Originating from Korea, tae kwon do was invented by the Hwa Rang (Korean Noblemen) in the late 1600's. throughout time it was influenced by other styles. During WWII the japanese were sent in to train Korean soldiers in karate. The Koreans started using a few Kwans(series of movements used for practice) in their tae kwon do practices and this was the birth of tae soo do.
Eventually, members of the KTA(Korean TaeKwon Do Association) started leaving for America. The WTF(World TaeKwonDo Federation) was later formed. The ITF(International TaeKwonDo Federation) was based in Korea.
Tae Kwon Do is known for it's fast, high and spinning kicks. Although, taekwondo seems to be very powerful it is more of a sport than an actual fighting style. Rules vary in different federations. Taekwondo is not very practical for street self-defense. To be safer in a street fight you should also know a style that includes graples and throws such as Aikido or Hapkido. There are also some other styles of tae kwon do but I currently don't have information on those.
Hundreds of years ago hapkido was used by monks to defeat the Japanese army. Hapkido quickly lost it's popularity after tha due to the collapse and replacement of Buddhism by Confucianism. Although it was nearly forgotten by many, some teachers continued to practice and spread the knowledge. It was later brought back into the world by a Korean master by the name of Yong Sool Choi who had been training since he was 9 years old. After Japan's influence was gone from Korea he came into the world and taught hapkido to a few people. These students then spread the popularity of their style during the Korean conflict in 1950. Hapkido rapidly began spreading to other countries by means of demonstrations. Hapkido is an insanely popular style in Korea nowadays.
Hapkido has more than 13,000 techniques available to users. That may sound like alot but many of them are just variatoins of some basic techniques. Here are the fundamental techniques fo hapkido:
Each have defensive and offensive techniques along with joint locking, pressure points, and striking techniques. Joint locking includes twisting, throwing, paralyzing and strangling . Striking techniques include kicking, punching, cutting and stabbing. pressure points are self explanatory. Weapon techniques include dagger throwing, sword and knife, club, cane, bostaff, spear, rope, and stone throwing/holding. There are also techniques that are executed while standing, sitting, and lying down. In hapkido, when you are attacked you attack the weak points of your opponents body with stronger force. Weak points being: Arteries, veins, organs, etc. While attacking, through a special breathing technique called Dan Jon Ho Hop, concentration of energy to one area of your body can result in "superhuman power" when striking. When timed right, this can be fatal to your opponent. Hapkido also includes using your enemies power against him like in aikido.