Korean Job Discussion Forums

[seoulhiker]

Hello,

My nephew is a tae-kwon-do enthusiast, but I know almost nothing about it.

Is there anything that I can purchase for him in Seoul that would make a great gift?

Thanks in advance.

[Cedar]

Lots of stuff. At Dongdaemun on the outside of the stadium there are shops, some sell martial arts supplies/equipment. Buy him something there. Or you could go to Gukgiwon (the TKD headquarters in Gangnam), they might have a gift shop.

[pollyplummer]

Do you know what belt he is? If he is a black belt, then one of the best gifts you can get him is a belt with his name embroidered on it in Korean. They can also do it in English, if you think that he would prefer that. It is quite routinely done in Korea, so it's fairly cheap. You do need to know what size belt he wears, though.

Another thing you could get him is a kicking pad (sort of kidney-shaped) and these are found much cheaper in Korea. At home he'd more than likely have to order it through a catalogue. Almost all Taekwondo gear is much cheaper in Korea than in the west, so uniforms, shoes, padding, etc is all good. Some players are really picky about who makes their gear. For example, they may only ever wear Adidas tkd shoes ( me ) or other various brands. However, things like that may not be an issue if he's fairly young or hasn't trained very long. Also there are some wussy TKD clubs in the West that don't do any sparring and therefore he wouldnt need any sparring gear. You may need to ask him a few questions before you buy him something.

[seoulhiker]

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to hit Gukgiwon soon.