Muskoka Taekwondo
ABOUT US
Muskoka Taekwondo has been the first & foremost Taekwondo school in Muskoka, Ontario for over two decades. Our knowledge in this Korean martial art has been passed down through the years as the martial art has evolved we've expanded our knowledge and we are proud and very excited to pass this combo of knowledge on to you.
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At Muskoka Taekwondo you will learn the Taekwondo techniques that Grand Master Mark Choe introduced to our Gravenhurst community in the 1990’s, which have since been updated with the evolution of this modern martial art.
Our Taekwondo programs concentrate on self defense and physical fitness. During training students will learn about the history of Taekwondo, and experience the dynamic techniques that have made Taekwondo the most popular Martial Art in the world. Students will increase their strength, flexibility, dexterity, coordination and balance.
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Taekwondo "the art/way of kicking and punching" is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, that teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind.
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Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official games in the Olympics. When you train with us you will be taught what's known as Kukkiwon World Taekwondo style Taekwondo.
MEET THE BLACK BELTS
MASTER DON COULSON
MASTER DAVE LAIDLAW
WHAT IS TAEKWONDO?
Taekwondo is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts that teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official sports in the Olympic Games.
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Taekwondo is very different from many oriental martial arts.
Physically, it is very dynamic with active movements that include a mirage of foot skills. The principle physical movements are in simpatico with that of the mind and life as a whole. It possesses dynamic poses from another perspective.
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Taekwondo can be characterized by unity: the unity of body, mind, and life, and the unity of the pose ["poomsae"], confrontation, and cracking down. When you do Taekwondo, you should make your mind peaceful and synchronize your mind with your movements, and extend this harmony to your life and society. This is how in Taekwondo the principle of physical movements, the principle of mind training, and the principle of life become one and the same. On the other hand, the right poomsae lead to the right confrontation, which will eventually produce great destructive power.
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Taekwondo pursues harmonious growth and improvements of life through its unique activities. This is why one could say Taekwondo is a way of life. To ultimately enable ourselves to lead more valuable lives, we would do well by finding the guiding principles hidden in Taekwondo.
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Though its roots stretch back hundreds of years, Taekwondo is a relatively new formulation of combining together several traditional Korean martial arts. During the Japanese occupation of Korea in the years before and during World War II, the martial art style that was first developed for soldiers thousands of years ago was suppressed by Imperial Law, and nearly lost. Risking punishment by death, masters of the Korean fighting forms were forced to take their schools underground until the end of the war.
In the late 1940s, in post-war Korea, the old fighting arts resurfaced, with the eventual name "Taekwondo", which loosely translated means "The way of the Hands and Feet". It was spread across the world during the 1970's, 1980's by Korean Masters who had formerly taught the Korean police and military. Our Grand Master - Master Mark Choe - was one of them.
PRINCIPLES OF TAEKWONDO
1. Respect Others
2. Perseverance
3. Self Control
AN ARTISTIC DISCIPLINE
Taekwondo is an artistic discipline. The techniques are done with graceful and powerful movements. Students continuously strive to improve the artistic presentation of each technique. The art of Taekwondo develops posture, graceful movement, excellent coordination, and attention to detail. We believe that everyone can benefit from exposure to this artistic discipline.
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
Self-defense skills are safety skills. We believe that it's important for everyone to learn these self-defense skills. When a person learns and develops self-defense skills, the chance of sustaining an injury due to a fall or an attack is greatly reduced; the chance of escaping from a mugging, a rape or an abduction attempt is greatly increased.
Learning these safety skills does not promote violence; rather, it enables one to avoid becoming a victim of violence and to minimize injury and fall.
OUR ROOTS: JI DO KWAN
"THE WAY OF WISDOM"
The image shown below is the Taekwondo Jidokwan symbol and it has much significance for the Jidokwan practitioner.
Our Grand Master - Master Mark Choe - was as student of Jidokwan Taekwondo when he lived in Korea.
Our logo is a symbolic honor of his teaching.
WHAT IS JI DO KWAN?
Jidokwan translates:
Ji = Wisdom, Do = Way, Kwan = School.
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So, literally, Jidokwan is "the school of wisdom", sometimes called the Wisdom School of Taekwondo. The Jidokwan school symbol is the double red circle that looks like a red snowman. It depicts the early kicking target that rolls to the floor and bounces back after each strike. Also, the central figure - a roly-poly - signifies persistence. There is a saying, "Seven times down, eight times up." This spirit of standing upright in all tribulations is very strong in the Jidokwan community. Circles symbolize universe, sun, earth, nation, kwan, self Jidokwan.
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Flowers in general signify peace, love, nobility and happiness. Eight flower pedals have great meaning as well.The Jidokwan Spirit of eight manners of justice are: See Rightly, Feel Rightly, Think Rightly, Speak Rightly, Command Rightly, Serve Rightly, Have Ability, and Conduct with Justice.
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The Jidokwan in Korea still exists today and it functions as a social fraternal order. Jidokwan supports and endorses the Kukkiwon methodology of Taekwondo, and supports the WTF. Many champion martial artists have come out of Jidokwan. Jidokwan practitioners are known for their positive approach to life.
WHAT SETS TAEKWONDO APART?
Distinctions can be made between the various Martial Arts by describing them in terms of hard or soft, and circular or linear. Taekwondo is an unarmed, hard, linear style of fighting. This means that it uses strong, quick techniques such as blocks, punches, and kicks to disable an opponent. Quick, powerful, strikes are delivered with precision to an opponent's vulnerable targets. This is in contrast to the more circular, soft forms of martial arts, such as Judo or Aikido, which will often seek to redirect the force of an opponent's attack. One facet that distinguishes Taekwondo from other hard and linear martial arts, such as Karate, is the quick and powerful kicking techniques for which Korean arts are known.