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Taekyon is a traditional Korean martial art, sometimes thought of as a sport due to its 19thand 20th
Uniquely, dancing and singing is incorporated into the art, paying tribute to the Mongol ancestry. Its rhythm is defined by three-three timing as opposed to four-four timing found in other martial arts.
Korean culture places emphasis on Confucian values; loyalty, friendship and respect are highly prized characteristics. Perhaps the most startling aspect to Taekyon is in its attitude and mind set that practitioners use during any actual combat. Players are taught to be happy and relaxed during fighting and must not overly focus on aggression or negative mental attitudes such as hate or anger. Under competition rules, one might find this commendable, but during actual combat it is a complete reversal of what modern wisdom and other traditional martial arts would lead us to believe to be most effective. However, if one can maintain a relaxed and happy state of mind whilst fighting, then the responses .and reflexes may be quickened as a result of muscular tension being reduced. Fear is also drastically reduced, which further goes to enhance performance. Not to mention that if a player has success in applying a relaxed, happy attitude to combat, which is highly stressful, there are a range of other circumstances to which this mind set could be applied with great benefit to health and performance.
The combat aspects differ from the sporting in Taekyon and include head butting, grabbing techniques (known as Sonkisul), grappling and trapping moves, pushes, kicks, sweeps, stamps and trips (known as Palgisul), all done in combination with the Pumbalki, the triangular footwork which is supposed to mimic the timing of the horses galloping.
Annexed in 1910, by Japan, the Korean martial arts were officially banned forcing them to go underground. However it was not just the ban that had a profound effect on the arts, but rather the fact that because of the extremely harsh conditions that Koreans found themselves in during the occupation; the common people who had previously practiced Taekyon were forced to focus on survival and making ends meet rather than giving their time to leisure pursuits.
Success being the primary objective of the art, many practitioners hold the believe that rather than amassing a range of complicated techniques and forms and committing them to memory it is better to be able to use, effectively, a handful of techniques with a high degree of proficiency.
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Taekyon - Chris Crudelli Martial IQ Forums