It is often said that there are as many histories of Tae Kwon Do as there are people to tell them. The roots of Tae Kwon Do extend back to ancient times, when records were kept in paintings on walls and stories passed down from family to family. As such, the history of Tae Kwon Do has undergone as many transformations and refinements as the martial art itself. While reading this history, one should keep in mind that this is not the history of Tae Kwon Do, merely a history.

In 1955, a special board was convened which included GM Duk-Sung Son, with the task of unifying the many schools of Tae Kyon and naming the resulting organized style Tae Kwon Do: Tae which means "foot", Kwon which means "hand" and Do which means "Way" (Philosophy). Therefore, taken literally, Tae Kwon Do means "The Way of Foot and Hand".