TAE - means Kicking or Smashing with the foot.
KWON - means punching with the Fist.
DO- means art or method.


Combined, Tae Kwon Do means the art or method of punching and kicking. Many people practice Tae Kwon Do as if it were either TAE Kwon Do or Tae KWON Do , focusing on purely the physical aspects of the art. Tae Kwon Do should however be written Tae Kwon DO because it is an ART. It truly is an art closer to painting and music as it is a form of self expression. TAE and KWON are merely the sport aspects of the discipline. They will NOT LAST. DO on the other hand, will live beyond the failing of the physical aspects of the body.

People practice Tae Kwon Do for a variety of reasons: Self Defense, Relaxation, Health benefits, Fitness, Sport and a general sense of well being.

Tae Kwon Do training enhances a persons flexibility, strength, cardio vascular fitness and reflexes. It also works as a therapy to soothe and calm a persons mind in today's stressful and competitive world and promotes a general sense of well being.

Tae kwon Do training provides a complete workout to almost every muscle in the human body as each session consists of stretching to limber up and also consists of plyometrics and exercises such as sit ups, squats and push ups which help in developing power in ones body.

Actual Taekwondo training is also very highly aerobic in nature where students throw hundreds of kicks and punches with different kinds of jumping techniques, self defense techniques, pre set patterns called "Hyung or Poomse" in Korean along with pre set One step sparring techniques. Tae Kwon Do students also engage in Free Sparring, wearing full body armor for protection and safety.

This free sparring brings a student face to face with many emotions as he/she learns to control and cope with the adrenaline rush and the "Fight or Flight" feeling. A Tae Kwon Do school can be best described as a Mini Cosmos, where students learn in a small training hall about fear, anger, frustration, elation, and learn best how to control all their emotions.

All this training then helps a Taekwondo student then deal better with life outside the Dojang.

An Instructor is more of a guide than a dictator, helping the student all the time through his/her journey in Taekwondo. This is a never ending journey and every sincere and serious student is always in the pursuit of perfection and self knowledge. He/she finally realizes that they only have themselves to battle and compete against, rising above ego and becoming one with the self.