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Love of taekwondo spreading worldwide
A taekwondo demonstration by overseas taekwondo trainees at the World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2012 (photo: Jeon Han)
[Introduction]
Taekwondo is Korea's representative martial art and an officially acknowledged international sport that originated in Korea and is today practiced worldwide.Taekwondo uses the whole body, particularly the hands and feet. It not only strengthens one's physique, but also cultivates character via physical and mental training coupled with discipline. This self-defense martial art has become a popular international sport in the last quarter century. Currently people in over 200 countries are practicing taekwondo and about eight million people have hold poom-dan certificates, according to the World Taekwondo Headquarters, also known as Kukkiwon in Korean.
[Taekwondo as an international sport]
Founded by the World Taekwondo Headquarters, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) headquartered in Seoul was officially approved as the governing body of the sport by the International Olympic Committee in 1980 and has a membership of 204 countries as of 2012.Taekwondo was a demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The International Olympic Committee decided to add taekwondo as an Olympic sport at its 103rd meeting in Paris on September 4, 1994. Taekwondo became an official Olympic medal event since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In July 2012, the WTF announced that it made changes in international taekwondo regulations and competition rules to make the sport more exciting for the London Olympics 2012. The new rules include changes to the competition area and award points. To find out more about taekwondo competition rules and related general information, click here http://www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/site/rules/competition.html
Asian Games Day 3: Korea grabs gold in fencing, taekwondo
The gold medalist in the men's 58k g taekwondo division, Kim Taehun, bows to the spectators with the Taegeukgi Korean national flag in his hands, at the Jakarta Conventio...
Aug 21,2018
S. Korea's Cha Dong-min wins taekwondo bronze
South Korean Cha Dong-min won a taekwondo bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday. Cha defeated Dmitriy Shokin of Uzbekistan 4-3 for one of two bronzes in...
Aug 21,2016
S. Korean Oh Hye-ri wins taekwondo gold
South Korea's Oh Hye-ri captured gold medal in women's -67kg taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday. Oh defeated Haby Niare of France 13-12 in a spectacular, ...
Aug 20,2016
S. Korean Lee Dae-hoon wins taekwondo bronze
South Korea's Lee Dae-hoon won a bronze medal in men's taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday. Lee defeated Jaouad Achab of Belgium 11-7 in the men's -68kg ...
Aug 19,2016
S. Korean Kim Tae-hun wins taekwondo bronze
South Korean Kim Tae-hun won a bronze medal in men's taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday. The two-time world champion defeated Carlos Navarro of Mexico ...
Aug 18,2016
S. Korean Kim So-hui wins taekwondo gold
Kim So-hui won South Korea's first taekwondo gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday. Kim defeated Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia 7-6 for the women's -49kg ti...
Aug 18,2016
S. Korean Kim So-hui secures at least silver in taekwondo
South Korean taekwondo fighter Kim So-hui has secured at least a silver in the women's -49kg at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Kim defeated Yasmina Aziez of France 1-0 to r...
Aug 18,2016
Culture minister meets with taekwondo athletes before Olympics
South Korea's culture minister met with the country's taekwondo athletes in Sao Paulo on Thursday, wishing them success at the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics. Cu...
Aug 05,2016
Swedish prince studies taekwondo
Sweden's Prince Daniel attended a taekwondo class at a school in Stockholm, reported the Dagens Industri, a financial newspaper, on Nov. 3. The Dagens Industri, a...
Nov 11,2015
World youth taekwondo festival winds down
Young taekwondo athletes from around the world measured their strength and ability against each other during the world championship that was just held at the Taekwondowon...
Aug 27,2015
