Taekwondo is a martial art. It originated from Korea and is practised by millions of people worldwide.

Taekwondo is a martial art and an Olympic sport that uses the hands and feet for attack and defence. The ultimate goal of Taekwondo is to develop the character and personality of the practitioner through physical, mental and spiritual discipline.

The Olympic Taekwondo is governed by the World Taekwondo where you can find out more about this great sport and way of life.

Kukkiwon sets the standards in Taekwondo and promotes masters to ensure it is the same martial art all over the World. All our masters hold internationally recognised Kukkiwon certificates. Kukkiwon also has a demonstration team which shows the most spectacular aspects of Taekwondo.

The three main parts of Teakwondo are:

• Poomsae
  Taekwondo Poomsae are formal exercises; it is the style of conduct which expresses directly of indirectly mental and physical refinements as well as the principles of offence and defence resulting from cultivation of Taekwondo spirit and techniques.
• Gyeorugi
  Which means fighting in Korean. It is not just the competition fighting but also pre-arranged Gyeorugi of Taekwondo. It is agreed who is attacker and who is defender. There are one-time Gyeorugi, two-times Gyeorugi, three-times Gyeorugi.
• Gyeokpa
  Techniques of breaking hard objects with hands or feet, which is the process of demonstrating the power and skills one has developed through the study of taekwondo.

All of the above are are a part of promotion through grades: Kup (10 to 1) being the student grades and Dan (1-10) being master grades. The British Taekwondo website explains it very nicely here.