  taekkyeon is a traditional korean martial art first explicitly recorded in the joseon dynasty. it is an ancestor art of the more modern korean martial art taekwondo and its various sub-styles. taekkyeon is characterized by fluid, dynamic footwork and utilizes a wide variety of kicks, fist and elbow strikes, pressure point attacks, throws, and grapples. it is also frequently romanized informally as taekgyeon, taekkyon, or taekyun. == history of taekkyeon ==  the earliest existing written source mentioning taekkyeon is from the time of king jeongjo, who reigned in korea from 1776 to 1800. during this time, the book jaemulbo (also manmulbo) was written by lee, sung-ji. lee yong-bok (ì´ì©ë³µ): "taek-gyeon research" (íê²¬ì°êµ¬) isbn 8971930748. seoul: hakminsa publishing, 2001 the text says  this means that taekkyeon might derive from an earlier art called subak. however, little is known about what exactly subak was. its practice never seems to have been widespread within the korean peninsula, but around 1900 taekkyon was practiced frequently around hanyang, the old name of seoul and the capital city of the joseon dynasty. song duk-ki (1893â1987) was critically responsible for conveying the art. in the foreword of his only book, he writes:  thumb|left|the "daekwaedo". museum of university of seoul. taekkyeon matches were frequent in the late joseon dynasty. for example, during the dano-festival, a tournament called gyeollyeon (ê²°ë ¨) was carried out. players who beat five opponents consecutively could take a rest and re-enter the tournament again later. lee yongbok (ì´ì©ë³µ): taekkyon, a korean martial art (íêµ­ë¬´ì íê²¬). seoul: hakmins
Important_Intangible_Cultural_Properties_of_South_Korea Korean_martial_arts Sports_originating_in_Korea