Taekwondo (Korean pronunciation: [tʰɛ.kwʌn.do]) is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. It is the world’s most popular martial art in terms of the number of practitioners. Gyeorugi (Korean pronunciation: [gjʌ.rʊ.ɡi]), one type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000.

In Korean, tae (Hangul: 태, hanja: 跆) means “to strike or break with foot”; kwon (Hangul: 권, hanja: 拳) means “to strike or break with fist”; and do (Hangul: 도, hanja: 道) means “way” or “method”; so “taekwondo” is loosely translated as “the way of the foot and fist” or “the way of kicking and punching”.

Taekwondo’s popularity has resulted in the varied evolution of the martial art into several domains: as with many other arts, it combines combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, meditation and philosophy. Taekwondo is also used by the South Korean military as part of its training.