About Tae Kwon-Do Torbay

TAGB classes have been running in Torbay since the early 1980's. Classes are instructed by Andy Saunders, 2nd Dan who has over 10 years Tae Kwon-Do experience. During this time Andy has trained students through their grades with many attaining Black Belt status. Some of these students have gone on to become Instructors and assistant instructors, enabling quality teaching to a high standard. Andy and his students of all ages and abilities have enjoyed great success at gradings and tournaments achieving many A grades and medals.

As well as teaching in our clubs , Andy also teaches in many secondary and primary schools in Torbay and the surrounding area in both after school clubs and as part of the senior school curriculum. Any schools interested in Andy's services can contact him via the contacts page on this website for more details.

Andy Saunders is a fully qualified Instructor with the BTC (British Tae Kwon-Do Council) and has a full CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check. In addition Andy is also 1st Aid trained, a fully qualified TAGB Umpire and has full indemnity and public liability insurance.

About Tae Kwon-Do

Tae Kwon-Do is derived from several Martial Arts, with the main influence being tae-kyon Korean kick fighting. Tae means "to kick" or "smash with the feet"; Kwon means "to intercept" or "strike with the hands"; and do means "the way or the art". Therefore, the art is the use of hands and feet to overcome an attacker swiftly and efficiently.

Tae Kwon-Do was originally developed in Korea in the 1950's, when a group of leading martial arts experts came together to unify their respective disciplines under a single fighting system. The inauguration took place in South Korea on April 11th 1955, with Major-General Choi Hong Hi, 9th degree black belt, being credited as the founder. However, its roots can be traced back nearly 2,00 years when it was born from an art known as Hwa Rang Do, meaning "way of the flowering manhood".

The Hwarang were young noblemen, influenced by Confucian teachings, who formed a patriotic society during the unification of Korea, in the silla dynasty, in about AD600. The silla kingdom was the smallest of the three within the Korean peninsula, and was constantly under attack from its two stronger neighbours. It was these constant invasions that led the silla nobility to develop a fighting system to defend their Kingdom.

Towards the end of the 10th century, following the unification of Korea, learning tae kwon-do became compulsory for all young men. However, in about the 16th century the military traditions of the country fell out of general favour and the practice of Tae Kwon-Do was kept alive only by Buddhist monks. Following the Japanese occupation in 1909, the suppression of any form of martial art only served to further its decline. However, along with occupation , the Japanese also brought Karate with them, whos movements characterise many of todays Tae Kwon-Do moves. The few remaining dedicated practitioners emigrated to China and Japan and thus the art survived.

At the end of world war 2, when Korea became independent, several fighting style arose. All these styles were united in 1955 under the name of Tae Soo-Do. By the beginning of 1957 several Korean martial arts masters adopted the name Tae Kwon-Do for their form of martial art because of its similarity to the original Tae Kyon.

The very first Tae Kwon-Do were soldiers because their leader, Major General Choi Hong Hi, the modern father of Tae Kwon-Do, required his soldiers to train in the art.

Tae Kwon-Do continued to spread worldwide from Korea in the 1960's and the first World Championships took place in Seoul, South Korea, in 1973. Since 1988 Tae Kwon-Do has been listed as an Olympic sport and will continue to be until London 2012 and beyond.

The Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain (TAGB)

As the popularity of Tae Kwon-Do increased in the west several attempts were made to unite the World Tae Kwon-Do Federation and the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation and all its smaller organisations, all of which were unsuccessful.

It was because of this that in August 1983 it was decided to form, in the UK, an organisation that would be run more on principles far more democratic than permitted by the ITF and WTF. This became the basis of the TAGB.

In April 1988 the TAGB became a founding member of the British Tae Kwon-Do Council (BTC). The BTC is the only body recognised by Sport UK and incorporates 11 different Tae Kwon-Do organisations.

The TAGB now has over 25,000 members and represents the next stage in the development of Tae Kwon-Do. With its ethos and tenets first aspired to by the Hwa Rang over 2,000 years ago and its constant development of patterns, training techniques and ideas, it is poised to take an ancient fighting style into the 21st century.

In 1993, a new world body was formed called Tae Kwon-Do international. This new body encompasses both ITF and WTF styles and is entirely no political, with its sole aim being to promote Tae Kwon-Do as both a sport and a martial art, worldwide. The TAGB is proud to be a founding member of this body.