My 11 year old son and I have been practicing Taekwondo since 1995 and we each hold a First Degree (Dan) black belt. I am currently in a four month training cycle leading up to my Second Dan test in April 2000. Hopefully my son will be able to test for his in October.

We train at Action Taekwondo & Fitness Center in Waldorf, MD. If you live in So. Maryland and are interseted in taking up martial arts e-mail me here.

As with most martial arts there are different styles within the art. In Taekwondo there are two major organizations one is the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) which has more of an emphasis on the competative sport aspect, while other the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) is more focused on the traditional training methods.

The history of Taekwondo is a controversial subject, if you want a complete history of this art see the links above. Each of the above sites has it's own version, probably something in between is whats right. If you don't have the time or interst, below is my short version as I understand the subject.

Taekwondo is a martial art that originated in Korea in the 1950's (as it is practised today) when all but a few of the martial arts schools (kwans) in the country where brought under one organization, which eventually became the WTF. In the late 1960's, or early 1970's, one of the founders of the WTF, Gen. Choi Hong Hi, unhappy with the emphasis being placed on sport, branched off to form the ITF.

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