Taekwondo is a sport that is widespread all over the world, where the best athletes are determined in national and international tournaments. In the following, we present you which competitions are important and have selected suitable visual material for each of them.
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Internationally, in addition to the Olympic Games, there are other competitions where, unsurprisingly, South Korea in particular is the
Olympia
Already since the year 2000, the Taekwondo competition with full contact – in contrast to its original sport Karate – is represented every 4 years at the Summer Olympics.
- The WTF had to exclude the dangerous techniques and thus slightly change the technique spectrum of Taekwondo, but since then it enjoys a growing popularity.
- Fights are held in 4 weight classes in both sexes.
- Germany is still waiting for gold after the first bronze and silver medals. The leader of the table is, unsurprisingly, the home country South Korea.
- In the video you can see a compilation of the best scenes of the 2012 Olympics.
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World Championships
The Taekwondo World Champions are determined separately by the WTF and the ITF, which is probably due to the different approaches of the two associations. Furthermore, the forms are called Poomse by the WTF and Hyeong by the ITF.
The WTF has been holding full contact championships every two years since 1973 and since 2006 also in form running. The full contact athletes fight in 8 weight classes for the title of Taekwondo World Champion. Here, too, South Korea leads the table with a gap of over 100 gold medals. However, Germany has already claimed five gold medals and is currently among the top 10.
The ITF holds a championship every year, with the ITF World Cups taking place in the even years and the ITF World Championships in the odd years. The big difference between these two is that only black belts are allowed to participate in the World Championships, whereas red and blue belt levels are also allowed to participate in the World Cups. In Germany, only a few federations represent the ITF in contrast to the number of federations affiliated with the WTF.
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European Championships
The European Championships have also been held every two years since 1976 and are organized by the European Taekwondo Union (ETU).
- The weight classes and rules are based on those of the WTF and eternal leader is Spain.
- Germany is among the best 3 countries and is also the leader among the hosts with 3 hosted championships.
- In the video you can see the final fight of the men up to 54kg from the year 2016.
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National Taekwondo Competition
The German Taekwondo Championships of the different age groups take place annually and are also held as individual and team competitions. These are organized by the DTU.
A Taekwondo Bundesliga was started in the 2003/2004 season based on the Olympic model in order to bring the sport and the competition closer to a large group of interested people. The attempt failed and due to a lack of registrations there has been no Taekwondo Bundesliga since the 2005/2006 season.
- There are many more tournaments at the state and national level, which are usually hosted by the relevant state association.
- Examples are the tournaments “Berlin Open” or “NRW Masters”. The regional associations have current information and schedules available here.
- In the video you can see the German Taekwondo Championship in Eggenfelden from 2014.
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The competition classes
As is common in all martial arts, there is also a division by gender in Taekwondo weight classes and age classes. The exact definition of the classes, however, varies from association to association. In the Olympic Games, for example, only 4 weight classes are formed, but in the WTF 8 classes.
The WTF age classes are as follows:
| Youth D | 7 to 8 years |
| Youth C | 9 to 11 years |
| Youth B | 12 to 14 years |
| Youth A | 15 to 17 years |
| Juniors | 16 to 20 years |
| Seniors | from 17 years |
The most important competition rules
The first rule is to follow the orders of the referee. He gives the signals for bowing, getting ready, starting, stopping and ending the fight.
- Interruptions of the fight can only be initiated by the referee. Leaving the competition area during the fight is of course forbidden and will be warned.
- Points are awarded for techniques to the head or chest. One point is awarded for techniques to the chest, 3 points for spinning kicks to the chest or a straight kick to the head and 4 points for a spinning kick to the head. The winner is the one who has more points after 3 rounds or who develops a difference of 12 points to the opponent.
- The referee may issue warnings for minor infractions and penalty points. Two warnings also result in one penalty point. The penalty point will be counted as a point for the opponent. If a Taekwondoin receives 5 penalty points or deliberately fails to follow the referee’s instructions, he will be disqualified.
- Any kind of unsportsmanlike conduct, from insults to illegal techniques, will be penalized by the referee with penalty points or, if the violation is serious enough, the contestant will be immediately disqualified from the tournament.
So you see: Fairness and discipline are very important in Taekwondo.