In some schools, permission to begin sparring is granted upon entry. The rationale for this decision is that students must learn how to deal with a fast, powerful, and determined attacker. In other schools, students may be required to wait a few months, for safety reasons, because they must first build the skills they would ideally employ in their sparring practice. View Taekwondo Sparring »
2013 World Taekwondo (WT) Championships Final | Male -74kg
As a general rule of thumb world championships will be open to elite competitors from across the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport
2013 World Taekwondo (WT) Championships Final | Male -74kg
Taekwondo made its first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The opening ceremony featured a mass demonstration of taekwondo with hundreds of adults and children performing moves in unison. Taekwondo was again a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. For more information View Taekwondo Olympic Demonstration Sport »
World Taekwondo (WT) Tournament Sparring ( 겨루기 gyeorugi )
Under World Taekwondo (WT) and Olympic rules, sparring is a full-contact event and takes place between two competitors in an area measuring 8 meters square. A win can occur by points, or if one competitor is unable to continue (knockout) the other competitor wins. Each match consists of three semi-continuous rounds of contact, with one minute's rest between rounds. For more information View World Taekwondo (WT) Tournament Sparring ( 겨루기 gyeorugi ) »
Risk of injury can be reduced by completing an effective warm up consisting of a heart raiser to get your pulse up, followed by sport specific dynamic stretches (stretches whilst moving). Please follow the guidance of a certified Master Instructor or trainer when doing sports related activities. Depending on the intensity of the exercise, cooling down can involve a slow jog or walk, or with lower intensities, stretching can be used. Cooling down allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate. View more information on Warming Up and Cooling Down ».
