The Taekwondo Library
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New Arrivals |
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Grading in the Martial Arts: What's in a Belt?
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Two Out of Three Ain't Bad
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Takedowns in Taegeuk Pattern 2
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Reference Documents |
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| The Meanings of the I.T.F. Pattern Names. For histories of the I.T.F. pattern names and the people for whom they are named, visit Vision TKD's website. For the meanings of the color belt patterns click here. For the meanings of the black belt patterns click here. Note: this is an external link and will launch a page at visiontkd.co.uk. | ||
| The Meanings of the W.T.F. Pattern Names. Note: this is an external link and will launch a page at wtf.org. | ||
| On Choosing An Instructor. Practical advise on choosing a martial arts instructor for the first time (or any time). | ||
| Taekwondo Pattern Names & Pronunciation. This document presents all of the Taekwondo patterns in their original (native) script along with their correct pronunciations in mp3 format. (You need to have Korean & Japanese font support installed to view the foreign scripts.) | ||
| On The Spelling of Korean and Japanese Words. This document explains why the pattern names that appear on this site might be spelled differently than what you're used to. Also explains Korean and Japanese romanization and provides links for further study. | ||
| Korean Taekwondo Vocabulary. Here you'll find the Korean spellings for all the Taekwondo vocabulary you're ever likely to need. Soon, there will be pronunciation sound files to accompany each word. | ||
| A Guide To Online Taekwondo Resources. Links to Taekwondo organizations; sites with pattern descriptions, photos and videos; personal web pages that are extremely useful to Taekwondo students; and lots more! | ||
| On The Relationship Between Taekwondo and Shotokan Karate. | ||
| A Comparison of the Pattern Sets. Explains the differences and similarities between the varying pattern sets. Offers tips for those who wish to branch out and begin learning patterns that their school might not teach. | ||
| Our one "official" comment about the 'I.T.F. vs. W.T.F.' phenomenon. Too often we see the words "I.T.F. vs. W.T.F." and are a bit disappointed by it all. If you have any questions about what these distinctions mean to you as a student of Taekwondo, look no further. | ||
| Advancement Matrix for white through black belts. This document is an example of the testing requirements for white through black belt. | ||
| Advancement Matrix for black belts. This document is an example of the testing requirements for black belt ranks. | ||
| A Review of Videos & DVDs on the Taekwondo patterns. Offers my humble opinion on the best video resources out there and where you can find them. | ||
| A Review of Books on the Taekwondo patterns. Offers my humble opinion on the best books out there and where you can find them. | ||
| A Brief History of Taekwondo Organizations by Dave Steffen. A portion of a dialogue that explains the differences between the varying TKD organizations. | ||
| A History of Taekwondo by David Jewell. Another excellent history of Taekwondo. | ||
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External Documents |
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| The History of Taekwondo according to the I.T.F. This is very accurate insofar as the information is all true, however, it does not include any part of the W.T.F.'s role in the world of Taekwondo. This site is rife with the official party-line. Like the entire I.T.F.'s site, it is strangely zealous in its coverage and praise of its founder, General Choi Hong Hi. (http://www.itf-information.com/information15.htm) | ||
| The History of Taekwondo according to the W.T.F. Like the site above, it is accurate but fails to mention anything about the I.T.F. or General Choi's participation in the formation of Taekwondo. The only pitfall of this site is that it covers the "history" of Taekwondo dating back to ancient times. While this might be indicative of a history of martial arts in Korea, it is not Taekwondo. Taekwondo, both as a word and a martial art, never existed until the 1950's. (http://www.wtf.org/about_tkd/history_tkd1.htm) | ||
| The I.T.F.'s Official Biography of General Choi Hong Hi. (http://www.itf-information.com/information02.htm) | ||
| A History of Taekwondo by Dakin Burdick. A brief but excellent history of taekwondo. (http://www.indiana.edu/~iutkd/history/tkdhist.html) | ||