Southern Maryland Martial Arts Inc

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Congratulations to our students for earning 25 top three finishes at the 2010 U.S. AAU Taekwondo National Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Since 1993, Southern Maryland Martial Arts has been providing instruction in Taekwondo in the Bryans Road and LaPlata area.

We hope you enjoy our website and will stop by and visit us if you are in the area. This site is designed to give you information about our facility, our style of martial arts, our staff and provide you with information on how to contact us as well.

Taekwondo is a modern martial art, characterized by its fast, high and spinning kicks. There are multiple interpretations of the name Taekwondo. Taekwondo is often translated as 'the way of hand and foot.'

Tae = 'Foot' or 'to kick' or 'to jump'
K'won = 'Fist' or 'to strike or block with hand'
Do = 'The way of' or 'art'

Put this together and Taekwondo means: "The art of kicking and punching" or "The art of unarmed combat."

It is the combination of these four disciplines that make the art of Taekwondo.
Objectives of Taekwondo:

to develop an appreciation for Taekwondo as a sport and an art
to achieve physical fitness through positive participation
to improve mental discipline and emotional equanimity
to learn self-defense skills
to develop a sense of responsibility for one self and others

Taekwondo is primarily a kicking art, often with a greater emphasis on the sport aspect of the art. Taekwondo stylists tend to fight at an extended range, and keep opponents away with their feet. It is a hard/soft, external, fairly linear style and is known for being very powerful. There is a lot of competition work in many dojongs. Training tends to emphasize sparring, but has forms, and the basics are important as well.