Tae Kwon Do
The basics of Tae Kwon Do:
See Tae Kwon Do in Action......ANIMATION
Modern-day Taekwondo is influenced by many other Martial Arts. The most important of these arts is Japanese Karate. This is because Japan dominated Korea during 1910 until the end of World War II. During WWII, lots of Korean soldiers were trained in Japan. During this occupation of Korea, the Japanese tried to erase all traces of the Korean culture, including the martial arts. The influence that Japan has given to Taekwondo are the quick, lineair movements, that characterize the various Japanese systems.
After World War II, when Korea became independant, several kwans arose. These kwans were:
Chung Do Kwan
Moo Duk Kwan
Yun Moo Kwan
Chang Moo Kwan
Oh Do Kwan
Ji Do Kwan
Chi Do Kwan
Song Moo Kwan
Text courtesy of: http://www.barrel.net/history.html