Para Taekwondo

Introduction

Para taekwondo is a variation of the sports Taekwondo which is a Korean martial art that is practiced in more than 200 countries all around the world. The sport has been introduced for the athletes with disability. The term Para- taekwondo refers to special type of sport that incorporates rules for conducting fair competitions among the athletes with impairments. The International Taekwondo Federation is the official governing body that organizes the world level competitions of Para-Taekwondo and similarly looks after all the rules and regulation of the same as per the said norms and the sport is going to be inducted in Paralympics from 2020.

Objective

To score more points than the opponent.

History of Para Taekwondo

 The WT established the Para-Taekwondo Committee in 2006 to help advance and promote taekwondo for competitors with physical disabilities. At first, Para-Taekwondo focused on creating 'kyorugi' (competing) for arm amputee and other limb inefficient competitors.

The first initial Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2009. Following the ineffective consideration on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games program a meetup group was assembled. The group met to discuss Para-Taekwondo in 2013 amid the WT World Para-Taekwondo Championship, and the Para-Taekwondo Committee welcomed visitors from Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) and International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS).

Following the group's suggestions, it was chosen to grow and expand Para-Taekwondo and to make overall rivalries accessible to all competitors despite their disabilities. Poomsae was picked to be incorporated into competitions for competitors with Neurological Impairments, Intellectual Impairments (II) or Visually Impaired (VI).

Para-Taekwondo Poomsae rivalries were initially held for Intellectually Impaired (II) competitors at the fifth WT World Para-Taekwondo Championships in Moscow. Para-Taekwondo Poomsae was likewise included as an exhibition sport amid the 2015 INAS Global Games and the 2015 CPISRA World Games.

The WT turned into an IPC perceived International Federation in October 2013.

Events

Kyurogi

Free sparring is also known as Kyurogi by the World Taekwondo Federation. It is called “free” so as to differentiate it from Step Sparring in which the blocks and attacks are arranged beforehand, or Semi-Free Sparring in which sparring is paused after a point is scored everytime.

Poomsae

The terms Poomsae, teul and hyeong are all referred to the Taekwondo forms or patterns.

Participants

Two participants of the same gender compete against each other.

Equipment

Para-Taekwondo - Clothing

Para taekwondo athletes wear the same uniforms and protective gears as the able-bodied ones do.

Playing Area

The playing area is a floor mat of 12 meters from all the sides with an inner square of 8 meters from all sides. The space between the inner and the outer square is of 2 meters.

Two parallel lines each measuring 1 meter in length is positioned at a distance of 1.5 meters from the center area. The contestants are positioned on these lines whereas the referee is positioned at a distance of 1.5 meters from the center. A warning line is drawn at a distance of 1 meter from the inside edges an all sides of the mat.

Officials

In Poosae Competitions

For Poomsae competition there are usually three judges and a referee. The referee is the only one who interacts with the athletes whereas the judges sit in a line along one edge of the ring, near the score-keeping table.

Referee

Following are the duties of the referee:-

• Bring the athletes out onto the ring
• Place the athlete onto their respective starting spot
• Have them bow the judges
• Start the performace
• End it
• Let the athletes leave the ring.

In Kyurogi Competitions

The referee has following duties to perform in the Kyurogi competition:-

• He raises both the hand from beneath the elbow out to the side and says “attention”.
• Bends both the elbows inwards and says “bow” or will have both the opponents shake hands.
• He then steps his left foot forward along with passing his right hand from beside his ear coming in between both the players and says “ready”.
• He then slides his left foot back while bringing both the arms out to the side and then says “ready”.