Photo Gallery: Taekwondo kickin' it up at Gyeonghuigung Palace

Taekwondo is the world’s most popular form of traditional martial arts. Where better to see it performed than at its Korean source, set against the historic backdrop of Gyeonghuigung Palace in Seoul.

Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, has been hosting exclusive demonstrations -- performed by the masters themselves -- twice a week from March through December. Proudly following in the footsteps of its Korean founders, it was Kukkiwon that lobbied to have taekwondo included in both the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympic Games. An impressive feat indeed. But given the sheer skill displayed at the event it isn’t hard to see why. Taekwondo is truly great to watch.

The demonstration lasts an hour. The audience is greeted with a series of mind-blowing stunts interspersed with several elegant musical numbers performed by women clad in colorful hanbok -- a form of traditional Korean clothing.

One stunt in particular to watch out for is the backward fly-kick, where one Taekwondo master manages to destroy an apple from the tip of an overhanging sword without slicing his foot off. It may not look like these guys get that high in the air, but the photos give one a much better idea as to just how much they seem to defy the laws of gravity.

Writer/photographer Gregory Curley left his native Canada for South Korea seven years ago. He’s been making Seoul his home ever since. When he’s not busy trying to appear creative as a copywriter, he’s blogging away or contributing assignments to both CNNGo and SEOUL magazine.

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