What is Tae Kwon Do?

Tae Kwon Do is Korea's traditional martial art. Tae Kwon Do's origins date back to about 50 BC. Many of the region's martial arts have influenced Tae Kwon Do over it's long history. Modern Tae Kwon Do is characterized by it's fast, powerful, kicks and strikes. It is a high-level martial art, which focuses on self-defense rather than on attacking. It is aimed at training not only one's mind and body, but also at building one's character.

Tae Kwon Do has four main aspects:

Poomse (forms)
Gyroogi (sparring)
Hosinal (self-defense)
Kyukpa (breaking)

Tae Kwon Do is an internationally recognized sport which has become one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It was designated as a demonstration sport during the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelonia Olympic Games and adopted as a medal sport during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Taekwondo has been accepted for the 2004 Athens and 2008 Bejing Olympic Games as a full medal sport.

Coon Rapids Martial Arts, World Tae Kwon Do Academy, Coon Rapids taekwondo

There are multiple interpretations of the name TaeKwonDo. TaeKwonDo is often translated as "the way of hand and foot".

Tae to strike or block with the foot or to kick; it also means to jump
K'won Fist; to strike or block with the hand
Do The way of, or art.

Put this together and Tae Kwon Do means: "The art of Kicking and Punching" or "The art of unarmed combat".

Traditional Taekwondo

Traditional Taekwondo is our core taekwondo program. We offer open classes for the entire family! Traditional Taekwondo is practiced by millions of people worldwide. Taekwondo is the most popular martial arts practiced and continues to grow at a rapid rate. The W.T.A. not only teaches traditional Taekwondo, but also incorporates many other styles like Kickboxing, Hapkido and Judo. Come watch a class and see why so many people train in Taekwondo.

Sport or Olympic Taekwondo

Taekwondo is one of the only two martial arts accepted into the Olympic Games as an Olympic Sport. Here at World Taekwondo Academy, which was founded in 1969 by Grandmaster Byung Yul Lee, the highest ranked grandmaster in the state our competetion team is ranked number one in Minnesota and is among the top ten teams in the United States. Our coaching staff includes state and national champions, Olympians, as well as former resident athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. So, if competing and becoming a champion is one of your goals, we at the World Taekwondo Academy can help you get there like no other school can.