Question: How many main styles of taekwondo are there?
About the article "Taekwondo", section "Abstract".

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List of taekwondo grandmasters includes notable persons who have been recognised as grandmasters of the Korean martial art of taekwondo.
There is no single, universally-recognised set of criteria to define a taekwondo grandmaster; different organisations and different styles have their own rules.
Those listed below are grouped by system: Kukkiwon (widely known as the World Taekwondo Federation or WTF system), International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and other systems (which includes some persons receiving ranks from taekwondo organisations that predate the other two systems, e.g., the original Korea Taekwondo Association). 
Taekwondo self-defense is known as hosinsul and it forms one of the four main principles of the art.
The self-defense applications would be difficult to score in sparring as they are designed primarily to cause injury or quickly incapacitate an adversary.
In competition, self-defense techniques take the format of a demonstration event, much like poomsae.
One person is usually designated the part of the Taekwondo practitioner, while several team mates take the role of common street aggressors who attack from various angles with punches, kicks and grabs common to street brawlers.
Weapons may also be used, as Taekwondo has specific techniques for dealing with armed adversaries.
Taekwondo self-defense competition provides an opportunity for students to display their understanding of Taekwondo self-defense applications and the ability to put together their own team choreography.
Self-defense routines are often performed as displays for the public, in which case there are no judges present.
Many Taekwondo clubs include self-defense in their daily routine in both WTF and ITF.
There are two main concepts in Taekwondo self-defense.
For real life combat situations, an experienced Taekwondo practitioner is versed in the following:  Linear (or hard) techniques  Circular (or soft) techniques Linear TechniquesThese include mostly punching, kicking, headbutts and other striking maneuvers.
Force is countered with force and all limbs are involved in stopping an adversary.
Taekwondo kicks have a wide reach that keeps the adversary at a distance.
With proper execution opponents may be incapacitated with a single blow, which lessens the number of attacks in encounters with multiple people.
Circular techniquesThese emphasize redirection and manipulation rather than strength.
The adversary can be manipulated into a position whereby a lock, stranglehold and/or finishing move can be applied.
Grappling techniques are used both as a means of securing an adversary and escaping from an adversary's grip.
Soft self-defense techniques like the stranglehold or joint lock can be used to subdue the attacker, avoiding dealing permanent injury.
Taekwondo self-defense techniques demonstrated in competition may include:  Pressure point applications.
In Taekwondo philosophy, the body has many sensitive areas that are susceptible to precise attack.
These are known as pressure points or ji ap sul.
There are three types of pressure point that can induce one or a combination of the following: pain, paralysis, or death.
These can be targeted with gripping and/or striking in order to immobilize or cause substantial pain to submit the opponent.
Throws.
Known as too sul, Taekwondo practitioners can divert the opponent's force to their own advantage and throw him to the ground.
Once on the ground the practitioner has greater control over his adversary and can follow up with subsequent controlling or finishing techniques.
Joint Locks.
Otherwise known as kwan jyel sul in Taekwondo, these can be useful against armed attackers.
Typically the attacking limb is grabbed and then manipulated to cause immense pain in the adversary.
Joint locks can be applied on any joint in the body and are particularly useful for controlling an opponent who has been thrown to the ground.
Termination techniques.
These are a range of strikes applied to an opponent downed by a previous throw or strike.
Powerful downward traveling kicks and hand strikes are used to make sure the opponent stays down.
Choking techniques.
In Chil sik sul, the idea of applying a stranglehold is to deprive the attacker's brain of either oxygenated blood through the carotid artery and/or oxygen for the lungs through the trachea.
The Taekwondo practitioner uses leverage from his arm and sometimes involves the attackers clothing in applying pressure to the sensitive neck area.
Choke holds are particularly dangerous and only taught to higher level Taekwondo students, as over exertion can crush the trachea or cause sudden death.
Freeing techniques.
Paegi are taught to Taekwondo students so that they can quickly free themselves and neutralise the danger of being grabbed by an attacker.
Competition demonstrations frequently involve one student grabbing another from behind.
The science of Taekwondo is equally concerned with defense as attack so proper freeing techniques must be learnt.
Like other Taekwondo competition events, self-defense is marked by a panel of judges.
When scoring they are looking at the following factors:  Aliveness.
How realistic is the Taekwondo students demonstration?
Does he move with the requisite urgency and do his techniques have the emotional content to make the judges believe in their power?
Technique.
Are the Taekwondo techniques being demonstrated precisely?
Are the kicks clean, fast and strong?
Are joint locks and throws being performed accurately?
Does the student have control over his adversaries or are they making it easy for him?
Variety.
What is the range of the Taekwondo practitioners knowledge?
Is he showing his understanding of liner and direct counter-attacks?
Has he performed a practical finishing technique after each throw or lock?
Difficulty.
More difficult Taekwondo techniques score higher than simple ones if performed correctly.
However, a poorly executed technique will always score lower than a simple, effective technique performed well; students should not be demonstrating techniques that they have not mastered.  
Taekwondo or (Korean 태권도 (hangul) / 跆拳道 (hanja), ) is a Korean martial art.
It combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and exercise.
"Gyeorugi" (), a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000.
Taekwondo was developed by a variety of Korean masters during the 1940s as partial combination of taekkyeon, Okinawan karate, and other traditions.
The name "taekwondo" was coined by Choi Hong Hi (of the Oh Do Kwan).
The World Taekwondo Federation claims that taekwondo development was a collaborative effort by a council consisting of members from the nine original kwans, while the International Taekwon-Do Federation credits Choi Hong Hi solely.
"Traditional taekwondo" typically refers to the martial art as it was established in the 1950s and 1960s in the South Korean military and in various civilian organizations, including schools and universities.
In particular, the names and symbolism of the both the traditional patterns and the newer poomsae often refer to elements of Korean history, culture and religious philosophy.
This symbolism is replicated in the Korean flag.
"Sport taekwondo" was developed in the 1950s and may have a somewhat different focus, especially in terms of its emphasis on speed and competition (as in Olympic sparring).
Sport taekwondo is in turn subdivided into two main styles.
One style is practiced by International Taekwon-Do adherents and was created in 1955 by Choi Hong Hi.
The other style derives from Kukkiwon, the source of the sparring system "sihap gyeorugi".
This style is now an event at the summer Olympic Games and is governed by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).
Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) is the traditional center for WTF taekwondo and was founded in 1973 by Dr. Kim Un Yong.
Although there are doctrinal and technical differences between sparring in the two main styles and among the various organizations, the art in general emphasizes kicks and punches thrown from a mobile stance.
Taekwondo training generally includes a system of blocks, kicks, punches, and open-handed strikes and may also include various take-downs or sweeps, throws, and joint locks.
Pressure points, known as "jiapsul", are used, as well as grabbing self-defense techniques borrowed from other martial arts such as Japanese judo, Korean hapkido, and Korean wrestling or ssireum.
In Korean, "tae" (태, ) means "to strike or break with the foot"; "kwon" (권, ) means "to strike or break with the fist"; and "do" (도, ) means "way of life".
Thus, "taekwondo" may be loosely translated as "the way of the foot and the hand."
The name "taekwondo" is also written as "taekwon-do", "tae kwon-do", or "tae kwon do" by various organizations.
Taekwondo was first introduced in Peru by John Polar.
Polar, an Arequipeños instructor master the art of Taekwondo in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and introduced this form of martial art in the early 1970s.
The first Peruvian Taekwondo Clubs were to be found in Arequipa.
In the late 1970s, "Sa Bum Nim Byon Oh Park" introduced taekwondo in Lima.
In 1979, Sa Bum Nim Jon Hye, after a few years spent in Argentina also joined Byon Oh Park in disseminating taekwondo in Lima.
Simultaneously to these two, John Polar and Byong Oh Park, Alex Velazques was doing taekwondo with a reduced number of practices along with "La Yegua" Leiblinger who later moved to Argentina.
It was Byon Oh Park, who introduced the regulated form of taekwondo and started to teach to some new taekwondo instructors.
Of those, Percy Vergara and Juan Infantas were the main instructors and the ones who started the dissemination of taekwondo to bigger audiences.
Both Percy Vergara and Juan Infantas started to run a Taekwondo Club in the San Marcos University.
They also opened up a new club, Black Belt Taekwondo Club where most of their best students from San Marcos continued training.
In 1981, the first open martial arts competition was run.
In this competition, practitioners from kung fu, karate, kyokushinkai and other styles, along with taekwondo took part.
It was the first time taekwondo athletes were to take part in any open national event.
It was also the golden debut of taekwondo as the first three places were for taekwondo teams.
Third Place: Black Belt Taekwondo  Second Place: San Marcos Taekwondo  First place Jon Hye Taekwondo Academy It is in that tournament that names of Cesar Landeo (Black Belt) and Luis Oshiro (Jon Hye) became famous and well known.
Cesar Landeo in particular attracted the attention of athletes of different styles in martial arts.
After this experience taekwondo grew up in popularity and a number of clubs and academies started to flourish.
In 1981, Saboming Ki Hyung Lee arrived to Peru and joined forces into making this sport even more popular.
Percy Vergara started clubs in Regattas Lima, as Cesar Landeo started one in the Engineering National University (UNI) where he graduated as Electrical engineer.
The UNI team has won more than 10 university championships between 1981 and 1994 at the university level.
Other taekwondo Clubs appeared and flourished, thanks also to the contribution of Ki Bong Lee, So Yong Kim and Eui Wan Chong.
In the south of Peru, taekwondo was disseminated by Professor Angel Cabrera, Angle Leon, while in the north by Professor Luis Benites.
Today taekwondo, although it has lost the prestige it gained by the mid-1990s is still going strong, while great efforts are done to restore its stand in the Peruvian sport.
The tireless effort of Cesar Landeo and Carlos Fuller should soon restore this.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Peruvian Peter López finished at fourth place. 
There are "many other Fusion Styles" of Bachata from the West, pioneered and promoted by different teachers around the world, each with its own distinct flair.
Whether these are considered completely different styles or simply variations of the main styles above is often argued by teachers and students alike.