NEWS
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and Olympic sport that was developed in post World War 2 Korea by various martial artists but is usually attributed to military general and martial artist Choi Hong Hi. Taekwondo is based on the native Korean martial arts of Taekkyeon, Subak and Gwonbeop but also has significant elements of other martial arts such as Japanese Karate and to a lesser extent Chinese Kung Fu.
As a martial art, it is known as a style that focuses particularly on kicking, and experienced practitioners can be seen performing various spectacular head height and jumping kicks. There are various Taekwondo administration bodies but the main two are the but it is the latter that is the best known as it the WTF form of Taekwondo that has been a major part of the Olympic Games since 1988.
In Taekwondo competition, the object is to land kicks and punches upon the scoring zones of your opponent. These are the the torso and the head and both kicks and punches must be accurate and powerful, as light tapping kicks are not counted by scorers (or electronic scoring systems in major competitions). At the end of the three rounds of the match, the player with the most points is declared the winner, but the match can end early by one player knocking the other player out.
All Taekwondo practitioners, whether competitors or not are at all times expected to uphold the five tenets of Taekwondo. These are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.
In Taekwondo competition, fighters compete against other fighters of the same sex. They are also placed into weight categories to ensure that fights are as evenly matched as possible. In junior competitions, there may also be age categories too.
The white taekwondo uniform that competitors wear is often called a gi, but technically that is the Japanese name for a martial arts uniform and the proper Korean term is a dobok. A coloured belt is tied round the middle of the dobok and the colour signifies the grade of the practitioner. The belt system goes from white for beginners through to yellow, green, blue, red and then black for more experienced practitioners. Black belts then receive their ‘dan’ grades as they progress further in their experience and expertise. In a Taekwondo match, each competitor wears several pieces of protective equipment and these are:
Scoring in a Taekwondo match is simple. A player gets:
In major competitions, electronic scoring systems are used that are placed within each player’s chest protector and are adjusted to take into account of the weight category of the fight. For head kicks (and fights where electronic scoring is not used), a panel of 4 judges push a button when they see a scoring point. When at least 3 judges agree, then a point is awarded.
Once a Taekwondo match is over (at the end of the 3 x 2 minute rounds), the winner is the fighter that has the most points. If both fighters have the same amount of points, then an extra round is fought called the golden point round. In this round, the first fighter to score a point is declared the winner. Taekwondo matches can be won earlier if one fighter knocks the other out or if one fighter is disqualified for a rule breach.
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