As an instructor (and as a student), I like to be able to recommend books for my students, especially in the area of the history of an art or the philosophy. When I started TKD, the first book recommended to us was Tae Kwon Do: The Ultimate Reference Guide to the World's Most Popular Martial Art (Paperback) by Yeon Hwan Park and Jon Gerrard See http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...ef=sr_1_1/103-5508823-7708632?ie=UTF8&s=books As a color belt, this book served me fairly well, especially in terms of competition rules, Taegeuk poomse, and a basic background of the history, all for a decent price. Looking at the book again, I am finding it dated and am especially unhappy with the treatment of the history of TKD in it, especially with the omission of Japanese influences and the complete omission of Gen. Choi Hong Hi. Recently, I saw an ad listing an upcoming book by Doug Cook, a frequent contributer to TKD Times. Seeing the book in a bookstore, I picked it up and have read through it. I like this section very much. He starts witht he mandatory references to the ancient kingdoms and Hwarang warriors but builds that into a nice bit of background for the emergence of modern TKD. From there he does a nice section on the "Formative Years of Taekwondo", complete with great details, photos, pictures of old organizational patches, and attention to all of the movers and shakers (including Gen. Choi). He also gets into some modern developments and the students creeds and such. His treatment of the "Formative Years" is not as in-depth as Dakin Burd ick's article but it covers all of the key points and is very accessible to read. For this section alone, I would highly recommend this book to my students and to all Taekwondo students. This section covers meditation, Ki and the poom-se. I like the ideas he presents and I like the inclusion of medititaion training in Taekwondo. My only real issue with this section is his combining of Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean terms and ideas and terms in his dealing with this topic. I would have prefered to see the use of all Korean terms and concepts within the context of his very book title. Regardless, the concepts and ideas are great... just maybe not "Traditional Taekwondo". The "Ki" section is similar, with a mix of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese terms and concepts. There are a bunch of exercises that may be fun to try although I don't recall ever seeing the real close pigeon-toed (thighs touching) stance shown in the exercises (which he does credit to kumdo though). The poom-se section is excellent though and provides a nice bit of history (including some interesting tie-ins to Kata ), rationale, uses, and elements of training. It also provides a concise "meaning/philosophy" of the main sets of forms (Palgwe, Taegeuk, and Chang Hon). For this bit, I also recommend this to my students. Sections include: -Physical Conditioning - this gets into using the makiwara (Japanese?!?!? ), forearm bashing drills and so on, and the use of pads.It also has a nice generic set of warm-up drills -Training methods in Traditional TKD - this covers (quite nicely) the rational and basic method for using 1 step/3step/prearranged/free sparring and self defence training. -One Step and Three Step sparring - A lot of space is spent on sample 1 and 3 step sparring techniques. I wasn't overly impressed with them for various reasons, especialy in terms of linear and static movement and a lack of "getting out of the way". Then again, I don't expect my students to learn these techniques... they'll be learning in class from instructors. I wouldn't recommend these techniques overly, except maybe as a general reference tool for ideas. -Ho Shin Sool - this section didn't impress me either. Most of the technqiues shown look like Hapkido but there is no evidence of distraction, balance disruption, or tight control (I like seeing the elbows tight on joint locks for control). There also is no releases or finishes shown for the techniques. Again, students will be getting their actual intruction in class, not from a book... but I don't like this part much. -Self Defense for Women - same as above but the lack of distractions, finishes, releases and such make it even more glaringly incomplete. The section on awareness and avoidance tips are good though. I liked the article, it made for nice reading. The terms are good, but I wish he would have included the Hangueul for the terms as well, instread of just English and romanized Korean. He finishes up with a 2 page listing of sources, most of which are from various books on TKD, although there are some references to Zen books, Yoga books and Japanese Ki books. About the Author: 4th dan in TKD (according to the book's back cover, although his website lists him as 5th dan), certified instructor by the US Taekwondo Association and WTF. Contributing columnist for TKD Times. See http://publishing.ymaa.com/authors/authordetail/author.php?author_id=32 http://www.chosuntkd.com/mdc/cookbio.html Bottom line: For less than $20 USD, this is a nice resource for students on Taekwondo history and the rationale behind a lot of the stuff we do (poom-se, step sparring, ho shin sool, etc). I don't care much for the actual techniques present, but I don't expect my students to learn from a book anyway. I do wish he had replaced the techniques with even single page poom-se maps, although again these are better taught in class, but would have been a more useful reference than some of the other techniques shown. I didn't care for the mixing of various traditions from China, India, and Japan in a book highlighting "Traditional Taekwondo" and think that Korean sources would have made it even better... but I do appreciate his honesty. He could have just called it all Korean and left it at that. Overall, I will recommend it and loan out my copy at the school. It's worth the money, even if just for the history section and other "why we do this" topics for TKD students.
