The Taekwondo uniform

The dobok (도복) is the uniform worn for Taekwondo training and competition. Do means "way" and bok means "clothing".^[1] It has three parts: a jacket, trousers and a belt. Dobok come in many colours, though white and black are the most common.^[1]

Origin and styles #

Wikipedia states that the dobok came from the Japanese keikogi (training jacket) used in arts such as judo, although that statement is marked as needing a citation there.^[1] Two main jacket styles are in use today:

• World Taekwondo and Kukkiwon style. A pullover jacket with a V-neck, described as tailored after the design of the Korean hanbok.^[1] In World Taekwondo competition the collar is black for dan holders and black and red for cadet poom holders.^[3] The black trim on the V-shaped collar was added in the 1970s to distinguish black belts from colour-belt practitioners, according to Doug Cook, who also writes that in the early years of Kukkiwon Taekwondo the dobok was completely white.^[2]
• ITF style. A newer design with a jacket that closes vertically down the front.^[1]

Traditional schools may wear a dobok identical or very similar to the keikogi, with a cross-over jacket front.^[1]

What white is said to mean #

No founding document of Taekwondo sets out an official reason for the white uniform.^[4] The explanations in circulation are traditions, not rules of the Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo or the ITF. The ITF's own statement about the colour white concerns the white belt, which it says signifies innocence.^[6]

The explanations given are:

• Purity, innocence and humility. The white colour "is said to denote innocence, purity, dignity and most significantly, humility in the Confucian mold".^[2] Other writers describe it as a clean slate and a clear mind.^[4]
• Equality. Identical uniforms mean no one stands out by wealth or fashion, so that rank shows only in the belt and collar.^[4]
• Korean tradition. White was the everyday clothing of most Koreans for centuries.^[4] Historical records show white clothing was favoured from the time of the Kingdom of Buyeo, according to a 2022 study, which also finds that the phrase "white-clad people" (baegui minjok) was first used in the early 1920s, with its first written record in the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo in 1922.^[5]
• The Korean flag. Some students connect the white of the uniform to the white field of the flag, which stands for purity and peace.^[4]

See also #

• The Taekwondo belt
• Belt ranks and grades