Taekwondo is a Korean Martial Art and Combat Sport. Taekwondo is the national sport of South Korea and is an Olympic sporting event. In Korean, tae means feet or kicking; kwon means hands or striking; and do means art, path, way, or method. Hence, Taekwondo is loosely translated as the way of the foot and fist.

As with many other martial arts, Taekwondo is a combination of combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, and philosophy. Taekwondo is famed for its use of kicking techniques, especially which distinguishes it from martial arts such as karate or southern styles of kung fu. The rationale is that the leg is the longest and strongest weapon a martial artist has, and kicks thus have the greatest potential to execute powerful strikes without successful retaliation.

Taekwondo as a sport and exercise is popular with people of both sexes and of many ages. Physically, Taekwondo develops strength, speed, balance, flexibility, and stamina. An example of the union of mental and physical discipline is the breaking of boards, which requires both physical mastery of the technique and the concentration to focus one's strength.

Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo

The name Moo Duk Kwan means "School of Martial Virtue"

• Moo – military, chivalry, martial; within the ideograph the inner part of the symbol is the word for "stop" and the outer part means "weapon"
• Duk – benevolence, virtue, goodness, commanding respect; within the ideograph on the left it means "little steps" or "to happen", and on the right the character means "moral"; thus moral steps or perhaps virtuous conduct
• Kwan – large building, palace, library; again within the ideograph the left part looks like a roofed building and technically means "to eat" (under a roof).

Moo Duk Kwan was originally a martial arts school established in Korea by Hwang Kee. The art taught at this school was called Hwa Soo Do. Hwang Kee later called it Tang Soo Do and eventually settled on the name Soo Bahk Do. In 1961 the Korean government initiated a movement to unify all of its country's martial arts schools under one governing body. This body would originally be called the Korean Tae Soo Do Association and later renamed the Korean Tae Kwon Do Association. The stated purpose was to unify the Kwans and allow for growth of this newly named Korean martial art.

According to the current General Secretary of Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan, YU of Seoul, Korea and those same minutes reprinted in "A Modern History of Taekwondo", official records and minutes of the meetings of the Kwan Unity committee show that Hwang Kee was upset that he would not lead the unified group, and after agreeing to the merger, backed out.

In March of 1965 a division within the Moo Duk Kwan occurred. Three of Hwang Kee's senior students, Kim Young Taek, Hong Chong Soo, and Lee Kang Ik, led a significant number of Moo Duk Kwan members to join the Kwan Unity Movement. In April of 1965 these members officially became the Moo Duk Kwan school of Taekwondo with Lee Kang Ik as president.

Senior members of both the Soo Bahk Do and Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan consider each other brothers and often attend each other's special events and tournaments. They recognize Hwang Kee as their progenitor and have a great admiration for him and his achievements in the martial arts.