Taekwondo

Speed, strength, survival are the key elements that defines the adventure filled sport of taekwondo. As the word means in English 'the way of foot and fist', this sport is a Korean martial art. One may summarize the sport to be compact with powerful kicks and punches. Taekwondo is a sport that stages tension, drama with lots and lots of action. Considered to be the national sport of South Korea, it made its first debut in Olympics in 1988 in Seoul. The opening ceremony in 1988 featured unique demonstration of the sport and continued in 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain as well. A sport that displays self-defense, exercise, and philosophy has been the world's most popular martial art since ancient history. The technique of the sport offers a secure life and offers self-defense from the enemy that is the basic outline of this art. Taekwondo developed its modern form towards the middle of the 20th century and was considered to be the natural continuation of the traditional taekwondo in its evolved state. To know more, scroll further!

Taekwondo Rules And Regulations

Objective Of The Game
The main objective of this sport is to kick and punch your opponent on the scoring areas. You are awarded a point for the right punch or a valid kick on the torso and two points for a spinning kick. The player is awarded up to four points for a legal turning kick on the head.

Court Of Action
The court where taekwondo is being held has to be 8m x 8m zone. The contest comprises of three rounds of two minutes each. The players have to be in their court with the standard white uniforms termed as 'dobok' and wear colorful protective equipment as well. The one wearing red equipment will be referred to as 'hong', while the competitor in blue is called 'chung'.

Single Elimination Tournament
Four weight categories are held for men and women in a knockout format. For each of the weight categories, only a single elimination tournament is held and the losers enter the repechage competition to compete for the bronze medal. The winner of the final tournament wins the gold medal and the runner up gets silver. The two finalists of the repechage challenge gets bronze medal.

Taekwondo Ranks
These ranks typically belong to two categories: junior and senior. For juniors, the ranks are determined by the color of the belt and there are nine ranks given to the senior players. It may also be referred to as 'black belts, dan or degrees'. One can find degree indicated in the belt itself with stripes or roman numerals.

Taekwondo History
Taekwondo, the oldest Korean martial art, is a consolidation of unarmed combat styles, those of which were developed by Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje, the three rival Korean Kingdoms. It was because of the effort of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in the year 1974 that the quest for introducing Taekwondo in Olympics became successful. As a result, in the year 1975, Taekwondo steered through as an affiliate of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). This association is known to promote various international sports federations and also works hand in hand with the Olympics movement. Later in the year 1982, Taekwondo acquired worldwide recognition. It was chosen for the official demonstration sport to be played for the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul, Korea and also the one hosted in 1992, Barcelona, Spain and 2000 in Sydney. Though Taekwondo was introduced in the 1988 Olympic Games, Seoul, it hadn't been officially added to the Olympic program until the Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000.