Taekwondo Is Just Karate
Is Taekwondo Korean? The true history of Taekwondo might be one of the most successful lies in martial arts history.
In this investigation, I sit down with historian and 20-year Taekwondo practitioner Dr. Alexus McLeod to learn the truth behind the official story.
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⏳ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:14 Korea vs Japan
4:19 The Official History
5:09 The Hwarang
6:34 Taekkyeon
9:34 The Kwans
11:12 Choi Hong-Hee
14:30 Korean Karate
16:55 How Taekwondo got in the Olympics
19:37 China?!
20:07 - So is TKD Korean?
📚 Sources & Further Reading
Bennett, A. (2009). A reconsideration of the Dai-Nippon Butokukai in the purge of ultra-nationalism and militarism in post-war Japan. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/1346-194x...
Capener, S. D. (1995). Problems in the identity and philosophy of t'aegwondo and their historical causes. Korea Journal, 35(4), 80–94.
Capener, S. D. (2016). The making of a modern myth: Inventing a tradition for taekwondo. Korea Journal, 56(1), 61–92.
Culin, S. (1895). Korean games, with notes on the corresponding games of China and Japan. University of Pennsylvania.
Funakoshi, G. (1975). Karate-Dō: My way of life (T. Ohshima, Trans.). Kodansha International.
Gillis, A. (2008). A killing art: The untold history of tae kwon do. ECW Press.
Hobsbawm, E., & Ranger, T. (Eds.). (1983). The invention of tradition. Cambridge University Press.
International Olympic Committee. (1980). 93rd IOC Session: Recognition of the World Taekwondo Federation. Official Bulletin of the IOC.
Itosu, A. (2016). Tōde jukun [Ten precepts of karate] (P. McCarthy, Trans.). In Bubishi: The classic manual of combat (pp. 252–256). Tuttle Publishing. (Original work 1908)
Lazore, C. (2014). The Hwarang warriors — Silla's flower boys [Senior thesis, Wittenberg University]. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Madis, E. (2003). The evolution of taekwondo from Japanese karate. In T. A. Green & J. R. Svinth (Eds.), Martial arts in the modern world (pp. 185–209). Praeger.
McBride, R. D., II. (2010). Silla Buddhism and the hwarang. Korean Studies, 34, 54–89.
Moenig, U. (2015). Taekwondo: From a martial art to a martial sport. Routledge.
Moenig, U., Cho, S., & Kwak, T.-Y. (2014). Evidence of taekwondo's roots in karate: An analysis of the technical content of early taekwondo literature. Korea Journal, 54(2), 122–151.
Moenig, U., Cho, S., & Song, H. (2012). The modifications of protective gear, rules and regulations during taekwondo's evolution — From its obscure origins to the Olympics. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 29(9), 1363–1381.
Moenig, U., & Kim, M. (2016). The invention of taekwondo tradition, 1945–1972: When mythology becomes 'history.' Acta Koreana, 19(2), 131–164.
Ok, G., Choi, S., & Jeong, H. S. (2010). The disturbance of war: The ancient origin and development of Korean archery. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 27(3), 523–536.
Rutt, R. (1961). The flower boys of Silla (Hwarang). Transactions of the Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 38, 1–66.
Smits, G. (2019). Maritime Ryukyu, 1050–1650. University of Hawai'i Press.
Tikhonov, V. (1998). Hwarang organization: Its functions and ethics. Korea Journal, 38(2), 318–338.
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