Taekyon, or Taekkyon is a traditional Korean martial art, probably stemming from Subak. It is uncertain when Subak was first practiced in Korea, but it may have existed many centuries ago. The first source mentioning Taekkyon is the book Manmulbo (also Jaemulbo), written around 1790 by Lee, Sung-Ji. There is also a school of thought that believes Taekkyon is in fact an ancient sport where both practitioners would try to off balance each other and not a true martial art.

It was said to have spread to the Silla kingdom and became the bare-handed way of fighting of the Hwarang.

Rise and fall

At the height of its popularity, even the king practiced Taekkyon, and Taekkyon matches were frequent. However, the next king outlawed Taekkyon matches, motivated by the gambling which took place around them - where people would gamble away their wives and houses - thus making it a purely military art. Subak split into two; yusul and Taekkyon, during the early Joseon dynasty.

Taekkyon took a severe blow when Neo-Confucianism grew in popularity, and then the Japanese occupation damaged the art even more. Taekkyon has had a slight resurgence in recent days, getting the classification "Important Intangible Cultural Asset No. 76" on June 1, 1983. It is the only Korean martial art which possesses such a classification as its modern version, Taekwondo, has been the national technique and an official Olympic event.

Techniques

Taekkyon movements are very fluid and dance-like with the practitioners constantly moving. Thus, it resembles Capoeira and Shaolin Kung Fu. While some people see a certain similarity to the motions of Taekwondo, the techniques and principles differ a lot from those of other Korean martial arts, for example, Taekkyon does not make use of abrupt knee motions. The principles and methods used to extend the kick put more emphasis on fluency and pushing rather than on speed and strength of the kick.

Taekkyon uses many sweeps with straight forward low kicks using the ball of the foot and the heel and flowing cresent like high kicks. There are many kicks that moved the leg outward from the middle and inward from the outside using the side of the heels and the side of the feet. The art also used tricks like inward trips, wall jumping, fake outs, tempo, and slide stepping. the art is also like a dance which the fighter constantly changes his or her stance from his or her left to his or her right by stepping forward and backwards while his or her arms are up and ready to guard. Taekkyon kicks are not designed to harm the opponent, they are designed to "push" the opponent out of the ring, or to the ground. This art requires traditional Korean white robes which were worn commonly in the past of Korea.

Low kicks, which are very frequent in Taekkyon, are normally used to disable an opponent's balance and knock him to the ground. These kicks include leg sweeps as well as direct blows to the knee. There are around 10 different basic techniques of this set of techniques called ttanjuk.