During the Japanese occupation of Korea the practice of traditional Korean martial arts was prohibited. Beginning in 1946, shortly after the end of the occupation, new martial arts schools called kwans were opened in Seoul. These schools were established by Korean martial artists who had studied primarily in Okinawa, Japan, and China during the Japanese occupation. Accordingly, the martial arts practiced in the kwans were incorporated from taekkyeon and gwonbeop, which are traditional martial arts of Korea.