IntroductionOne of the most popular sports today is Taekwondo. It is loosely defined in Korean as "the way of foot and fist". It comes from the word “Tae”, which means “foot”, “Kwon” for “fist” and “Do” for “the way or method”. (Southwick, 1998) Thus, taekwondo is a free combat sport using bare hands and feet to push back an opponent. (Lee, 1995) This requires proper and skillful execution of techniques such as punching, jumping kicks, blocking, dodging, parrying actions with hands and feet. Taekwondo is a sport that uses the whole body as a weapon to attack and beat the opponent with their hands, feet, elbows, knees or any part of their body. A person who knows Taekwondo should be able to stand against any opponent, but its code prohibits unjust attacks or unnecessary use of force. (Lee, 1995) This essay will define the history of Taekwondo, the expected learning outcomes, and how it is used as a means of self-defense.HistoryThe origins of Taekwondo come from the Koguryo, Baekchae, and Silla dynasties of Korea ancient (Marinoy, Iordanov, & Tzvetkova, 1998). Mural paintings from the royal tombs of Muyongchong and Kakchuchong were found during the Koguryo dynasty (Lee, 1995). Lee further explained that in the Muyongchong murals, there was a drawing of two men facing each other in Taekwondo practice. In the royal tombs of Kakchuchong, there was a painting of two men engaged in a wrestling match or, as one of the traditional forms of Korean wrestling, the Cireum. A Japanese historian named Tatashi Saito said in “Study of Culture in Ancient Korea” (quoted in Lee, 1995, p. 14): “The table shows us either that the person buried in the tomb practiced Taekwondo during his lifetime, or this tells us that people practiced it, with...... middle of paper ......ondo: The five principles of taekwondo. Taekwondo (pp.19-23). London: Amber Books Ltd.3. Lee, K.M. (1995). The history of Taekwondo: Koguryo dynasty. Dynamic Taekwondo (pp.13-14). United States of America: Hollym International Corp.4. Lee, K. (1995). Overview and History: Introduction to Taekwondo. Dynamic Taekwondo (pp.2-5). United States of America: Hollym International Corp.5. Marinov M., Iordanov S. and Tzvetkova P. (1998) History. Oracle Reflection Quest. Accessed November 7, 2011 from http://library.thinkquest.org/16082/history/index.html6. Southwick, R. (1998). A brief history of taekwondo. Accessed October 23, 2011 from https://www.msu.edu/~spock/history.html7. World Taekwondo Federation. (2009) Ancients. World Taekwondo Federation. Accessed November 7, 2011 from http://www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/site/about_taekwondo/ancient_timers.html