In the 6th century, Korea was divided into three dynasties. Among them was the Silla dynasty, the emperor of which determined that something greater would be required than the amalgamation of fighting techniques currently in practice throughout the kingdoms. Jin Heung, the emperor, decided to develop a class of elite warriors, called the Hwarang, which would follow the Hwarang Do, or “the way of the flowering youth.” To assist with this, he contracted a Korean monk who had studied in China, named Won Kwang Bopsa, to develop a system of fighting based on the present techniques, as well as a system of teaching other arts such as music, dance, and poetry, and a set of ethics to guide it. The system that was created is the foundation of modern day taekwondo.
After the end of World War II, when the Japanese occupation of Korea ended, a number of martial arts clans – called kwans – appeared; originally, there were five which established training halls across Korea. The South Korean government asked for the consolidation and unification of the kwans under central leadership, and in 1972 the Kukkiwon was established as the world taekwondo headquarters. The system of taekwondo from which Northern Lights Martial Arts draws is the Chang Moo Kwan, which is known for emphasizing the external aspects of taekwondo and was strongly influenced by Chinese kung fu and incorporates some Shudo-Ryu karate. Our specific style of taekwondo within the Chang Moo Kwan comes to us through Great Grand Master Yun Moo Yung.
