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How taekwondo must changeby John Cullen - Taekwondo analyst (U13698625) 18 November 2008   In Beijing just three months ago, Britain’s Sarah Stevenson claimed an inspirational bronze medal, 17-year-old Aaron Cooke came within a kick of the final and Michael Harvey lost on sudden death to the eventual gold medallist. Commentator Nick Mullins and I came up with nine things we think would help make taekwondo the wonderful spectacle it deserves to be The scoring of matches at the Olympics was often atrocious, best evidenced in Stevenson’s controversy-packed win over double Olympic champ Chen Zhong.On the very same day, Angel Matos, a previous Olympic champ from Cuba, kicked the referee Shakir Cheblat in the face as a reaction to being disqualified. London 2012 deserves better than this. Olympic taekwondo is a sport of high action and drama, great skill and courage but to the casual observer it is beset with controversy and is at best confusing. It is too easy to blame poor refereeing but that is neither constructive nor true. If football, with its massive financial resources, can’t get offside adjudications, or goal-line technology right then its time to cut taekwondo referees some slack. However, it is the World Taekwondo Federation’s responsibility to make the game more transparent and easier for the watching public to grasp, and to be fair I think it is a process they are serious about getting right. While working on the BBC television coverage in Beijing, I discussed the issue a lot with Nick Mullins – a commentator with massive experience from rugby, football and tennis. We came up with nine things we think would help make taekwondo the wonderful spectacle it deserves to be, and suggested them to the world governing body. If head kicks are rewarded then could double and triple kicks be given a bonus point? Much of this has been discussed in some form by the WTF and a final proposal will be presented for approval at a meeting in Ankara, Turkey on 15 December.1. The draw – At last there is going to be seeding, which means the top fighters will compete against each other in the medal matches. It also means that the top players will have to compete more regularly in other competitions to secure ranking points. 2. Head kicks – They are so hard to execute properly that athletes hesitate to try them. More credit should be given for these shots and less impact should be required for them to score. 3. Coach requests – The interaction between coaches and referees has to be better. If athletes and coaches bow to each other, then coaches and referees should do the same to show mutual respect. Too often matches look like red v blue as the marketing of taekwondo players is limited Too often in matches the ref dismisses the coach with a wave of the hand or - as was seen often in Beijing - turns their back and completely ignores them. That is not the image taekwondo should be portraying.4. Video referee – Nick Mullins made a cracking point here, saying there should be a video ref as in rugby, with replays on the big screens. This generates real excitement, as seen in the recent British International Open in Manchester. Coaches could then get one video request per round for contentious head kicks. 5. Extra points for difficult techniques – If head kicks are rewarded then could double and triple kicks be given a bonus point? How about spinning kicks? 6. Electronic body armour – It is the future of the game but the current versions have been beset with teething problems. Can we not turn down the required power level for kicks so you get an expansive, exciting game? 7. Deduction clock – This was tried at the Presidents Cup in Korea in July, with great success. If there is no action in a 10-second period, the passive fighter is deducted half a point – a “kyungo”. 8. Refereeing readiness - Could non-Korean referees be employed in Korean league matches and selection events? If the referees aren’t deemed to be good enough to be considered for that level of competition, should they then be at the Olympic Games? 9. Marketing and promotion - Too often matches look like red v blue as the marketing of taekwondo players is limited. Once someone qualifies for the Olympics, more should be done to promote him or her, especially if there is an interesting story that could inspire others. The WTF and broadcasters like the BBC have roles to play here. All this is just opinion and it would be great to have a strong, open debate on how we can improve Olympic taekwondo as a viewing spectacle. In this current climate of change, taekwondo has a perfect opportunity to secure its status as an exciting and dynamic Olympic fixture. Latest 10 commentsRead members' comments or add your own
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PanzyPotter (U13714598) posted Nov 25, 2008 I agree with points 2, and 4. It seems like a head kick requires more skill, so would be harder to execute, so should be rewarded better?
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galinor (U13179790) posted Nov 25, 2008 I think that the problem for Taekwondo is one of image. Let's face it most people don't actually know much about the sport and probably just catch it at the Olympics or some other big competition. Boxers pound in huge repetitive fast punches and like it or not they look really tough. The Judo guys really throw you and they look the part. I know that Taekwondo is a great sport. But there is a lot of jumping about with the fighters arms just flopping about without any defensive posture. You almost never see a punch thrown.
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johntkd (U13707986) posted Nov 26, 2008 I take it the WTF's 8*8 ring will be that with a 1m boundry line? That would be a 10*10 then!?
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tsatkd (U13717866) posted Nov 27, 2008 The problem in my opinion is one of scoring. If more of the attacks scored, players would be more aggressive, leading to a more lively bout.
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rejt24 (U11106676) posted Nov 27, 2008 I believe the 12 point rule is going.
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nathtkd (U13711677) posted Nov 27, 2008 likewise under the current system I have seen points scored for kicks to the arm, back, leg and bum, Human judgement is just not reliable enough and this has been proved time and time again thus creating embarrassing situations under high public exposure e.g athens 2004, Madrid 2005, beijing 2008. The new electronic systems despite there slight technical imperfections are a vast improvement on the current state of affairs and anyone with half a bran can see this is without doubt the future of the sport !
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rejt24 (U11106676) posted Nov 28, 2008 In ABA boxin there is no electronic scoring and it seems to work fine. However there are still human errors. Electronic systems seem to be the way the game is going, however it will be intresting to see how it is implemented so that the game does not change to being more pusing type kicks. electronic systems can not distinguish between a legal kick or punch and a clash. I have seen kicks to the arms scored because the force of the kick pushed the arm against the body armour, when using the electronic system. It will also be intresting to see how electronic equipment is implemented into smaller tournaments. I think the main problem that was seen at the olympics was not so much 'points going up that should not have' but more 'points not going up tha should have. I would like to know how many of the points that were not awarded were down to only 2 judges seeing them rather than 3. With the current system if 2 judges score a head shot but at the same time 2 judges score a body shot (as i have seen done) even though all 4 judges agree a valid point was scored, no point will be given. As i have said previously the simple answer would be to change the scoring from 3 out of 4 judges to 2 out of 4 judges. In the even of 2 scoring a head shot and 2 scoring a body shot the superior technique of the head shot should over rule.
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LuckyPozzo (U13722071) posted Nov 30, 2008 The best way to make taekwondo more spectator-friendly would be to replace the WTF style with that practised by the ITF. I've been training according to the ITF format for six years now and I can say that it is a much more exciting sport than the WTF version. There is a full range of attacks, from various kicks to frequent hand techniques, and there are rarely the longeurs, that viewers will remember from the Olympics, during which the participants bounce around on the spot to no good effect for what seems like ages. It's skillful, fast-paced and merciless - exactly what a martial art should be!
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John Cullen - Taekwondo analyst (U13698625) posted Dec 1, 2008 The World Taekwondo Federation, who are in charge of the Olympic sports development, have responded to the BBC media review by putting the full article on their site at www.wtf.org.
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galinor (U13179790) posted Dec 13, 2008 Well luckypozzo ITF rules seem to be the answer. So why don't we chuck out the other stuff and just have this. Comment on this article
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