The Beat February 2003

There is a wonderful selection of martial arts available in Korea. Some are easy to find and others take more dedicated research. If you want to explore more of Korea's cultural roots and get some exercise at the same time, what better way to do it than training in the martial arts?

Korea has a multitude of martial arts to explore. They vary from punching and kicking arts, such as Tae Kwon Do and Tang Su Do, to more intricate defense related arts such as Hapkido and Guk Sul Won, which include wrist, elbow, and shoulder locks, as well as flips and takedowns. There is also Geomdo (Korean sword) and Yudo (Japanese Judo) Many Chinese arts are also available, from Wu Shu to Tai Chi.

The most widely available martial art in Korea is Tae Kwon Do. Tae Kwon Do consists of lots of stretching, stamina building, forms, and sparring. Forms, or poomse in Korean, are a series of defending and attacking movements performed against imaginary opponents in a set pattern. Through the practice of forms, students come to learn the applications of various techniques of Tae Kwon Do. Forms serve a multi-dimensional role, aiding in development and refinement of coordination, balance, timing, breath control and rhythm, all of which are essential skills to the Tae Kwon Do student.

Tae Kwon Do uses a large number of hand positions for its hand strikes, but is primarily known for its vast catalog of different kicks, many of them aimed at the head (such high kicks are not very common in other styles of martial art). Thus, flexibility, balance, and leg strength are important, especially for spinning, jumping, or flying kicks. However, the development of these traits is part of Tae Kwon Do training and the beginning student is started off with much simpler kicks. Though throwing and takedowns are taught in some schools, traditional Tae Kwon Do uses virtually no grappling techniques and as its name suggests is very much centered around superior punching and kicking ability. As is to be expected of a striking style, Tae Kwon Do uses blocks as its primary defensive technique.

You can find Tae Kwon Do schools all over Busan. They are virtually in every neighborhood. And don't worry if you can't speak Korean; this art is basically "Monkey See, Monkey Do."

Get out and find a school near you!

*Randy Lee has been studying various martial arts since 1972, in locations such as Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Aspen, Hong Kong, and Singapore.