This fighting art sometimes looks like a dance

The movements of the taekkyeon can give an impression of dance: they are flexible, rhythmic and often circular. This Korean martial art uses these moves to strike, dodge or lose balance to an opponent. Fluidity does not take away their combat function.

The feet occupy a place as important as the hands. The UNESCO description also emphasizes the expected restraint of an experienced practitioner, who can dominate a confrontation without necessarily seeking to hurt. This requirement belongs to the teaching of the practice, not to a guarantee for each meeting.

Taekkyeon is also associated with seasonal traditions and community activities. To look at it only as a graceful spectacle would therefore make one forget the techniques; to describe it only as a sequence of blows would make the rhythm disappear. Its singularity lies in the way in which these dimensions are brought together within the same movement.