About Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art dating back more than 2000 years. Meaning the “way of kicking and punching”, it was initially viewed as a form of military training which varied considerably in form.

For some 2000 years, a range of martial arts were practiced on the Korean peninsula. During the early 20th century, taekwondo became the dominant form of martial arts practiced in Korea. Subsequently taekwondo was designated as the Korean national martial art to be promoted internationally.

In 1973, World Taekwondo (WT; formerly named the World Taekwondo Federation) was created as the sport’s global governing body. The first World Championships were held in Seoul, Korea, that year.

In 1980 it was recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which fast-tracked taekwondo’s development from a Korean martial art to a global sport as it is today.

Today, taekwondo is practiced by an estimated 80 million people in 210 countries, administered by five Continental Unions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Pan America and Oceania) - making it one of the world’s most popular sports.

Taekwondo’s first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games was in Seoul, in 1988, as a demonstration event. It appeared, again as a demonstration sport at Barcelona 1992. There were no demonstration sports at the Atlanta Games in 1996, but taekwondo reappeared as an official medal sport at Sydney 2000, then at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and will be on the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

Para Taekwondo will also be included for the first time at the Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

About Puducherry Taekwondo Sports Association

The Puducherry Taekwondo Sports Association was formally registered with the Puducherry Registrar's of companies in 2005 and was formally affiliated by the Taekwondo Federation of India in 2006. It was also recognized by the Pondicherry Olympic Association in 2009. In 2013, Taekwondo was accredited by the Directorate of Sports, Government of Pondicherry, this helps hundreds of athletes to get sports quota in their higher education and for their government job opportunities.

This is one of the well-functioning sports associations in the union territory of Puducherry. One of its founders and General Secretary (2019-23), Master P. Chittibabu, was the first person to represent Puducherry State in the National level Taekwondo Championship conducted by Taekwondo Federation of India, and also completed Diploma in sports coaching from Netaji Subas National Institute of Sports.

Due to the selfless activities of the association in a very short span of time; Mr. V. Veerappan won a Bronze medal in the Open International Level Taekwondo Championship and started the first medal count of Puducherry union territory. This was followed by Mr. S. Mohanapriyan who won a Gold Medal and Mr. E. Kesshavkumar, Mr. G. Vijayakishore, Mr. E. Christcalvins, and Ms. E. Gokulalakshmi, each won a bronze medal in the 2019 Open International (G1) level Taekwondo Championship, adding to the pride of the Puducherry Taekwondo Sports Association.

It is noteworthy that Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar, one of our association members, has got his training in South Korea, the headquarters of world Taekwondo (Taekwondowon, Muju, South Korea) for the first time from Puducherry. Five of our Coaches Mr. K. Selvamuthu, Mr. B. Prabakaran, Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar, Mr. G. Santhosh and Mr. K. Vinoth completed their WT International Coach Certification course conducted by World Taekwondo. Five of our Coaches Mr. P. Chittibabu, Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar, Mr. L. Thamotharan, Mr. A. Rajmohan and Mr. R. Jaishankar completed their ATU Coach License course conducted by Asian Taekwondo Union. And Most of our coaches are trained and obtain a coach certification form the Government of India (SAI), Mr. P. Chittibabu, Mr. K. Vinoth, Mrs. Devipriya, Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar, Mr. J. Denesh Shankar and Mr. G. Santhosh completed their Diploma is Sports Coaching from Netaji Subas National Institute of Sports. Mr. L. Thamotharan, Mr. R. Jaishankar, and Mr. A. Rajmohan completed their Certificate course in Sports Coaching from Netaji Subas National Institute of Sports.

It is significant that Mr. K. Vinoth and Mr. G. Santosh, coaches of our association, are working as the coaches in the Sports Authority of India and Mr. P. Chittibabu is working as the senior coach in the Puducherry State Sports Council. Our trainees Ms. S. Selvarasi, Mr. K. Aravind Selvan and Mr. Charleskeerthan were participated in the ATU New Poomsae Education Course conducted by Asian Taekwondo Union, Mr. K. Manikandan got first sub junior national medal (Bronze) in the championship held in Goa, and Mr. Mohammad Aashik got first junior national medal (Silver) in the championship held in Jharkhand. Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar and Ms. P. Shalini got first senior National Poomsae medal (Bronze) in the championship held in Assam, Ms. S. Selvarasi won gold medal in the senior National Poomsae Championship and selected for National camp to represent India in Asian Poomsae Championship and Mr. G. Santosh won a silver and a bronze medal, while Ms. S. Selvarasi won a Silver medal in the All India Inter University taekwondo Championship.

On behalf of our association we are giving training to more than thousands of students in private and government schools, colleges and institutions in the entire four regions’ of Puducherry union territory (Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam). The highlight of this is that the students are given training to develop their physical and psychological condition and also focusing to get medals from the International events.

Our Association provided Martial art training to the Police Department officials and also conducted special self-defense and how to survive in critical situation classes for the female students from various schools and colleges in collaboration with the Puducherry State Police Department with the best possible way in a simple manner.

There are also more than hundreds of Black Belt students and National Referees in our association, in that one of our Referee Mr. S. Dinesh Kumar completed his International Kyorugi Referee Course conducted by World Taekwondo. Every year on behalf of the Association for the development and assessment of our athletes, State level Taekwondo Championship, Regional Level Taekwondo Championship, Special Training Camps, color Belt exams, Referee seminars, coach seminars are conducted in the best manner and Community awareness programs are also being conducted with social concern.

According to our former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, ' the future of India is in the hands of youth'. With this as an inspiration, our association is working hard to make the youth mentally and physically strong and aiming to win gold in the Olympics for our country. Towards these two goals this association will lead the students on its path without any compromise with all your support and encouragement.