Taekwondo in India

Taekwondo in India
Taekwondo in India
	Taekwondo performance during the Korea Festival held in India
Country	India
Governing body	Taekwondo Federation of India
National team(s)	India Olympics team
First played	1975
International competitions
	Asian Taekwondo Championships; World Taekwondo Championships; Summer Olympics;

Taekwondo is one of the most popular and practiced martial arts in India.^[1]^[2]^[3] It is characterized by punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. The literal translation for tae kwon do is "kicking," "punching," and "the art or way of."^[4]

History[]

Master Puran Andrew Gurung introduced taekwondo to India after returning from Hong Kong to India. He studied taekwondo under Korean Great Grand Master Lee Pyung Pal from 1969 to 1974. Since 1974 he has been promoting Taekwondo after earning his 2nd Dan under Great Grand Master Lee Pyung Pal. He initially started taekwondo classes in Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim. Later he expanded his trainings to Kolkata, southern, northeast and northern parts of India. He traveled frequently to every part of India until 1984.^[5] He has been conferred the title of "Father of Taekwondo in India" by official taekwondo hall of fame USA.

Taekwondo introduced to India around 1975 and one of earliest taekwondo instructors in India was Jimmy R. Jagtiani, 8th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo who began teaching in 1975.^[6] On 2 August, 1976 the Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) was formed and established as a National Body of Taekwondo in India.^[7]

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) accorded affiliation to the Taekwondo Federation of India in 1978, the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) in 1982, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in 1985 and the South Asian Taekwondo Federation (SATF) in 1994 respectively. The Department of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India also granted recognition to Taekwondo Federation of India as an apex judicial and autonomous national body of taekwondo in India in 1988.

Grand Master Kiranpal, an international referee, has been working for Indian taekwondo since 1988, when for the first time taekwondo was demonstrated at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Atul Pangotra is also an international referee and coach who started his sports journey in 1988. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, he qualified in the top 50 officials.^[8]

is the 1st Indian Sports Personality, who received most prestigious “World Taekwondo Plaque of Honour” for his contribution from Dr. Chung-won Choue, President of World Taekwondo (WT) in presence of Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra, President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, His Excellency the Governor of West Bengal, Shri Tathagata Roy, His Excellency the Governor of Meghalaya, His Holiness Revered Swami Divyananda Maharaj, Trusty & Governing Body Member, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Hon’ble Minister of Horticulture & Food Processing Industries, Govt. of West Bengal, Mr. Milan Kwee, Vice President, Singapore National Olympic Council, Mr. Namdev Shirgaonkar, President, India Taekwondo and many other National & International dignitaries on 5th February 2020. This Award is the dream of every Taekwondo Pioneers.

Tournament record[]

Competition	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Asian Games	0	0	1	1
Total	0	0	1	1

World Taekwondo Honour[]

Award	World Taekwondo Plaque	Total
	1	1
Total	1	1

Indian taekwondo players[]

Taekwondo as a martial art and game is gradually acquiring prominence in India. However it despises numerous fans continuing in the country, India has some profoundly gifted taekwondo players who have brought glory to the country. Some of the leading taekwondo Players in India are:

References[]

^ Announcement (26 November 2008). "Taekwondo rapidly gaining popularity in India". Retrieved 9 December 2017 – via Business Standard.
^ "Sport gaining popularity in the country". The Hindu. 20 August 2002. Retrieved 9 December 2017.^{[dead link]}
^ "Getting a kick from Taekwondo - Times of India". Retrieved 9 December 2017.
^ "taekwondo - Wiktionary". en.wiktionary.org. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
^ "lacancha.com". www.lacancha.com. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
^ "Grand master Jimmy for training of tae kwon do in schools". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
^ "Taekwondo Federation of India's suspension revoked - Times of India". Retrieved 9 December 2017.
^ Ali, Yaqoob (20 April 2021). "Pangotra appointed referee for Tokyo Paralympics". Rising Kashmir. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
^ "Bhandari wins India's first medal in taekwondo". The Times of India. 12 October 2002.
^ "What are India's chances in Taekwondo during the Tokyo Olympics?". thebridge.in. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
^ "Indian Taekwondo Sensation Syed Taha: A Stupendous Talent From The Valley". The Liberal Wing. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.

Indian Taekwondo Players
S.No.	Player Name	Highest Participation
1	Surendra Bhandari	International, Asian Games medalist^[9]
2		International Medalist
3		International Medalist
4	Aruna Singh Tanwar	International
5	Atul Raghav	International
6	Danish Manzoor	International
7	Kashish Malik	International
8	Latika Bhandari	International
9	Purva Dixit	International
10	Aman Kumar Kadyan	International
11	Navjeet Maan ^[10]\|\|International
12	Abrar Khan	International
13	Rodali Barua	International
14	Akshay Hooda	International
15	Pankaj Roy	National
16
17	Saurabh sharma	International
18	shiv kumar	International
19	Ashish sinha	International
20	Raghu boro	International	International^[11]