A
Tae kwon do is the Korean martial（军事的）art of hand-to-hand combat（战斗）． Maybe that should really be body-to-body combat because in tae kwon do the whole body must be trained to properly defend and attack．There are some similarities between tae kwon do and other martial arts．
For example，tae kwon do uses quick straight-line moves which can also be found in Japanese martial arts，but tae kwon do also uses flowing circular moves like the type of moves found in Chinese martial arts．The main difference between tae kwon do and other martial arts is the powerful kicking technique which tae kwon do uses．This is where the name tae kwon do comes from．In Korean， tae means "to kick"，kwon means "to strike with the hand"，and do means "art"．Therefore，tae kwon do can be translated as "the art of kicking and punching"．
Paintings found on the walls and ceilings of ancient Korean tombs indicate that tae kwon do，or something similar to it，has been practiced in Korea since about 50 B．C．Also， records of a specially trained group of young warriors called Hwarang explain how these young men were taught taek kyon（an early form of tae kwon do）along with history，philosophy，ethics，archery，riding，and sword fighting．Members of the Hwarang were also encouraged to travel throughout Korea in order to learn about the people who lived in all regions of the |
