What is Korea’s national sport?

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South Korea's national sport is Taekwondo.

Taekwondo is the national martial art of South Korea. It is a martial art that uses both hands and feet to strengthen the body. It originated about 1, more than 300 years ago. It is said that this martial art was introduced from Northern Shaolin in China. After hundreds of years of research and training, And countless improvements, it became today's "Taekwondo".

Taekwondo (Korean: ?5?1?7?1?9?3 English: TAEKWONDO) is a folk martial art on the Korean Peninsula. It is a traditional Korean national sport that uses hand and foot skills to fight. It consists of three parts: poomsae (gloves), fighting, and skill testing. Taekwondo is a unique martial art developed through innovation and development. It has high practical value for self-defense and physical strength. It enables practitioners to enhance their physical fitness, master skills, and cultivate perseverance through sports forms such as competition, poomsae, and skill testing.

In 1945, the Korean people finally gained national independence after a long period of struggle, and Taekwondo continued to develop healthily. At that time, there were many martial arts methods with complicated names, such as Tang Shou Doo, Taekwondo, etc. In order to carry forward this Korean national skill, in September 1961, South Korea established the Tang Shou Do Association, which was later renamed the Taekwondo Association. Tae (TAE) means kicking and leaping; Quan (KWON) means punching and defense; Dao (DO) is a method of practice and a spirit.

The International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) was established in 1966, with Cui Hongxi serving as the first chairman of the alliance. In May 1973, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) was established in Seoul, South Korea, and Jin Yunlong was elected as the chairman. As of 1998, the World Taekwondo Federation has 144 member countries. In 1975, the World Taekwondo Federation was officially admitted as a member of the International Sports Federation. In 1980, the International Olympic Committee officially recognized the World Taekwondo Federation. In just over twenty years, the sport of Taekwondo has developed rapidly. Currently, more than 30 million people in more than 140 countries in the world are training in Taekwondo. The first Taekwondo World Championship and the first Asian Championship were held in Seoul, South Korea in 1973 and 1974 respectively. Taekwondo was listed as an official event in the 10th Asian Games in 1986. It was officially approved by the International Olympic Committee in September 1994 and listed as an official event of the 2000 Olympic Games, with four levels for men and women.

At present, Taekwondo has become a completely independent international sports organization and a formal competition event. There are eight levels for men and women in the World Championships, Asian Championships and Asian Games. Taekwondo holds world championships and World Cup competitions every two years.

Taekwondo, like many fighting sports, needs to be divided into weight classes to maintain fairness in the competition. Taekwondo weight classes are divided as follows:

Level Men Women

Fin (fin weight) below 54 kg below 47 kg

Fly (flyweight) 54kg - 58kg 47kg - 51kg

Bantam (bantamweight) 58kg-62kg 51kg-55kg

Feather (featherweight) 62kg-67kg 55kg-59kg

Glight (Lightweight) 67 kg - 72 kg 59 kg - 63 kg

Welter (Welterweight) 72kg - 78kg 63kg - 67kg

Middle (middleweight) 78kg-84kg 67kg-72kg

Heavy (heavyweight) 84 kg and above 72 kg and above

Olympic Games weight class division: (men, women)

Under 58 kg Under 49 kg

58 kg - 68 kg 49 kg - 57 kg

68 kg - 80 kg 57 kg - 67 kg

Over 80kg Over 67kg

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