Taekkyon
택견The Korean art of kicks and sweeps, with no hard stances. The movement is continuous and swaying, closer to dance than to fighting; its base is the pumbalki step.
Quick Facts
South KoreaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Taekkyon
About Taekkyon
Taekkyon is the Korean art of kicks and sweeps, and it differs from most Asian styles at first glance. It has no hard stances and no held positions; the movement is continuous and swaying, closer to dance than to fighting. Its foundation is the pumbalki step, literally the spread legs. Weight shifts through a triangle and the body never stops — hence the rhythm that gave the art its playful reputation. The hands are used to push, pull down and disturb balance, the legs to kick and above all to sweep. The aim of a traditional bout is not to injure but to put the opponent on the ground or touch his head with the sole of the foot. In Korea taekkyon is documented in the Joseon period as a folk pastime, above all at festivals, where whole villages measured themselves against each other. The Japanese occupation nearly wiped it out; its revival was possible thanks to a single surviving bearer of the tradition, Song Duk-ki, who was found and filmed in the 1960s. In 1983 taekkyon was designated Korean intangible cultural property number 76, and in 2011 it became the first martial art ever inscribed by UNESCO on its list of intangible heritage. It resembles taekwondo in name, not in origin — they are separate lineages, and taekkyon is the older of the two.
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