by Devon McNeely
Becoming good at taekwondo takes practice and determination, it takes the guidance of a good instructor, and it takes time. This training time can be accelerated by studying the right books. Below are some of the top taekwondo books to supplement your study of the art with.
Best Taekwondo Books
Below are some of the best taekwondo books you can find. Many of the authors also have other martial arts books that you can also look into. The books are listed in no particular order.
Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts
by Sang H. Kim
Sang H. Kim has written a number of martial arts books for both students and instructors. He also has done over 200 instructional video programs. The best of his books for Taekwondo students would be Ultimate Flexibility. In this book are a number of stretches to build up the flexibility needed for martial arts and specifically for the high kicks in taekwondo. If you need a specific way to get more flexible in an area or if you need a stretching reference with charts and workout suggestions this is the book for it.
Another book to look into by Sang H. Kim is Complete Taekwondo Poomsae: The Official Taegeuk, Palgwae and Black Belt Forms of Taekwondo written with Kyu Hyung Lee. This would be a good resource to help with form training if you practice the Taegeuks or Palgwaes.
Tae Kwon Do: The Korean Martial Art
by Richard Chun
Originally published in 1976, with a revised edition published in 2007, this book is an authoritative work looking at all aspects of World Taekwondo (World Taekwondo Federation at the time of publication). The book describes itself as containing “all the techniques required for qualification as a blackbelt.” This includes individual skriking, blocking, and kicking techniques, stances, footwork, sparring, self-defense, and all the palgae and taegeuk forms. It also includes discussions about the history and philosophy of the art.
Traditional Taekwondo: Core Techniques, History and Philosophy
by Doug Cook
In this book, Doug Cook focuses on Traditional Taekwondo as opposed to any sport training. It’s broken down into 3 sections. In the first part, he discusses the history and culture of early taekwondo as well as the founders and early practitioners. The second section looks at the philosophical aspect of the Korean art. Finally, the third section goes into detail about the individual techniques of the art.
Taekwondo: Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Warrior by Doug Cook also covers the history and philosophy of the art while likening it more to daily life.
The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do Patterns
by Stuart Paul Anslow
These are the absolute best books for forms training for students of ITF, GTF, and Ch’ang Hon taekwondo.
The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do Patterns is a 3 book set but only the first volume is needed for anyone under the rank on first Dan. These volumes not only map out the techniques in the patterns but the footwork and body movements between each technique. Combining these with Stuart Anslow’s other books creates the perfect ITF resource library. Ch’ang Hon Taekwon-do Hae Sul – Real Applications to the ITF Patterns gives detailed applications for the form techniques and From Creation to Unification: The Complete Histories Behind the Ch’ang Hon (ITF) Patterns provides the historical context for them.
Taekwon-Do: Origins of the Art: BOK Man Kim’s Historic Photospective
by Bok Man Kim
Grand Master Bok Man Kim gives a personal historical perspective of Taekwondo through his personal photo collection spanning nearly 60 years. There is no other resource for a first-person account of the development of the art of taekwondo and its spread throughout the world. Along with the grandmaster’s memoirs are his photos. each historic picture is worth much more than a thousand words.
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Textbook
by The Kukkiwon
Produced by the Kukkiwon itself this is the definitive textbook for everything about World Taekwondo. this imposing tome has nearly 800 pages dealing with history and philosophy, self-defense, training, competition, Poomsae, and more. The text is in both English and Korean with many of the techniques using their Korean names. This may be a challenge for some but there is no arguing with the sheer amount of information available in this textbook.
A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do
by Alex Gillis
A look at the darker and messier side of Taekwondo’s formation and spread. This book is entirely about the history and the people and not about the techniques themselves. Gills does not shy away from dark truths and sheds light on myths and lies that have crept up around the art and especially the early divisions in the organizations. I would recommend this for a practitioner looking deeper into the history and not for someone who is training specifically for sport or fun.
Tae Kwon Do: The Ultimate Reference Guide to the World’s Most Popular Martial Art
by Yeon Hee Park
As the title suggests this is an in-depth reference guide. It has warm-up exercises, basic techniques, forms, sparring techniques, as well as applications for the techniques. There is also information on philosophy and the rules for competitions. More of the information in the book is geared towards beginner and intermediate students rather than those in the Dan ranks but would be an excellent addition to your martial library at any belt level.
Taekwondo: Traditions, Philosophy, Technique
by Marc Tedeschi
This book could be considered the most comprehensive text ever written on Taekwondo at almost 900 pages. Every aspect of the art is described with images. this includes hand techniques, blocks, strikes, kicks, footwork, body mechanics, sparring, breaking, and forms. All 49 forms from WT and ITF are presented which takes up around a quarter of the book. Tedeschi also has a similar in-depth book on Hapkido if you are looking into that art as well.
The Complete Tae Kwon Do Hyung
by Hee Il Cho
Master Cho’s complete series contains books on the ITF forms, WTF forms, kicks, and jump kicks. His books are slightly older and the images are not the clearest but they do serve as a great resource and supplement to help with in-class training. This is the book that helped me in my training to first dan and beyond.