Taekwono (태권도; IPA: /tɛkwɒndoʊ/) is a Korean martial art. Taekwondo is the national sport of South Korea. It is also regarded as the world's most popular martial art in terms of number of practitioners, and sparring, or kyeorugi, is an official Olympic sporting event. In Korean, tae 태 跆 means "to trample with the foot"; kwon 권 拳 means "fist"; and do 도 道 means "way"; so taekwondo is loosely translated as "the way of the foot and fist".