page_title: Taekwondo
section_title: Typical curriculum
hierarchical_section_title: Taekwondo / Features / Typical curriculum
caption_attribution_description: English: A young Taekwondo student performs Koryo during a local tournament at Robinsons Place Butuan.
context_page_description: Taekwondo, Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do is a Korean martial art, characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques with kicks and striking being above waist height only.
  Like Tang Soo Do, Taekwondo always requires wearing an obi. It is a combative sport and was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate, Chinese martial arts, and indigenous Korean martial arts traditions such as Taekkyon, Subak, and Gwonbeop. The oldest governing body for Taekwondo is the Korea Taekwondo Association, formed in 1959 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the nine original kwans, or martial arts schools, in Korea. The main international organisational bodies for Taekwondo today are the International Taekwon-Do Federation, founded by Choi Hong Hi in 1966, and the partnership of the Kukkiwon and World Taekwondo, founded in 1972 and 1973 respectively by the Korea Taekwondo Association. Gyeorugi, a type of full-contact sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. The governing body for Taekwondo in the Olympics and Paralympics is World Taekwondo.
context_section_description: While organizations such as ITF or Kukkiwon define the general style of Taekwondo, individual clubs and schools tend to tailor their Taekwondo practices. Although each Taekwondo club or school is different, a student typically takes part in most or all of the following:
  Forms (pumsae / poomsae 품새, hyeong / hyung 형/型 or teul / tul 틀): these serve the same function as kata in the study of karate
  Sparring (gyeorugi 겨루기 or matseogi 맞서기): sparring includes variations such as freestyle sparring (in which competitors spar without interruption for several minutes); seven-, three-, two-, and one-step sparring (in which students practice pre-arranged sparring combinations); and point sparring (in which sparring is interrupted and then resumed after each point is scored)
  Breaking (gyeokpa 격파/擊破 or weerok): the breaking of boards is used for testing, training, and martial arts demonstrations. Demonstrations often also incorporate bricks, tiles, and blocks of ice or other materials. These techniques can be separated into three types:
  Power breaking – using straightforward techniques to break as many boards as possible
  Speed breaking – boards are held loosely by one edge, putting special focus on the speed required to perform the break
  Special techniques – breaking fewer boards but by using jumping or flying techniques to attain greater height, distance, or to clear obstacles
  Self-defense techniques (hosinsul 호신술/護身術)
  Learning the fundamental techniques of Taekwondo; these generally include kicks, blocks, punches, and strikes, with somewhat less emphasis on grappling and holds
  Throwing and/or falling techniques (deonjigi 던지기 or tteoreojigi 떨어지기)
  Both anaerobic and aerobic workout, including stretching
  Relaxation and meditation exercises, as well as breathing control
  A focus on mental and ethical discipline, etiquette, justice, respect, and self-confidence
  Examinations to progress to the next rank
  Development of personal success and leadership skills
  Though weapons training is not a formal part of most Taekwondo federation curricula, individual schools will often incorporate additional training with staffs, knives, sticks, etc.
caption: A young blackbelt performs Koryo
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image ImageDescription": "A young Taekwondo student performs Koryo during a local tournament at Robinsons Placa Butuan.", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "ILCE-5100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2019:06:03 07:54:33", "Image Artist": "Lucky Ambago (Commons);Lucky Ambago Purok Otso", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Lucky Ambago @PurokOtso", "Image ExifOffset": "2402", "Image XPTitle": "[65, 0, 32, 0, 121, 0, 111, 0, 117, 0, 110, 0, 103, 0, 32, 0, 84, 0, 97, 0, ... ]", "Image XPAuthor": "Lucky Ambago (Commons);Lucky Ambago Purok Otso", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 3, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "42566", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13456", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:06:01 14:46:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:06:01 14:46:33", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "4587/1280", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "159/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "35", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "6000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "42280", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "52", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[16, 50, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4122"}