Taekwondo, one of the most popular combat sports is a form of Korean Martial Arts. In this sport, two men or women score points by striking their opponent with a rapid combination of kicks and punches. The athlete with higher no. of points at the end of the timed bout is declared the winner unless one is knocked down for a count of ten. This sport came into existence in the late 1940s in South Korea. It is an official medal sport for Olympics. The global governing bodies for taekwondo are World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF).
To score maximum points by kicking and punching the opponent or by knocking him/her down.
The root of taekwondo goes back to Korea's Three-Kingdom period (c.50 BC) when Silla Dynasty warriors, the Hwarang, started to build up a new form of martial arts - Taekkyon ("foot-hand").
Amid the mid-twentieth century, taekwondo turned into the overwhelming type of combative techniques rehearsed in Korea. Accordingly, taekwondo was assigned as the Korean national martial arts to be advanced and promoted globally. In 1973, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) was established as the legit worldwide governing body of the game, and the first World Championships were held in Seoul, Korea that year.
In 1975 the AAU (U.S. amateur Athletes Union) acknowledged Taekwondo as an official game. Taekwondo was likewise admitted to the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) and the International Council of Military Sports (CISM) in 1976. In 1980 the WTF turned into an International Olympic Committee (IOC) perceived sport organisation, making Taekwondo an exhibit sport for the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games.
Taekwondo is one of the two Asian hand to hand fighting styles included on the Olympic program. Taekwondo made its presentation as an exhibit Olympic game at the 1988 Seoul Games and turned into an official medal sport at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Men’s & Women's Event
| Men's Division |
Women's Division |
| -54 kg |
-46 kg |
| -58 kg |
-49 kg |
| -63 kg |
-53 kg |
| -68 kg |
-57 kg |
| -74 kg |
-62 kg |
| -80 kg |
-67 kg |
| -87 kg |
-73 kg |
| 87kg+ |
73 kg+
|
Hogu
It is a chest protector worn by athletes during sparring.
Tti(belt)
A colored belt tied around the waist is worn which indicates the rank of the wearer.
Dobok
Dobok refers to the traditional taekwondo uniform used in all official matches and regular practices. "Do" means way and "bok" means clothing which forms "clothing of the way".
Stance
Taekwondo practitioners use different stances for balance and precision. Basically, the leg position of the athlete defines his/her stance. The main stances are Attention stance, closed stance, front stance, back stance, ready stance, rear foot stance and sitting stance.
Hand Attacks
Hand attacks are executed in different ways. These are used by athletes as a close distance alternative to kicks. There are two main types of hand strikes- Open hand and Close hand in which various surfaces of the hand are used to strike the target position of the opponent’s body.
Kicks
Most of the blows in Taekwondo are performed using feet and can be executed in a variety of ways like jump kicks, spin kicks, jump spin kicks and multi-rotational kicks. The most common kicks performed in Taekwondo are Front kick, round kick, side kick, back kick, reverse side kick, spin kicks, jump kicks, hook kick, axe kick, tornado kick and many more.
Blocks
Blocking is used to deflect the opponent’s attacks. Various types of blocks are used to deflect particular type of kicks and punches. Some of the blocks used in Taekwondo are Single forearm block, double forearm block, low block, upper block, palm block, rising block, knife hand block, double knife hand block and Nine block.
Taekwondo have two types of playing area which is basically a flat, non-slip mat having following dimensions-
1. First one is a square surface having the side length of 12 m with 8m contest area and 4m safety/alert area which is differently colored than the contest area.
2. The second one is a 10-12 m square surface consisting of an octagonal contest area having 8 m diameter with the side length of 3.3m. The remaining portion is the safety area.
Referee
He/she is the controller of the match who starts and ends the match, supervises the athletes and indicates their fouls.
Judges
Usually three judges score the fighters’ performances and may also deduct points for penalties.
Head Of Court
The overall controller of the competition area who confirms the match decision.
Recorder
Responsible for recording the judges’ decisions and also times the matches.
