martial art, also became popular with the aristocracy and commoners alike.
These two martial systems were to endure into the twentieth century. De-
spite repeated invasion attempts and influence by the Chinese, and a suc-
cessful invasion by the Mongols, Korea maintained a large degree of inde-
pendence and continued to develop its own unique culture.
During this time period also, the traditional history maintains that
Chinese martial arts exerted a major influence on the Korean systems.
Most important for the development of taekwondo, the contacts with
China also included contacts with experts in northern systems of Chinese
boxing. These northern systems were famous for their kicks, many of
which were incorporated into Korean systems. Perhaps the most famous of
these kicks is the so-called flying kick, known today as a jumping side kick.
In 1392, following the expulsion of the Mongols, the final Korean dy-
nasty was established, the Yi dynasty. The Yi rulers began a systematic pro-
gram of eliminating martial arts from society, with the result that martial
arts practitioners and the hwarang are alleged to have taken their arts to
remote locations, such as Buddhist monasteries, for continued study and
practice. Korea also entered an isolationist period. So successful were the
results that Korea eventually became known as the “hermit kingdom.” To-
ward the end of the nineteenth century a vigorous and expansionistic Japan
made inroads into Korean sovereignty and eventually annexed the nation
outright in 1910.
The harsh Japanese occupation lasted until 1945. The use of the Ko-
rean language was banned, Korean citizens were forced to take Japanese
names, and Korean institutions of learning were closed. However, this re-
pression created a backlash of renewed interest among Koreans in tradi-
tional Korean arts, including martial arts, which were often practiced se-
cretly. However, Koreans also studied Japanese martial arts during this
time period, including karate, jûdô, and kendô.
With the end of the occupation, Koreans began to reassert their sov-
ereignty and identity, and an understandable resurgence of Korean martial
arts took place. With the division of the peninsula into the Communist-
dominated north and the American-supported south in 1948, and the be-
ginning of the bloody Korean War in 1950, there began an even greater
push for reinstatement and development of Korean martial arts.
The Korean martial arts received a massive boost in popularity when
several Korean stylists, including t’aek’kyo ̆ n practitioners, gave a demon-
stration of these arts before South Korean president Syngman Rhee in
1952, during the height of the Korean conflict. So impressed was Rhee with
the demonstration, he immediately ordered all Korean troops to be trained
in these arts. There also began a push for the unification of these fight-
ing arts.610 Taekwondo