ANCIENT ORIGINS

ANCIENT MARTIAL ART MAKES OLYMPIC DEBUT

Taekwondo philosophy reads: "Those who practise the martial must practise the virtue - taking virtuous teachings to be primary, and martial technique to be secondary." However, courtesy before and during a fight that includes strikes to the head body and stomach by clenched hands and feet make the sport no less physical; hence the need for protective clothing.

The sport dates back some 2,000 years, according to evidence found on murals in royal Korean tombs that show men practising a form of unarmed combat. Other similar drawings show contestants being watched by a crowd, indicating that it may have been an early spectator sport. However, the rules of the modern sport date back just 42 years.

In 1957, leading Korean martial artists joined together to unify their various art forms under a single style of hands-and-feet fighting called taekwondo, or literally "the way of hands and feet". Since then, a following of more than 50 million people has developed in about 160 countries.