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The Taekwondo Belt System There are six colors of belts: white, yellow, green, blue, red, and black.

Taekwondo literally means “the way of the foot and first” because Tae means “to destroy with the feet”, Kwon is “to strike” and Do is “path” or “way”.

The Taekwondo uniform is called the “Dobok”. A white belt is included upon the first rank, and the belt color would change as one advances in their ranks.

Usually associated with the Japanese martial art Karate, Taekwondo actually originated in Korea around 2,000 years ago.

In the competing event of Taekwondo in the Olympics, only sparring technique is allowed. But in typical competitions, techniques such as breaking, self-defense, patters and also sparring is allowed.

Taekwondo is one of the two martial arts to be included in the Olympics (the other one is Judo). The International Military Sports Council introduced Taekwondo as a sports event in the Olympics on April 9, 1976.

As many as 70 million people practice taekwondo today. Taekwondo is practiced in 188 countries around the world today.

The Korean term for commence is ‘sijack’ The Korean term for relax is ‘sho’ The Korean term for knifehand is ‘sonkal’ The Korean term for training hall is ‘do-jang’ The Korean term for twin forearm block is ‘sang palmok makgi’

The World Taekwondo Federation administers the Olympic competition for taekwondo. It is their rules that are used for competition.

Taekwondo has been featured in many movies with famous actors such as Tony Jaa, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.