Taekwondo: The Spirit Of Korea

Interest in Asia and things Asian began to build in the West in the 1950s, and with ongoing globalization will, no doubt, continue to grow. This interest was especially fuelled by the introduction of Asian martial arts to the West from Korea, Japan, and China. Many of these forms of martial arts experienced brief periods of great popularity before fading away, as happened with the ninjitsu craze of the 1980s. Among the possible reasons for the loss of interest in certain martial arts is that they lacked either the necessary combination of modernity and traditionalism or that their techniques were too esoteric and impractical and could not be tested against one another. The fact that taekwondo has continued to grow in popularity while many other martial arts have become more and more obscure is due to its ability to maintain its traditional Asian character while at the same time developing dynamic modern techniques. The reasons for taekwondo s success internationally, its dynamism and ability to adapt to modern society while maintaining close ties with its Korean roots, are also the reasons that taekwondo will continue to be one of the main Asian martial sports practiced throughout the world in the future. This book is the story of taekwondo, and to some extent the story of Korea. It is an intriguing story and one which continues to be written as taekwondo grows and evolves as perhaps the best known aspect of Korean culture internationally.