North and south...

[bluemtn]

I've had this question buzzing around in my head for quite some time, and now I know EXACTLY where to post this... So, we have arts like TKD (just to name one of many), but I pick TKD because it's in the olympics. I know (or am quite certain) that the Korean team is all from S.K., Right? So, is N.K. any different in martial arts, or are a lot of what the people do so controlled (and the financial state of a lot of citizens), that they just aren't able to do martial arts?

What spurred this question on is when I saw a documentary on North Korea.

 

[MBuzzy]

It is my understanding that they do practice TKD in North Korea, but it is much more controlled. I believe that they have a demonstration team and I have heard that during their "We long the Chonger" events, they have children demonstrate.

I don't know what their involvement on the world martial arts stage is, though I would assume it is small.

I imagine that who gets the training is controlled though. In a communist state, they have to be sure that the right people are learning these techniques, like military and demonstrators....and that's about it.

I have nothing solid though, just hearsay.

 

[exile]

The North Korean government advertises secure TKD training tours for North Americans, and Doug Cook, one of their regular columnists, has a couple of articles in last year's TKD Times describing his experience on one of these tours with some students from his dojang. Those articles are probably the state of the art so far as information about the TKD scene in North Korea is concerned. I recall from his articles that they do have a huge TKD center, the Temple (or Palace, or something grandiose like that) of Taekwondo, which rivals the KKW for monumental size; and their demo team was apparently awe-inspiring.

 

[Catalyst]

I was wondering the same exact thing about Hapkido.
Do they have Hapkido in North Korea?
My limited knowledge is that Choi Yong Sul returned to Korea and taught in what is now South Korea - always wondered if it made it's way to the North.