9781422286746

What Is Taekwondo?

For sheer high-kicking, high-flying, gravity-defying action, taekwondo stands out among even the most spectacular martial arts. Fighters leap high into the air, turning, twisting, and spinning to execute exhilarating kicks to an opponent’s head. Students learn to condition their hands, feet, and elbows to produce feats of awesome power in breaking wooden boards, tiles, or even bricks. That is taekwondo at its most breathtaking. As both an Olympic sport and a traditional martial art, taekwondo offers a feast of exciting and impressive moves. Taekwondo students learn to aim high kicks to their opponent’s upper torso and head using a variety of different techniques. Whether throwing a front snap kick, a side-piercing kick, a roundhouse kick, or an ax kick, fighters can kick toward any part of the body with equal ease. There are many different hand techniques to master as well; these techniques are useful when an opponent is too close to kick. Punches, knife-hand strikes, open-handed blows, and elbows can all be used to fend off an attacker or to break boards. Taekwondo, as with most martial arts, relies on smooth, free-flowing movements to perform its techniques. This picture captures the essence of that freedom of movement as one student attacks another with a jumping front kick that is defended with a high block.

9