It is a combat sport which was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate, Chinese martial arts, and indigenous Korean martial arts traditions such as taekkyon, subak, and gwonbeop. Taekwondo practitioners wear a uniform, known as a dobok. It sometimes involves the use of weapons. The literal translation for taekwondo is 'kicking', 'punching', and 'the art or way of'. Taekwondo ( / ˌ t aɪ k w ɒ n ˈ d oʊ, ˌ t aɪ ˈ k w ɒ n d oʊ, ˌ t ɛ k w ə n ˈ d oʊ/ Korean: 태권도 ⓘ), also spelled tae kwon do or taekwon-do, is a Korean martial art involving punching and kicking techniques.
