IDO MOVEMENT FOR CULTURE

Background. Taekwondo organizations such as World Taekwondo and the International Taekwon-Do Federation have made it a goal to use martial art/combat sports for peace promotion, which is in line with the moral goals of the early pioneers of this martial art.
Problem and Aim. Despite these best intentions, there is an intrinsic dissonance between the aim(s) of peace and the potential violent techniques that are innate to Taekwondo.
Methods. A focused literature review was performed on academic articles, theses, dissertations, and lay Taekwondo materials through internet keyword searches. Taekwondo and Korean martial arts textbook publications dating back to the first use of the term ‘taekwondo’ were identified, read for passages that can now be interpreted as soft diplomacy efforts, and the data found were then codified. The data obtained were viewed through the General Theory of Fighting Arts and Peace Studies lenses, permitting interpretations of Taekwondo’s international governing bodies’ peacebuilding actions.
Results. To address this dissonance, there has been a shift in focus away from self-defense and combat readiness to the sportification of Taekwondo. By rebranding Taekwondo primarily as a sport, the focus of practice is shifted from arguably violent “martial” techniques, to simply sports competitions. In so doing, the peace promotion goal is the pursuit through sports diplomacy, a type of soft diplomacy. However, a shift away from martial art practice to combat sport practice is problematic.
Conclusions. Although the aim of using Taekwondo for soft diplomacy is commendable, a sportive focus may not be the best course for achieving Taekwondo’s peace promotion goal. Nevertheless, it is a sensible strategy within the social (i.e., organizational) and international levels, where sports diplomacy may be effectively applied.