Tae Kwon Do
Tae Kwon Do Means "the way of hand and foot". Tae Kwon Do is a Korean form of self-defense. It uses powerful hand strikes, blocks and kicks as a means of self-defense. Tae Kwon Do develops the mind, body and spirit, and encourages a balance of knowledge, strength, disciple and respect.
The Tae Kwon Do practiced at Coles is in the traditional of Song Moo Kwan
Song has three meanings. First it means evergreen tree, which depicts youth or health everlasting. Second, Supreme Grandmaster Ro’s hometown of Kaesong, Korea was called Song Do during the Koryo Dynasty, so it represents his home and finally, he studied under Gichin Funakoshi, whose pen name was Shoto, meaning wavering pines, and who founded the first Karate dojo, called Shotokan, or “House of Wavering Pines”
Moo means martial. Song Moo Kwan training includes Moo Ye, which translates as martial art, with an emphasis on the artistic aspect, Moo Sool, which translates as martial techniques, and finally Moo Do, means the martial way, a way of living one’s life that is much greater than a set of techniques, with the goal of cultivating the mind and body into harmony.
Kwan means school or house, where one studies and cultivates the mind and body.
SONG MOO KWAN - Founder: Byung Jick Ro- March 11, 1944: Song Moo Kwan founded at Ja Name Dong (Kwan Duk Jung), KaeSung City, Kyung Ki Providence- May 2, 1946: re-established at Dong Hung Dong, KaeSung City, Kyung Ki Providence- June 25, 1950: closed doors due to the Korean War- September 20, 1953: re-established Ah Hyung Dong, Mapogu, Seoul, KoreaThe year 1955 signaled the beginning of Taekwondo as a formally recognized martial art in Korea. As previously mentioned, in the 1950's, General Hong Hi Choi had developed and was teaching a new style of Taekkyon he called Taekwondo to the Korean army, air force, and police.On April 11, 1955, a special board composed of many martial arts grand masters. At this meeting, General Choi proposed that the new art should be called Taekwondo. Duk Sung Son says that he passed a piece of paper to Choi suggesting the name and that Choi took credit for it. Since Taek-wondo translates to 'tae' meaning a kick or strike with the foot, 'kwon' meaning a punch or strike with the fist, and 'do' meaning the way of, it described the arts use of strikes using both hands and feet. The name Taekwondo was unanimously adopted by the board. At first, President Rhee re-jected the name, preferring to use the name Taekkyon, but General Choi convinced him that Taek-wondo was a better name for the new art.Although most of the kwans merged under the common name of Taekwondo, there were a few who did not. It has never been clear which of the original eight did merge but Moo Duk Kwan remained a separate art called Tang Soo Do and Hapkido remains as a recognized separate art in itself. The new Taekwondo name appealed to the newly nationalistic Koreans since it was a totally Korean ex-pression. It also had a close connection with the old name Taekkyon, in both pronunciation and meaning. It indicated that the art employed both hands and feet, unlike terms such as Tang So (Chinese hand) or Karate (empty hand), which imply hand techniques only. Since this eventful meeting, Taekwondo has been recognized worldwide as the name for the Korean martial arts.http://www.songmookwan.com/
