekwondo Federation as proof of taekwondo’s origin. In addition, the taekwondo establishment maintains that t’aekkyŏn is one of its predecessors.4 On the other hand, t’aekkyŏn literature usually does not acknowledge having any relationship to taekwondo, and the Korea Taekkyon Federation (Taehan T’aekkyŏn Yŏnmaeng) also denies any link.5 This chapter explores early, historical Korean martial arts records in general,
and t’aekkyŏn documentations in particular. However, at first, it briefly discusses the popular portrayal of taekwondo’s history as described in dominant martial arts literature and by the World Taekwondo Federation.
