Everybody was taekwondo fighting

July 12, 2007 7:32 PM

You got served! ...by taekwondo black belts? The Korean Tigers is a taekwondo demonstration team that also try to have fun. But chereographing with pop stars and dancing? Considering that one of Korea's older traditional martial arts is taekyon, a martial art which reflects some aspects of traditional Korean dance and music, dancing doesn't seem so far-fetched for Korean martial arts.
posted by kkokkodalk (7 comments total)

For the curious, the pop star in the video for the "pop stars and dancing" (she's the young lady featured in the middle of the group) link is Bada, a graduate of the 90s Korean girl group S.E.S.
posted by kkokkodalk at 7:37 PM on July 12, 2007

I like how the intro in that link has the hangul for "korean tigers," but instead of using the Korean word for Korean, it just says "kuh-ri-eon."
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 8:58 PM on July 12, 2007

These are awesome, but video games have ruined it for me. The "doesn't seem" taekyon link, with that music and the crowd of people gathered around, is straight out of Street Fighter II.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:40 PM on July 12, 2007

As a Martial artist, with a 3rd degree belt in TKD.... I don't quite know how I feel about this.

I am watching it going "Neat!" then go "That'd never work---there's no power or form.... did they just do capoeira flip? Was that a electric slide in middle of a form? uh."
posted by countzen at 1:07 AM on July 13, 2007

I'm also a martial artist, and I absolutely love this.

Some sifting through Youtube shows that Taekkyon sparring is much less decorative... and I really can't help but smile at the totally festive nature of the "doesn't seem" link. They look like they're having the time of their lives.
posted by Tikirific at 1:47 AM on July 13, 2007

If you look at taekyon the spinning movement is similar to the Korean dancing you see the drummers do. That is, the drummers who carry the drums on a sling over their shoulders. It's also a basic setup for any of the Olympic style TKD combos.
posted by wuwei at 8:40 AM on July 13, 2007

I've seen a Kukkiwon demo in Seoul that was a lot like this. I'll be taking my first-dan test in September (in Korea), and when my husband said to me, Wow, you can do all that? I replied with, Well, I think a little bit of it is sauced up for the audience.

Still, pretty cool video.
posted by Brittanie at 10:15 AM on July 13, 2007