Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art that means "the way of the foot and the fist." While the roots of Tae Kwon Do can be traced back over one thousand years to systems developed in China, Japan and Korea, the current system is relatively modern.

Tae Kwon Do is the national sport of Korea and a popular method of self-defense and is characterized by its emphasis on kicks. The philosophy behind Tae Kwon Do is to suppress fighting and induce peace, in which the martial art combines body, mind and spirit. There are 10 levels of student in Tae Kwon Do, and belt colors can vary by school - practitioners refer to their levels as "Gups," such as "Sixth Gup." The black belt system is formalized across schools.

In Olympic competition, the sparring rules emphasize full-contact blows. In traditional sparring based on the poomsae technique, the emphasis is on grabbing and self-defense techniques. All together, there are over 18 different types of Tae Kwon Do sparring. Tae Kwon Do is one of the most popular forms of martial arts and is often depicted in film. There are many schools available throughout the country, teaching both traditional semi-contact Tae Kwon Do in conjunction with the rules of the International Tae Kwon Do Federation and full-contact Tae Kwon Do as taught through the World Tae Kwon Do Federation.