ABSTRACT
In spite of its status an official Olympic sport, taekwondo lacks any in-depth studies regarding its technical evolution as a combat sport. Moreover, any uniform vocabulary and definitions regarding kicking techniques in sparring are absent, as well. Since taekwondo sparring and tournaments originate from Korea, Korean athletes have enjoyed a historical, as well as numerical advantage. Korea simply outnumbered other countries in terms of active athletes, who also enjoyed greater experience. As a result, Korean athletes dominated international tournaments until recently, and the innovation of new skills happened primarily in Korea. As this study dismisses claims that taekwondo is an offspring of t’aekkyŏn or other early Korean martial arts, it treats the evolution of technique from early karate to present day taekwondo as a consecutive development. This chapter demonstrates how taekwondo technique transformed gradually from karate technique, and how taekwondo eventually progressed in becoming a distinctive martial art. The selected rules and other specific regulations in taekwondo sparring
promoted the development of kicking techniques more than in any other martial art. Therefore, this chapter also provides a ‘history of kicking techniques,’ since modern taekwondo sparring mostly consists of kicking.
