The following material is for archival purposes only (2005-2006). Please visit the Club website above for up-to-date information. Thanks!
AGM held 20th April 2006 - EUTKD First Committee elected
*** Training sessions February-May Thursdays 7-8pm in Salle, Pleasance Sports Centre ***
History of EUTKD
Along with Samantha McDonald and Matt Wilkes, we have successfully set up a Tae Kwon Do Club at the University of Edinburgh, which has been recognised by the Sports Union as an Associate Member in March 2006. We obtained full membership in Spring 2008. My passion for this martial art dates back to my school days in the late 80's, when Taekwondo was a "big hit" among youngsters in Malaysia. Throughout the period of over 15 years I practised both the WTF and ITF styles of Tae Kwon Do; in Malaysia, Ireland, and now in Scotland.
Introduction
Tae Kwon Do is a Korean discipline of unarmed combat of self defense,
literally translated, it means "the way of the foot and the fist". Its
roots could be traced back to as early as 50 B.C. in the form of Tae
Kyon, the earliest form of martial arts practised in korea spanning a
few ruling dynasties. It was formally brought about as the form it is
well-recognised for today by the late General Choi Hong Hi
in the 1950s, its first students were Korean soldiers, later the
police and air force had to learn it too. The main aspects that
constitute a Tae Kwon Do learning system are warming up and
stretching, movements on the floor of the do-jang (these include
stances, kicks, punches, strikes and blocks), applications of these in sparring
and patterns (tuls), self-defense, destruction (breaking) and theory.
As it stands today, Tae Kwon Do is represented by two main
federations, depicting the two main styles that have stemmed out of
its development; mainly the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF)
and the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF). ITF stresses more on the
traditional forms while WTF gives more emphasis towards sparring, thus
it is sometimes also called a martial sport. In 1980, WTF Taekwondo
was recognised by the International Olympic Commitee (IOC) and became
a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 1988. In the year 2000 WTF
Tae Kwon Do made its debut as an official olympic sport.
Another distinction between the two styles is in the level of contact
between them. ITF, being the more traditional style, practices
'semi-contact' in the sparring while WTF practices 'full-contact';
thus the sparring equipment and rules for the two styles differ by a
significant degree. However, Tae Kwon Do practitioners world-wide
benefit immensely from whichever style that they engage in and this is
what we would like to offer and make open for all you enthusiasts.
A Student-Driven Initiative
The purpose of the Tae Kwon Do Club would be as an establishment that primarily aims to provide the
opportunity to all Edinburgh University students to train and appreciate the various
aspects that Tae Kwon Do embodies, both as a martial art, and as a
world-renowned sport.
First Edinburgh University Tae Kwon Do Meet
Monday November 28th 2005
Pleasance Bar 8pm
All Welcome!
Training has commenced since February 1st 2006 and runs regularly throughout the semester
Date and Time: Thursday 7-8pm
Venue: Salle, Pleasance Sports Centre
We also maintain a mailing list, please contact me by e-mail, gaya.n at ed.ac.uk if you wish to be added to the list.