What is the meaning of Taekwondo? Looking into the name of the Korean martial art
Taekwondo is a martial art that originated in South Korea during the late 1940s and has since spread globally. Due to its Korean name, sometimes people will ask what is the meaning of the word ‘Taekwondo’ in English. In brief, Taekwondo can be linguistically broken down into three parts which are ‘Tae’, ‘Kwon’, and ‘Do’. Below we will delve deeper into what this means for each part of the word and how it relates to the martial art.
Table of Contents
Literally, what does the term Taekwondo mean?
Tae
Tae literally translates as ‘foot’, ‘leg’ or ‘jump’. In other words, Taekwondo features leg strikes and is big on kicks. Because of this focal point, it’s not surprising that this is the beginning of the name for the art.
Kwon
Kwon translates as ‘fist’ or ‘hand’. Again, a massive part of the art is using your fists to strike opponents with punches and cause physical harm. This may sound simple, but it makes sense.
Do
Do translates as ‘art’, ‘method’ or ‘way’. This is the way in which the first two elements are used and is also based on the philosophical side of things. In other words, the ‘Do’ is the glue that holds everything together and makes the punches and kicking work in unison.
Putting it all together
With this confirmed, the art of Taekwondo can be described as a striking martial art that involves kicks and punches. On a similar note, the defensive side of Taekwondo also relies on avoiding punches and kicks. This means that the average Taekwondo practitioner usually has a strong level of athleticism and can reach the head of opponents with kicks as well as use spinning and flying strikes to generate power into their strikes.
In terms of grappling, this rarely features in Taekwondo which can be stylistically compared to many forms of Karate in terms of prioritizing striking as well as dodging hits. Regarding the philosophical side of Taekwondo, you can find more about the 5 tenets that are used in the art here. Similar to many systems of martial arts, Taekwondo’s mental side focuses on self-improvement through improving confidence and respect at the same time.
