‘Dan’ & ‘Poom’

It is a widely-accepted theory that originally, the term Dan was first used in Taekwondo by borrowing the word used in the society overall as ‘a unit of class used to divide the difference in technique or technology.’ It is the same principle as using 1 Dan, and 2 Dan to classify the skills in the board game Go. In Taekwondo, Geup, Poom, and Dan are concepts used to divide the amount and level of training, and have the authority of Taekwondo skills befitting their corresponding class as well.
That is to say, Taekwondo is a classification of the skills of the martial arts practitioners, from low to high, to symbolically designate honor and authority.