08/22/2026
Many people around the world have come to view Olympic Taekwondo—sport Taekwondo—as if it represents the entirety of Taekwondo. We do not deny or diminish the value of sport Taekwondo. It has played an important role in promoting Taekwondo globally and has created valuable opportunities for athletes around the world.
However, Taekwondo is much more than a competitive sport. Its martial art traditions, educational values, character development, and philosophy should coexist alongside sport Taekwondo so that a much broader range of people can benefit from Taekwondo.
In fact, in Taekwondo schools around the world, the number of practitioners who train for martial arts, self-development, discipline, and education is far greater than the number who participate primarily in competitive sport Taekwondo. Yet for many years, sport Taekwondo has received the overwhelming majority of public attention, leaving the much larger community of traditional martial art practitioners in its shadow.
It is time to bring greater recognition and visibility to this important side of Taekwondo as well. Sport Taekwondo and traditional martial art Taekwondo do not need to compete with one another; they should complement and strengthen each other.
This is the Traditional Taekwondo that GTTF seeks to preserve, promote, and develop. We believe that helping the martial art and educational values of Taekwondo receive the recognition they deserve is one of the important roles and responsibilities of GTTF.
