Taekwondo, which translates to “the art of kicking and punching”, is a martial art with roots dating back to the Three Kingdoms Period of Ancient Korea (c. 57 BC to 668 AD) when Silla Dynasty warriors began to develop a martial art known as taekkyon ("foot-hand"). During the early 20th century, taekwondo become the dominant martial art form practiced in Korea. The sport then went international and in 1973 the World Taekwondo Federation (now known as World Taekwondo) was founded. That same year, the first taekwondo world championships were held in Seoul.
Brief overview of the rules
The aim of taekwondo is for an athlete to kick and punch their opponent while avoiding being struck themselves. The trademark of this martial art is its combination of kicking and punching movements in quick succession. Matches are fought on an octagonal mat for three rounds of two minutes each. Points are awarded according to the degree of difficulty of techniques used; for example, a kick to the head scores higher than punches and kicks to the trunk. Spinning kicks are also rewarded with extra points. Penalties may be given to athletes for various faults.
Olympic history
Taekwondo’s first Olympic appearance came at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, when it was contested as a demonstration event. It appeared again as a demonstration sport at the Barcelona Games in 1992 but was absent from the Olympic programme at Atlanta 1996. However, four years later, taekwondo reappeared as a full medal sport at the Sydney 2000 Games, where events for men and women were held. Taekwondo has been a part of the Olympic programme ever since.
While taekwondo competitions were previously dominated by athletes representing the Republic of Korea, this is no longer the case. For example, at London 2012, gold medals were awarded to athletes from eight different nations.
Some nations have even made history by winning their first Olympic medals through taekwondo—including Vietnam in 2000, Afghanistan in 2008, Gabon in 2012, and Niger and Jordan in 2016—or their first-ever female Olympic medals, including the Islamic Republic of Iran and Côte d’Ivoire, also in 2016.
