Historical aspects of the development of WTF Taekwondo and their impact on the structure of technical and tactical activities of highly qualified taekwondo athletes

Abstract

Introduction. An analysis of contemporary domestic literature on Taekwondo WTF reveals a lack of information about its development during the period when the structure of technical-tactical activities in Taekwondo was shaped under the influence of complex historical and political processes in South Korea from the end of World War II to the present. This article aims to identify the historical aspects of the creation of modern national martial art Taekwondo, its transformation into the Olympic sport of Taekwondo WTF, and how they contributed to the formation of its contemporary technical and tactical arsenal.

Purpose of the Study is to analyze the impact of historical aspects on the creation of the new Korean national martial art Taekwondo, its transformation into a competitive martial art and Olympic sport (Taekwondo WTF), and the development of the modern arsenal of technical and tactical skills based on an analysis and synthesis of scientific and methodological literature.

Materials and Methods of the Study. In order to achieve the objectives, theoretical research methods including analysis and synthesis of literature and documentary materials, information from the Internet, systematic analysis, chronological method, historical-logical method, and descriptive method were used. To study the historical aspects of forming the modern technical and tactical arsenal of highly qualified Taekwondo athletes, 45 literary and Internet sources were analyzed.

Results of the Study.The history of Taekwondo is presented as an evolutionary process originating from ancient Korean martial arts such as Subak, Kwonbop, and Taekkyon, which accompanied the history of states of the Korean Peninsula. However, over the past two decades, several scientists have questioned this narrative, arguing that Taekwondo emerged as a transformation of Karate influenced by the complex historical processes during the formation of South Korea. Between 1944 and 1946, martial arts schools, now known as the “five kwans”, began operating in South Korea. The term “kwan” (館) is literally translated as “hall” or “house” in Korean. The difficult general situation in the country led to the emergence of many uncoordinated martial arts schools. Choi Hong Hi (1918–2022) played a significant role in unifying Korean martial arts under the single term “Taekwondo”. Together with Colonel Nam Tae Ki, Choi Hong Hi made up the term “Taekwondo” using three Chinese characters (跆拳道). The name was approved during several meetings of the Chung Do Kwan school in 1955. South Korea’s President Lee Syng Man endorsed the name and wrote it in Chinese calligraphy. Initially, Chung Do Kwan and Oh Do Kwan schools adopted the name. In 1959, the “Korean Taekwondo Association” was registered, which at a meeting of the leaders of nine kwans, which later entered the history of taekwondo as the “Nine Main Kwans”, was re-founded in 1961 as the “Korean Taesudo Association”, which in 1963 introduced sports competitions in contact sparring in vests, with an emphasis on kicking, into the official program of the Korean National Sports Festival. In 1965, the organization reverted to the name “Korea Taekwondo Association”.

In 1972, the “Korea Taekwondo Association” officially opened Kukkiwon, with the aim of centralized management of other organizations. In 1973, the first World Taekwondo Championships were held in Kukkiwon and the “World Taekwondo Federation” was founded. In 1988, WTF taekwondo competitions were included in the program of the Olympic Games in Seoul, as a demonstration sport. In 2000, WTF taekwondo competitions were included in the program of the Olympic Games in Sydney for the first time. After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the use of protective electronic systems PSS (Protector Scoring System) was introduced in WTF taekwondo competitions.

Conclusions. In the process of the research, we determined that it was during this period of time, 1960-70, that taekwondo training methods were divided into “traditional” and “sport” ones. Kukkiwon is the main organization developing “traditional taekwondo”. The “World Taekwondo Federation”, which in 2017 changed its name to

“World Taekwondo”, develops “sport taekwondo”, which after 2000 began to be called “Olympic taekwondo”. The introduction of changes to the competition rules and the introduction of protective electronic systems PSS (Protector Scoring System) after 2008 and up to now contributed to the emergence of technical and tactical preparedness, which was called “new style” due to the widespread use of new technical and tactical actions and their combinations. In contrast to the “new style”, the technical-tactical preparedness that was formed in the period from the 1970s to the 1990s was called the “old style”.