Taekwondo Terminology Flash Card Decks

In support of our effort to use Korean terminology for techniques and routine commands in class, these flash card decks are now available for our instructors and students. Be aware that all flash cards use Hangeul (the Korean written alphabet) instead of romanized Korean (spelled using the Latin alphabet) so you won’t be able to use them until you’re comfortable with Hangeul. To learn the Korean alphabet, see this previous post.

Most of our core techniques are already here, but a few are not yet included because it’s extremely difficult to find the Korean terms. This is because these techniques are no longer part of mainstream Taekwondo practice, and our school is one of the few that still practices them.

Gathering the material for these flash cards was challenging, because different styles of Taekwondo use different terminology for the same techniques, and it can be challenging to determine which name our style would use. In many cases, I’ve chosen to use the Kukki Taekwondo terminology, since we are aligned with the Kukkiwon. In a few cases, I’ve used older names because our school performs the techniques in ways that differ significantly from the Kukkiwon standard.

Although I consulted a large number of websites, books, videos, and other materials to compile this list, here are a few of the key sources:

• Kuk-Ki Taekwon-Do Text Book (Korean language version, undated edition from the early 1990s)
• Taekwondo Terminology, B. T. Milnes, 2009
• Taekwondo: Traditions, Philosophy, Technique, 2003 Marc Tedeschi
• Dictionary of Kukkiwon Taekwondo Terminology, Louis B. Giamo, 2018
• Korean language versions of poomsae instructional videos, produced by the Kukkiwon, YouTube

Taekwondo Terminology Class with Seven Flash Card Decks