The Martial Arts College of Yong-In University formally announced the creation of a new discipline, known as Yongmoodo on October 15, 1998.
[3] Norman Link believes that yongmudo "was developed in part because as taekwondo grew into a dazzling martial sport, it lost most of the other aspects, like self-defense.
"[4] The term Yongmoodo (literally translated as "Dragon Martial Way") comes from the word Hankido which was developed in Korea in 1976.
[5] Yongmudo uses various dynamic techniques from martial arts such as Taekwondo, Judo, and Ssirum and is based on physical, psychological, spiritual, and mental training with contemporary scientific knowledge.
Yongmudo was developed with an emphasis on education, training and martial arts philosophy.
[2] A study about the effects of yongmoodo exercises confirmed that "the functional balance mat for Yongmoodo exercise program could improve the posture alignment pursuant and gait abilities of body imbalance of obese elementary students.
"[6] Another study concluded that the high intensity yongmudo training could improve the maximum muscle strength of adult males.
[20] Kang Minchul is the manager of the Korean Yongmudo Association (KYA) and professor in the Department of Oriental Martial Arts at Yong In University.