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Rating: 
Summary: really nice book for the beginner and intermediate student
Review: After the author's book on Hapkido, I was full of expectations about his work on Taekwondo. I am not disapointed! A really beautiful book, with lots of explicative and nice pictures of very high quality, very clear design, foot diagrams, explainations of techniques, etc...This book is essentially about techniques, with some awesome parts, like the chapters about footwork and olympic sparring that are really clear and comprehensive (and usually left aside in most TKD books). The chapters about step sparring and self-defense are really worth reading too. Unfortunately, I expected a little bit more about Taekwondo's historia and philosophy in a book named "Traditions, Philosophy, Technique". And the part about forms does not give information that you wouldn't find in any other TKD book on forms. This book has the unusual ambition to cover all TKD styles (WTF, ITF, etc...) and shows how similar these styles can be, at least technically. However, nothing is said about ITF point sparring in this book. You can not learn martial arts in a book, but this book is really a good complement to your training; it contains nearly all the techiques you might train in your dojang (with their English and Korean names). And it may help you keep your motivation and will to learn the art. It shows how beautiful, powerful and dynamic Taekwondo can be! The pictures are definitely a lot better than in other martial arts books, so this book deserves to get the highest rate! I would recommend this book to any TKD student willing to get an overview of TKD and to have a nice book about the art they train. Tae Kwon!
Rating:
Summary: One you need
Review: Get this TKD book and sell any others you have in your library. Mr. Tedeschi does it again with this book. This is the ultimate reference guide. I have purchase 4 book by Marc Tedeschi and haven't been disapointed, except when I resold my Hapkido book.
Rating:
Summary: One you need
Review: Get this TKD book and sell any others you have in your library. Mr. Tedeschi does it again with this book. This is the ultimate reference guide. I have purchase 4 book by Marc Tedeschi and haven't been disapointed, except when I resold my Hapkido book.
Rating: 
Summary: beutiful pictures lacks material
Review: I am sorry to say that Mr Tedeschi's book is lacking. he is by profession a wonderful designer but not a taekwondo Master. His book is a good roadmap for the beginner that lacks adequate instruction; but, not a research nor reference for anyone who has done the martial art or sport for any amount of time. The book lacks substantial information on advanced techniques , combinations and the strategies for sparring, Additionally there is little to guide the practioner toward the practicallity of Taekwondo. That having been said the book can offer some mechanical insight into the techniques of TKD for the beginner. But definetly not worth the price tag.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Comprehensive Resource
Review: Marc Tedeschi has produced one of the finest Taekwondo resources available in print. The photography is outstanding. The information and layout are easy to follow and comprehend. Each section, e.g. philosophy, history, punches, kicks, blocks, self-defense, sparring, etc, is a joy to read and study. As for the section on forms: wow! The step-by-step charts, the corresponding pictures, and the form diagrams are the best I have ever seen. This resource is a must for any serious student of Taekwondo. I for one appreciate his attempt to cover both the WTF and ITF styles of Taekwondo since it demonstrates the rich diversity of this popular martial art.
Rating:
Summary: AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE!
Review: Mark Tedeschi's Tae Kwon Do is a detailed, well rounded, extensive resource for the art. Instead of only containing one set of forms like some books, the book has hundreds of forms with play by play moves that help you follow along. It has an extensive section on the philosophy and history of the art that is essential for tae kwon do study. It really has everything- stances, kicks, forms, philosophy and more. Beautifully done and intent on every detail, I HIGHLY recommend this book!!
Rating:
Summary: TaeKwon Do from a WTF perspective
Review: Mr Tedeschi is undoubtedly a skilled practicioner of Hapkido and has written a thought provoking and intelligent review of TaeKwon Do.
However, despite claims that it covers all forms of TKD, and indeed doing so in terms of patterns (Tull or Poomse depending on your WTF or ITF affilliation), it only deals with WTF (Olympic) sparring.
As a result, whole chapters on sparring are rendered irrelevant, much more difficult to apply or less useful to any non-WTF practicioner.
This WTF focus extends to techinical parts of the book too. Whilst acknowledging that WTF is primarily a sport form and ITF a traditional self-defence form, it then fails to cater to the techiniques of the latter in the practical sections.
Similarly, the focus is on footwork appropriate to WTF stylists, kicking techniques appropriate to WTF stylists, etc etc.
Having found Mr Tedeschi's Hapkido book enthralling and informative, I was a little disappointed with the failure to acknowledge the scope of modern TKD. WTF stylists may find it of more use, but if the book is going to claim to encompass all of modern TKD, I would like to see it do so.
Paul Mitchell
1st Dan TAGB
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful production, but biased.
Review: This book is as well produced as Tedeschi's other volumes are, however there is little new information here. The poom-se, or forms, are described in great detail, but works by others, including Grandmaster Richard Chun, do the same. The photos are excellent since Mr. Tedechi is a photographer as well as a martial artist. One must also recall that Mr. Tedechi is primarily a hapkido practitioner and, while he has done much to remind the reader of this, going so far as to use other masters to portray technique, his bias towards hapkido surfaces from time to time and tends to color his subject matter. Beginners in the Korean art of taekwondo would do well to realize that the current issues surrounding taekwondo, as stated, are not as cut and dry as this book makes them out to be. This work should be read in conjunction with others on the market that emphasize the philosophical and life-enriching components of taekwondo that exist regardless of the sport aspects that pervade today. A worthy work, but a good example of how "size does not ultimately matter."
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