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Style: Tae Kwon Do (pronounced tie-kwahn-doe)
Meaning: "The way of the hands and feet"
Country of Origin: Korea

Tae Kwon Do is derived from the ancient Korean art form of Subak. It is that style of martial arts which utilizes a lot of kicks and strikes. Unlike other styles, this art form is famous for its wide variety of hand positions, hand strikes and kicks aimed at the head. Thus, the key strengths of Tae Kwon Do are flexibility, balance, and leg strength especially for spinning, jumping or flying kicks.

Though throwing and putting the opponent down is taught in some schools, traditional Tae Kwon Do uses virtually no grappling techniques and, as its name suggests, is very much centered around superior punching and kicking ability. Being a strictly 'strike only' style, Tae Kwon Do uses blocks as its primary defensive technique.

Similar Styles:

Hwa Rang Do - Developed 1800 years ago as part of the physical and spiritual development of the royal youth of Silla, one of the three kingdoms which combined to form Korea, Hwa Rang Do is the original Korean fighting art. This style involves a fair amount of grappling techniques.
Soo Bahk Do - The modern version of Subak, the style from which Tae Kwon Do originated.
Tang Soo Do - A style composed of approximately two-thirds Subak and one-third Wushu.