Taekwondo was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by various Korean martial artists as a blend of the indigenous Korean fighting styles of taekkyeon, gwonbeop, and subak, with influence from foreign martial arts, such as karate and Chinese martial arts.

The oldest governing body for Taekwondo is the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA), formed in 1959 by a collaborative effort by representatives from the nine original kwans, or martial arts schools, in Korea. Today, some of the international organizational bodies for Taekwondo are the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), founded by General Choi Hong Hi in 1966, and the World TaeKwon Do Federation (now World Taekwondo), founded in 1973 by the KTA. Gyeorugi (kyurugi), a type of full-contact sparring, has been an Olympic event since 1992. 

The body responsible for Taekwondo in the Olympics is the World TaeKwonDo Federation.