Everything you need to know to understand Tae Kwon Do in the 2020 Olympics

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Everything you need to know to understand Tae Kwon Do in the 2020 Olympics
With the summer Olympics coming this year, I wanted to talk about one of the lesser known sports, Tae Kwon Do. I don’t think a lot of people watch this sport or understand it, so I am going to explain it. Even if you did understand it at the last Olympics, you won’t this Olympics due to the rule change that they implemented. 

Points
In the last olympics if you hit the chestguard it would be 1 point and 3 points if you hit the head. Then spinning kicks (which is where you turn or spin before you kick) were 3 points for the body, and 4 points for the head. Now with the new rules when you hit the chestguard it is 2 points and 3 points for the head. With spinning kicks you get 4 points for the chestguard and 5 for the head. This increase in points will make people want to do spinning kicks more than regular kicks, making the sport more interesting


Penalties
One thing that is important to know and has changed with the new rules are penalties or gam jeom. You acquire these penalties when you grab, hold, or kick below the waist. If you get a gam jeom then your opponent gets one point (in the last Olympics you would have to get two gam jeom then you would lose a point). When a gam jeom happens the referee will pause the match and tell who got the gam jeom, then you would reset back in the middle of the ring.


Pushing
Something that was made legal in the new rules was pushing. This means that when you spar you are able to put your hands onto the opponents chestguard to push. This is great because it allows you to make enough space to kick. Usually when you are in the pushing position the opponent will also be pushing back, so if you make enough space you will be able to kick under their hands, and score. This is a great way to score points and do different combinations of kicks.

Strategies and different kicks

There are many different kinds of kicks, but I am going to introduce you to some of the basic and most used kicks. The first kick is a roundhouse kick. This is where you turn your body over and kick your opponent with the top of your foot. This is the kick that you will see the most.

The second kick is side kick and cut kick. These kicks are the same kick but different uses. For side kick you lift your bent leg up sideways and push out hitting your opponent with the bottom of your foot. Cut kick you do the same but bring your leg up straight. People will usually hope once or twice to move closer to the opponent before actually kicking. Cut kick will put your opponent in a bad place and set you up for any kick you want.


The third kick is a crescent kick. This kick is mostly used to hit the head. To do this kick you need to bring your leg up, and swing it around in a circle. This will hit your opponent in the head with the side of your foot. This is a really good kick to combo after using a roundhouse kick or other kicks, getting you more points.

The fourth and final kick is the back kick. To do this kick you need to turn your body, so your back is facing your opponent. Then pick your leg up bent and extend it straight back, hitting your opponent in the chestguard. This is a really good counter kick to use, and it gets you 4 points.

Now that you know everything you need to know about Tae Kwon Do, go have fun and watch the 2020 olympics with no questions. 

 Video of US open sparring.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 17, 2020 at 12:20 PM

    I really enjoyed reading about Tae Kwon Do and it's new scoring system. This definitely has allowed me to understand the scoring and some of the moves that these fighters use. You cover what these moves are used for in terms of points and enjoyed learning about a sport I hadn't known about before. I wonder if in the Olympics this year there will be many more spinning kick attempts as you suggested due to this new scoring system that benefits spinning kicks regardless of where they hit (assuming it isn't below the waist).

    ReplyDelete

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