Luxury of freedom

The country of great sports

For every destination, BIG BERRY search to offer local experience, and it includes sports. Next to the BB house, feel part of the concept includes different activities  which contribute to the whole experience of the place. That’s why we have decided to explore Korean world of sports.

One thing we discovered while here on the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang is that Koreans are very dedicated to sports and supporting their country.

38528049740 4fee31d4b8 k          For the past month everything in Korea is about winter sports

26406843568 7ea685b630 k        Koreans are very dedicated and supportive when it comes to sports

But, next to all the winter sports, South Korea is a home of another great sport. Have you ever wondered where did Chuck Norris get some of his best moves from? If so, we believe that taekwondo takes big credits for it.

Originated in South Korea, Taekwondo is a martial art and the most distinctive sport of this Asian country. This art with a long history and tradition is considered to be Korean national sport. Today its philosophy and practice are widely spread around the world and practised by millions of people. This martial art has even become an official full medal Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Tae-kwon-do consists of the words “Tae” meaning "foot", “Kwon” meaning "fist" and “Do” meaning "way of", which literally means “the way of the foot and fist”.

We were lucky enough to meet a skillful taekwondo squad, K Tigers, who is training hard so they could, hopefully, represent their country at the Olympics one day. Their trainer shared the experience of practicing this martial art, saying that taekwondo requires a lot of discipline and focus, and it also improves a mental strength.

taekwondo    K Tigers squad having a deserved dinner after a hard taekwondo training

taekwondosquad

k tigers                               They tried to show us some moves....

Although taekwondo originates from Korea, still the biggest popularity in the sports world is taken over by baseball. The nation’s support and dedication to baseball is fascinating and the biggest rivalry happens between the cities.

Also, another interesting sports fact is that South Korean women seem to be very good golf, and they have been  achieving extremely good results worldwide in last years. Statistically speaking, almost 40% of the major female championships have been won by South Koreans and of 25 currently top female golfers, 9 are coming from this amazing peninsular state. Interestingly, Slovenia House is built on the location of the golf course reception.

When it comes to Slovenia, the most popular individual sport is Alpine skiing. Although having its roots in northern regions of Europe, this sport gained high popularity in Slovenia, followed by very successful and recognizable skiing athletes. Even though not a martial art country, we definitely dare to say that Slovenia and its athletes are true fighters in the field of skiing, which has also been shown at the Games, here in Korea.

38602445400 4be47cefee k 1As a Slovenian, Mr.B is proud of its country and the great skiing results the athletes have achieved

38602489590 4d8468b879 kWe decided to test our skiing skills while in South Korea, and we had the professional help of Slovenian team  

39665304984 1a890ab535 kTalking about sports, our BB team member from Brazil got nostalgic after seeing a volleyball court, which reminded her of the sunny days on the beach 

After finding out some fascinating facts about the world of Korean sports, BIG BERRY can't wait to be a part of another Olympic story, but next time in the summer, when we will be able to support Slovenian taekwondo, baseball and golf athletes.

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