What is Tae Kwon Do?

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What is Tae Kwon Do?
	Korea occupies a small peninsula in Southeast Asia. China forms its northwest border, and Japan lies across the narrow Korean Strait to the east. This geographical destiny has resulted in profound influences from both cultures, and its effect on the development of the Korean martial arts is clear. The techniques of Tae Kwon Do resemble those of Karate and Kung Fu, but because the three traditions developed simultaneously over hundreds or even thousands of years, it is hard to determine which techniques were native to any individual art.
	The Korean martial arts are nevertheless distinct from those of China and Japan. The following metaphor is too simple to represent every facet of every art, but it provides an overview of all three traditions and is a useful way of understanding some general differences between them:
Chinese Martial Arts	China is a large country, about the same size as the United States, and it sprawls across mountains, plains, marshes, rivers, and every other kind of terrain. When armies came together on China’s battlefields, they had lots of room to maneuver. They could circle each other, feint in different directions, gauge reactions, and strike quickly at just the right moment. Kung Fu is characterized by fluid, circular motions, and its techniques are fast, graceful, and infinitely varied like the motions of the ancient Chinese armies.
Japanese Martial Arts	In contrast, Japan is a long slender island nation. Because generals had less room to maneuver their troops, conflict was more direct in Japan, as one army sought to dominate the other with an overwhelming display of force. Many of the Japanese striking arts emphasize the development of efficient, powerful, linear techniques. The virtues are strength, precision, and discipline, and the practitioner of Karate develops these characteristics on physical, mental, and spiritual levels.
Korean Martial Arts	Because Koreans have been exposed to the fighting systems of both China and Japan throughout history, Tae Kwon Do combines elements of both to form a unique third tradition. Tae Kwon Do practitioners develop powerful, linear techniques like those of Karate while retaining the fluid, circular motions of Kung Fu.