"Spreading Hope & Dreams to the Youth of the World"
Dear global taekwondo family members, I would like to extend my warmest greetings for the New Year of 2012. The anticipation has been mounting and another exciting Olympic year is upon us. Yet these Olympics have a new and even more exciting element that highlights the World Taekwondo Federation’s theme for 2012, “Spreading Hope and Dreams to the Youth of the World.” August of 2010 marked the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. Since this incredible event, we have watched as the youth of the world have begun to blossom through their hopes and Olympic dreams. Already champions of the first-ever Youth Olympic Games will be competing in London as Olympians this year. However, these hope and dreams are the right of every youth around the world. At the WTF Council meeting in Vladivostok, Russia in July 2011, and ensuing
e-voting of the General Assembly, the WTF approved motions to establish WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps and WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team. These decisions will help facilitate Peace Corps activities to focus on youth taekwondo programs particularly those in the greatest need such as orphanages and youth in displaced populations. They will additionally further help promote and develop the sport of taekwondo to help bring kids off the street and into a disciplined and goaloriented way of life. In 2011, the 3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp, jointly organized by the WTF and the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, drew a total of 254 athletes and officials from 27 nations around the world. We are confident that the camp will draw a greater number of nations and athletes this year. I hope that each of our members will do their utmost to provide this opportunity for their young athletes to come and train with Olympic medalists, experience cultural exchanges, and learn of the principles and values of the Olympic spirit. Aside from the 2012 London Olympic Games in August, the year will also celebrate
the 9th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt. It will also mark the 2012 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships in Santa Cruz, Aruba. This World Cup will be the first time to be held under the new format of the 5 on 5 team format, which has yet to be finalized. This exciting new format would bring a new dynamic element to our sport and the WTF is very excited for a continuation of the evolution of our sport. These Olympic Games in London are a very important event for the WTF. The countries that win medals or the number of medals won by any particular country will not determine the success of these Olympics. The only factor that is important for success of the London Games is a fair and transparent competition, upholding the principles of Olympism. This will help ensure taekwondo’s position as an Olympic sport and uphold the excellence of our sport to the world, especially the youth. The Olympic Games bring a spirit of sportsmanship, triumph, and glory to all that have ever seen or witness their greatness. But this can only be achieved by the hope
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that is instilled within us that it is possible to achieve this, and it starts in the heart of the youth. This year, we begin a greater effort of spreading these hope and dreams to them. Even as each human being has the right to have these in their lives, surely it is our young ones that most urgently need them today. The youth of today are the champions of tomorrow! I would like to wish everyone an incredible year in 2012. I am looking forward to great things within our family this year. And may our deeds not only bring hope and dreams to others, but bring them alive within us, as well!
Chungwon Choue President World Taekwondo Federation
The WTF has a global membership of 200 and strives to reach out to more countries.
Member Nations
Europe (49) 1.Albania 2.Andorra 3.Armenia 4.Austria 5.Azerbaijan 6.Belarus 7.Belgium 8.Bosnia & Herzegovina 9.Bulgaria 10.Croatia 11.Cyprus 12.Czech Republic 13.Denmark 14.Estonia 15.Finland 16.France 17.Georgia 18.Germany 19.Great Britain 20.Greece 21.Hungary 22.Iceland 23.Ireland 24.Isle of Man 25.Israel 26.Italy 27.Latvia 28.Lithuania 29.Luxembourg 30.Macedonia 31.Malta 32.Moldova 33.Monaco 34.Montenegro 35.The Netherlands 36.Norway 37.Poland 38.Portugal 39.Romania 40.Russia 41.San Marino 42.Serbia 43.Slovak Republic 44.Slovenia 45.Spain 46.Sweden 47.Switzerland 48.Turkey 49.Ukraine Asia (43) 50.Afghanistan 51.Bahrain 52.Bangladesh 53.Bhutan 54.Brunei 55.Cambodia 56.China 57.Chinese Taipei 58.Hong Kong 59.India 60.Indonesia 61.Iran 62.Iraq 63.Japan 64.Jordan 65.Kazakhstan 66.Korea 67.Kuwait 68.Kyrgyzstan 69.Laos 70.Lebanon 71.Macao 72.Malaysia 73.Mongolia 74.Myanmar 75.Nepal 76.Oman 77.Pakistan 78.Palestine 79.Philippines 80.Qatar 81.Saudi Arabia 82.Singapore 83.Sri Lanka 84.Syria 85.Tajikistan 86.Thailand 87.Timor-Leste 88.Turkmenistan 89.United Arab Emirates 90.Uzbekistan 91.Vietnam 92.Yemen Africa (45) 93.Algeria 94.Angola 95.Benin 96.Burkina Faso 97.Burundi 98.Cameroon 99.Cape Verde 100.Central African Republic 101.Comoros 102.Cote d’Ivoire 103.Congo 104.D.R. of the Congo 105.Egypt 106.Equatorial Guinea 107.Ethiopia 108.Gabon 109.Gambia 110.Ghana 111.Guinea 112.Kenya 113.Lesotho 114.Liberia 115.Libya 116.Madagascar 117.Malawi 118.Mali 119.Mauritius 120.Morocco 121.Mozambique 122.Niger 123.Nigeria 124.Rwanda 125.Sao Tome & Principe 126.Senegal 127.Somalia 128.South Africa 129.Sudan 130.Swaziland 131.Chad 132.Tanzania 133.Togo 134.Tunisia 135.Uganda 136.Zimbabwe 137.Zambia
Pan America (44) 138.Antigua & Barbuda 139.Argentina 140.Aruba 141.Bahamas 142.Barbados 143.Belize 144.Bermuda 145.Bolivia 146.Brazil 147.British Virgin Islands 148.Canada 149.Cayman Islands 150.Chile 151.Colombia 152.Costa Rica 153.Dominican Republic 154.Cuba 155.Dominica 156.Ecuador 157.El Salvador 158.Grenada 159.Guadeloupe 160.Guatemala 161.Guyana 162.Haiti 163.Honduras 164.Jamaica 165.Martinique 166.Mexico 167.Netherlands Antilles 168.Nicaragua 169.Panama 170.Paraguay 171.Peru 172.Puerto Rico 173.St. Lucia 174.St. Kitts & Nevis 175.Surinam 176.St. Vincent & the Grenadines 177.Trinidad and Tobago 178.Uruguay 179.U.S.A. 180.Virgin Islands 181.Venezuela Oceania (19) 182.American Samoa 183.Australia 184.Cook Islands 185.Fiji 186.French Polynesia 187.Guam 188.Kiribati 189.Marshall Islands 190.Micronesia 191.Tuvalu 192.New Caledonia 193.New Zealand 194.Palau 195.Papua New Guinea 196.Samoa 197.Solomon Islands 198.Tonga 199.Tuvalu 200.Vanuatu
WTF TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS WORLD FRIENDS
CONTENTS OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION 2012, lssue No. 99 / ISSN 1599-3779
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WTF-KHU PARTNERSHIP TAEKWONDO TRAINING PROGRAM
PART 01 COMPETITIONS 014 016 018 024 032 034 044 049 050 058 062 066
London Olympic Overview WTF Taekwondo Qualifications Results Major Rule Changes, Olympic Firsts Athletes to Watch World Qualification Tournament Continental Qualification Tournaments WTF World Ranking 2012 WTF Events Calendar 2011 World Taekwondo Championships 6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships New WTF Poomsae Competition Rules 2011 European Masters Games
PART 02 REFEREEING & JUDGMENT 070 072 074 076 078 082
London Olympic Referee Training Camp One Road to London 2012 WTF S-Class IR (Kyorugi) 2012 IR Education Schedule WTF Best Referee Award Recipients IR Interview
024 ATHLETES TO WATCH
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WTF TAEKWONDO DEMONSTRATION TEAM
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1ST WTF INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S ART CONTEST
OLYMPIC FIRSTS
PART 03 YOUTH 092 100 104 112
3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp WTF-KHU Partnership Taekwondo Training Program WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team
PART 04 PICTORIAL 118 124 128
1st WTF International Children’s Art Contest World & Continental Qualification Tournaments 6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
PART 05 INTERNATIONAL 132 136 138 140 142 143 144 148 150 152 154
WTF Holds Athlete Outreach Program Appointment of New WTF Secretary General Taekwondo in Thailand Taekwondo in Mexico WTF Taekwondo Web TV WTF Calls for Support for Japan Devastation Reflections on 2nd World Para-Taekwondo Taekwondowon WTF Global Membership New WTF Council Member Interview Continental Taekwondo Union Activities
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London Olympic Overview
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WTF Taekwondo Qualifications Results
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Major Rule Changes
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Olympic Firsts
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Athletes to Watch
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World Qualification Tournament
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Continental Qualification Tournaments
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WTF World Ranking
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WTF Events Calendar
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2011 World Taekwondo Championships
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6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
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New WTF Poomsae Competition Rules
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Free-Style Poomsae to Make Debut
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The Birth of JCalicu
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Poomsae Competition Uniform Manual
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2011 European Masters Games
S N O I T I T E P CO P
2012
ExCeL LONDON: 2012 London Olympic Taekwondo Venue
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63 COUNTRIES TO SEND ATHLETES TO TAEKWONDO AT LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES The taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, which will take place on Aug. 8-11, 2012, will feature 128 aspiring Olympic champions from 63 countries. A total of 32 medals are up for grabs. Through the WTF’s one world and five continental qualification tournaments, which took place between late June 2011 and mid-February 2012, a total of 58 countries were qualified for the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games. Four invitational Olympic taekwondo tickets, better known as ‘wild cards,’ were determined on April 14 after months of Tripartite Commission meetings among the IOC, the WTF and the ANOC. Cambodia, Panama, Mali and Yemen were granted one wild card each. It compares with 64 countries at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 60 at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 51 at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Ten countries were qualified to send their athletes to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games for the first time. They are Lebanon, Tajikistan, Grenada, Jamaica, Armenia, Serbia, Samoa, Algeria, Cambodia and Panama. Six countries won four berths for the taekwondo competition at the London Olympic Games. They are Mexico, the United States, Russia, Egypt, Korea, and the Great Britain. A country can send a maximum four taekwondo athletes to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games. A total of 14 countries took three tickets each for the London Olympic Games. They are China, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Jordan, Thailand, Uzbekistan (Asia), Canada, Cuba (Pan America), Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey (Europe), New Zealand (Oceania), and Morocco (Africa).
The sheer number demonstrates well that the level of taekwondo has risen among the WTF’s 201 member nations.
Nineteen countries clinched two berths each for London. They are Afghanistan, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Vietnam (Asia), Argentina, Brazil (Pan America), Azerbaijan, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine (Europe), Australia, Samoa (Oceania), the Central African Republic and Nigeria (Africa).
Among the wild-card recipients are Cambodia’s Davin Sorn, ranked 51st in the women’s +67kg on the WTF Olympic World Ranking and the fourth placer at the Asian Qualification Tournament for the London Olympic Games; Mali’s Daba Modibo Keita, ranked 42nd in the men’s +80kg and third placer at the African Olympic Qualification Tournament. Mali’s Keita was the world champion in 2007 and 2009.
After the qualification tournaments, 20 countries grabbed one ticket each for the London Olympic Games. They are Lebanon (Asia), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Jamaica, Peru (Pan America), Armenia, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland (Europe), Papua New Guinea (Oceania), Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Senegal and Tunisia (Africa).
The other two wild-card holders are Panama’s Carolena Jean Carstens Salceda, ranked 13th in the women’s -49kg and fourth finisher at the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament; and Yemen’s Tameem Al-Kubati, ranked 167th in the men’s -58kg and a round-of-16 placer at the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where taekwondo made an Olympic debut, 103 athletes from 51 countries competed for 24 medals up for grabs, compared with 124 athletes from 60 countries for 24 medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and 128 athletes from a record 64 countries for 32 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
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2012
MALE
FEMALE
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg -49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg
t
Afghanistan
t t
Cambodia*
t
China Chinese Taipei
t t
Iran
Kazakhstan Korea
t t t
t t t
t t t
t
Tajikistan*
Europe
Nation
t
t
t t
Uzbekistan Yemen
t
t t
MALE
FEMALE
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg -49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg
t t
Azerbaijan
t t
Croatia Finland France
t
Great Britain
t
Greece
t t
Italy Netherlands
t
t
16
WTF
t t
t
Slovenia
Ukraine
t t
t t
t
Serbia*
Turkey
t
t
t
Poland
Sweden
t t t
t
Germany
Spain
t
t t
Armenia*
Russia
t t t
t
Lebanon*
Vietnam
t
t
Kyrgyzstan
Thailand
t t
t
Japan Jordan
t t
t t
t t t
t
t t t
t t
t t t
2 1 3 3 3 2 3 3 4 1 1 2 3 3 2 1
FEMALE
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg -49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg
t t t
Egypt
Gabon Mali Morocco Nigeria Senegal Tunisia Nation
t t
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t t
t t t t
t
t
t t t
MALE
FEMALE
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg -49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg
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Argentina
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Brazil
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Canada
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Chile Colombia Costa Rica
t t t
Cuba Dominican Republic
t t t
Guatemala
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Jamaica* Mexico
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Panama*
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Peru U.S.A.
Nation Australia New Zealand
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Total
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MALE
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FEMALE
-58kg -68kg -80kg +80kg -49kg -57kg -67kg +67kg
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t t
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Papua New Guinea Samoa*
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Grenada*
Total 1 2 2 1 2 2 4 1 2 1 1 4 3 3 3 2 3 2
Algeria*
MALE
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OLYMPIC PARTICIPATING NATIONS
Cote d'Ivoire
Total
Pan America
Nation
Nation Central African Rep
Oceania
Asia
LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES / QUALIFIED NOCS (JAN. 29, 2012)
Africa
WTF TAEKWONDO QUALIFICATIONS – RESULTS
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Total 1 2 1 4 1 1 3 2 1 1
2000 Sydney
2008 Beijing
Total 2 2 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 4 Total 2 3 1 2
2012 London 2000 Asia Sydney 13
Africa
8
Europe 18
Pan Am 12
Total 51
2004 Asia Athens 18
Africa
9
Europe 19
Pan Am 14
Total 60
2008 Asia Beijing 17
Africa 13
Europe 15
Pan Am 15
Oceania 4
Total 64
2012 Asia London 16
Africa 10
Europe 18
PanAm 15
Oceania 4
Total 63
2012 LONDON OLYMPIC TAEKWONDO COMPETITION SCHEDULE August 8 August 9
16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 128
Qualified via World Qualification Tournament Qualified via Continental Qualification Tournament Host NOC Wild Cards * New Entry in Olympic Taekwondo (10 NOCs)
2004 Athens
August 10 August 11
Female -49kg
Gold
silver
Bronze
Male -58kg Female -57kg Male -68kg Female -67kg Male -80kg Female +67kg Male +80kg
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MAJOR RULE CHANGES SINCE 2008 BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES - How Taekwondo Competitions Have Evolved Since Beijing -
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Olympic Firsts : Instant Video Replay & PSS WTF to Adopt Instant Video Reply, Protector & Scoring System for 1st Time in Olympic Games to Ensure Fair Competition at London Olympics
OVERVIEW Since its debut in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games as a demonstration sport and the fist participation in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games as an official sport, taekwondo competition has continuously evolved as a fair, exciting and media-friendly sport while keeping its nature and ensuring the safety of athletes, thus meeting the demands and expectations as an Olympic sport. The sport of taekwondo was staged in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with the participation of 128 athletes from 64 countries. Taekwondo competition was considered to have greatly evolved since its previous apperance in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games due to the overall impression that the competition went off much more smoothly. WTF efforts to improve taekwondo competitions have continued in various ways after the Beijing Olympic Games.
With concerted efforts by the Technical Committee and technical experts from member national associations, significant changes have been brought to the sport of taekwondo with the introduction of advanced technology and rule changes. Among the revised rules are the introduction of an instant video replay system and the protector and scoring system (PSS), which will be used at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the first time ever in the Olympic Games. Refereeing officials and coaches around the world have been educated in the rule changes either on the occasions of regular refresher courses or during technical meetings. The following description of the changes is divided into four different perspectives: fairness, excitement, media-friendly and more diversity.
FOR FAIRER COMPETITION t Introduction of Instant Video Replay System (February 2009)
A series of intensive technical meetings took place right after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to start improving the sport of taekwondo. One of the most significant outcomes was the decision on the introduction of an instant video replay (IVR) system. The IVR system was introduced to ensure the correction of any possible referee/ judging errors at the request of a coach. Coaches are given certain number of an appeal quota(s) during the matches to use for any issues related to scoring and/ or penalties. This IVR system has been continuously reviewed for better decisions and finally, in October 2010, it completely replaced the protest procedures that were previously made after the conclusion of the match. The review jury, selected from the most highly experienced international referees, evaluates the review request and makes the final decision. In the 2012 London Olympic Games, coaches will have one (1) appeal quota per one athlete throughout the competition. In medal contests, however, coaches will have one more appeal quota, which will be decided at the WTF General Assembly in April in Egypt on the occasion of the 2012 World Junior Taekwondo Championships.
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t Introduction of Protector and Scoring System (February 2010)
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t Enhanced Center Referee’s Ability to Confirm Scoring Results During Contest (February 2009)
The use of a protector and scoring system (PSS) can be considered as the most significant step taken by the WTF for fairer competition.
Then, the PSS was used at the 2009 WTF World Taekwondo Championships held in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2009.
After the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the WTF diligently worked on the development of relevant competition protocols and tests in order to begin using the PSS in the WTF’s competitions.
The rules for the use of the PSS already existed in the past, but related rules were subsequently revised specifically for the use of the PSS in February 2010 to ensure consistency in applying rules in taekwondo competitions when using the PSS.
In June 2009, the WTF used the PSS at the 2009 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan for the first time in its history.
The use of the PSS at the 2012 London Olympic Games was decided in May 2010 and the system has been successfully integrated with the Swiss Timing scoring system.
As part of efforts to correct any mistakes and/or errors of judges, another new rule was adopted for the center referee to call a brief meeting with judges during the match if any of the judges raises a hand to question the scoring result.
Judges may also raise their hands to correct the points when he or she finds that scoring was not recorded due to late registration of the points. Along with the IVR system, this protocol has significantly reduced wrong judging in the sport of taekwondo.
MORE EXCITEMENT, MORE SAFETY 8m
t Reduction of Contest Area (February 2009) The contest area was reduced from 10m x 10m to 8m x 8m to ensure athletes do not run away and avoid the fight. As athletes are subject to receiving a warning penalty when both feet cross the boundary line, athletes now need to be physically stronger (more active during the match) to adapt to the new rule changes.
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t Introduction of 2 Points for Valid Turning Kicks to the Body (February 2009)
t Introduction of 10-Second Rule (February 2010) Taekwondo competition used to be seen as boring when the winning athlete would avoid engagement and stall. The ‘10-second rule’ was introduced to ensure the athlete is no longer able to avoid the fight. After the referee declares ‘fight’, defensive athletes receive a warning penalty. This change has successfully kept taekwondo competition exciting till the end of the match.
The beauty of taekwondo techniques has been found more often in the competition with the introduction of technical points given by judges when foot techniques are delivered after turning. Turning kicks and back kicks are among the best techniques of taekwondo and thus this change has made taekwondo competitions much more exciting than those at the time when only one (1) point was given to all kinds of valid attacks with different techniques.
t Introduction of 3 Points for Valid Attacks to the Head (February 2009)
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t Introduction of Win-by-Point Gap (October 2010) Due to its nature as a contact sport, concern has always been raised for the safety of the athlete when the technical gap between the two competitors is too large. The match shall finish when a 12-point difference occurs between the two competitors by the time of the end of the 2nd round or at any time during the 3rd round.
MORE MEDIA-FRIENDLY t Changed Names for Weight Divisions (February 2009) The weight divisions of taekwondo used to be called as ‘Fin’, ‘Fly’, ‘Bantam’, etc. To help better understand the weight divisions of taekwondo competitions, weight divisions were newly classified as ‘Under 58kg’, ‘Over 87kg’, etc.
t No More Deduction Point System for Penalties (February 2009) When competitors get one deduction penalty or two warning penalties, one (1) point used to be deducted from the final points scored. It turned out that the final scores sometimes are shown as -3: -2, making spectators confused of the match results.
t Monthly WTF World Ranking Released (June 2009) The WTF introduced the WTF World Rankings from January 2009 in senior Kyorugi and begin releasing them in June 2009. Introduction of the World Rankings and seeding has truly contributed to more media exposure for the best athletes. Official WTF-sanctioned international tournaments became bigger as an increasing number of athletes wanted to obtain ranking points from official tournaments of the WTF. The quality and size of international taekwondo tournaments is now dependent upon the tournament grade given by the WTF.
In order to help spectators and TV viewers more easily understand the results of the competition, the rules were changed so that penalty points are awarded to the opponent as additional points, instead of being shown as minus points. A technically and aesthetically important aspect of taewondo is the use of specacular foot techniques. To encourage athletes to perform more technically demanding foot techniques, the valid points for kicks to the head were increased from 2 to 3. The issue of safety was raised with the change, but it turned out that injuries did not increase because athletes tend to kick to score not to win by a knock out.
t Introduction of 4 Points for Valid Turning Kicks to the Head (October 2010)
MORE DIVERSITY t Wearing Religious Items Beneath the Head Protector Officially Allowed (February 2009) Taekwondo is popular in almost every region of the world. To ensure that no one is discriminated against due to his or her religion in competition, the rules were changed to allow wearing religious items, like the hijab, beneath the head protector. With this change, a big number of Muslim female athletes became able to participate in national and international taekwondo competitions without restrictions.
t Taekwondo Demonstrations to be Staged at Olympic Taekwondo Venue With the success of making taekwondo competition more exciting after the introduction of 2 and 3 points, the WTF decided to increase the points for valid turning kicks to the head to 4 points. Delivering a successful turning kick to the head is difficult but spectacular. In addition, athletes ahead in the score can no longer be complacent in the last monents of the match.
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A 15-minute taekwondo demonstration will be staged between repechage matches and final matches every day during the four-day taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games. It will mark the first occasion for taekwondo demonstrations will be staged at the Olympic taekwondo venue. Given the beauty of taekwondo, the IOC approved the taekwondo demonstration in June 2010, and it has received strong support from the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games.
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ATHLETES TO WATCH AT 2012 LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES The Olympic Games set the stage for the top athletes of the world to perform and for taekwondo athletes, it is no different. Most of the competitors are those who have gone through very competitive qualification tournaments. Among the 128 athletes to compete in the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the WTF has chosen the following athletes to be watched. t "BSPO $PPL (SFBU #SJUBJO .FO T VOEFS LH
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Servet Tazegul is a huge star and asset of Turkish taekwondo. Debuted on the international level as the champion of the 2004 World Junior Championships, he has been displaying his great talent and techniques in many of international competitions.
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Aaron Cook is the most outstanding taekwondo athlete from the host country of the 2012 London Olympic Games. At the age of 17 in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he already gave a strong impression to the world as he competed and won the 5th place in the men’s under 80kg division.
The world was in awe as he dramatically attained the title "World Champion" at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships by beating his biggest rival, Mohamed Bagheri of Iran, in one of the most exciting matches in history. He beat Bagheri again at the World Qualification Tournament.
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Servet Tazegul won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and he aimes for gold in London. Steven Lopez is arguably the most successful taekwondo athlete worldwide with a record of 5-time winner of World Taekwondo Championships (2001-2009). Steven Lopez is also the only taekwondo athlete competing in four consecutive Olympic Games since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He is one of the three athletes who have won gold medals twice at the Olympic Games and will break this record if he wins a medal in London. The Lopez family is the most well-known taekwondo family in the world. It became historic when three siblings; Steven, Diana and Mark competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and all won the medals. Jean, the eldest brother in the family was the coach. Steven Lopez was about to lose the chance to compete in London when he lost to Yousef Karami of Iran at the World Qualification Tournament, but finally grabbed the ticket to London at the Pan American Qualification Tournament.
Ana Zaninovic and Lucija Zaninovic are the first twin taekwondo athletes to compete in the Olympic Games. Both Ana Zaninovic and Lucija Zaninovic displayed superior abilities by securing their qualification places at the World Qualification Tournament.
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Steven Lopez is a truly valuable asset to the sport of taekwondo and is expected to achieve even more in the years to come.
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Mohamed Bagheri is probably the most solid and consistent taekwondo athlete in the world. Since he became world champion in 2009 in Copenhagen, he has not lost to anyone until the 2011 World Championships where he lost to his rival Servet Tazegul of Turkey. The taekwondo world is already looking forward to seeing a great rematch of Servet Tazegul and Mohamed Bagheri in London as it could be the greatest match in the history of taekwondo.
Gwladys Epangue has been behind the scene for many years taking silver and bronze medals in world level championships. However, she became the heroine of taekwondo when she finally became the world champion in 2009 and again in 2011. As a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the upcoming London Olympic Games will be a perfect opportunity for Gwladys Epangue to bring the first ever gold medal to her country France in taekwondo.
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One of the greatest sport stars in Chinese Taipei, Shu Chun Yang confidently grabbed the ticket to London at the World Qualification Tournament. Her target to win the gold medal in London will likely be challenged by Jingyu Wu of China, the gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and a three-time world champion Brigitte Yague of Spain.
Ana Zaninovic also won the 1st place in the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships and was heralded as the female MVP of the tournament.
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Two 2010 Youth Olympic Games taekwondo medalists earned their respective tickets to the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games through WTF Continental Olympic Qualification Tournaments. They are Nursultan Mamayev of Kazakhstan and Dana Touran of Jordan.
First of all, congratulations on having taken the second place at the Asian Qualification Tournament and won a quota place for your country for the London Olympic Games. Thanks, I am very glad that I have won competition (silver medal) and have obtained the quota place for the London 2012 Olympic Games. To win the ticket to London, I prepared and trained hard for a long time. Now I am happy because I have met the expectations of my parents, my coach and all Kazakhstan people. All the time I got good support from them and from the state. In the Olympic Games I want to present a good image of my country, Kazakhstan, to the whole world and to win the higher award. I aspire in every way to hear a national anthem of Kazakhstan and to see a national flag showing the native land on a pedestal after winning a higher award.
Do you think the Youth Olympic Games that you participated in 2010 and the 2012 London Olympic Games will be different? If so, how different they will be? I don’t think the London 2012 Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games in which I participated in 2010 will be that different. Both of them are Olympic events. Having shown a good result at the Youth Olympic Games, I aspire to improve my performance and win the gold medal at the London Olympic Games.
First of all, congratulations on taking the third place at the Asian Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games and winning an Olympic quota place for your country for the London Olympic Games. Thank you very much for your kind congratulations! I am really excited to be qualified for the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games. I am very proud of it. I will go to the 2012 London Olympic Games with two more athletes, one female and one male athlete.
Do you think the Youth Olympic Games that you participated in 2010 and the 2012 London Olympic Games will be different? If so, how different they will be? Yes, of course. I expect it will be so different because the 2010 Youth Olympic Games were for juniors, while the London 2012 will be for senior athletes. I hope to win a medal in the 2012 Olympic Games. Enshalah! (this Arabic word means I hope so)
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Rohollah Nikpaa of Afghanistan made a history in 2008 by awarding the firstever Olympic medal to his country in its 72-year Olympic history at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Nikpaa clinched a bronze medal in the men’s -58kg category at the Beijing Olympic Games. This outstanding achievement became reality with a combination of support of the IOC Solidarity program and the continued efforts of the Afghanistan National Taekwondo Federation. Nikpaa was an Olympic Solidarity scholarship recipient. He grabbed a ticket to the 2012 London Olympic Games by winning the third place in the men’s under 68kg category at the Asian Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in November 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. Another Afghan athlete, Ahmad Bahawi Nesar, also earned his country another ticket to the London Olympic Games as he won the first place in the men’s under 80kg division at the Asian Qualification Tournament. If Nikpaa keeps his current phase, he will bring another glory to his war-torn country. “As long as taekwondo stays as an Olympic sport, Afghans can keep dreaming,” Nikpaa said.
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British athletes are still in contention for selection for the Great Britain team for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Great Britain will host the European Taekwondo Championships in May and before that, GB athletes will compete in the German and Dutch Opens in March. These events will have a large influence on who will be selected for the Olympic team and this is not due to be announced until the end of May. The following story is contributed by the GB Taekwondo.
GREAT BRITAIN IS IN THE HOME STRAIGHT FOR 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS It’s now less than five months to go until the start of the taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games and teams from across the world are making their final preparations for the greatest show on earth. This includes the host nation, Great Britain (GB), which will also stage the prestigious European Taekwondo Championships ahead of the Olympic Games, from May 3 to 6. Indeed these Championships will provide Great Britain and Europe’s leading nations with an important stepping stone for the Olympics and in many cases, they will determine which athletes make selection for Rio 2016 Olympics and who will have to wait another four years. Competition for places in the British team is intense. GB has already nominated the four weight categories in which it will compete at the Games, these being: female -57kg and -67kg and male -68kg and -80kg. Last year at the World Championships in Gyeongju, Korea, Britain medaled in three of these four categories and World Champion Sarah Stevenson’s achievement was recognized with a string of awards at the end of 2011. As well as winning the Sunday Times ‘Sportswoman of the Year,’ Sarah has been awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) by the Queen for her services to the sport and she will be invited to Buckingham Palace to receive the award in what will be a significant milestone for the sport in Britain. “It’s fantastic to be recognized for the hard work I have put into taekwondo for the
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past 21 years, in a sport I love,” said Sarah. “I know my parents would have been so proud of this award. It’s also a boost for the sport in this country and I’m proud to be an ambassador for taekwondo," she said. “I hope this will continue to help raise the profile of this great sport.” The profile of the sport in Britain has never been higher and fans of taekwondo and Olympic sport are genuinely excited at the prospect of seeing the sport at the ExCel arena in August. British media are paying particular attention to GB’s male contenders for the two available selection places in the British team. In the -68kg category, there are four athletes in the GB Taekwondo Academy, all vying for selection, including world silver medalist Michael Harvey, a Beijing Olympian, and Martin Stamper, the -68kg world bronze medalist who had a stellar year in 2011. Stamper was named the Olympic Athlete of the Year in recognition of his achievements which also included victory at the U.S., German and British Opens. “2011 was a great year and the Olympic award really topped it off. I was so proud to be named Athlete of the Year, even more so because the British team did so well last year and there were so many great performances from other GB athletes,” said Stamper. “I worked hard last year and managed to hold my form with the great support from my coach Steve Jennings and the support staff at the GB Taekwondo Academy. I just need to keep going now in 2012.” Having recently returned from a training camp in Mexico, Stamper and his GB teammates are now focusing on preparations for the German and Dutch Opens in March before attention switches to the European Championships in May. As well as having strength in the -68kg category, no less than six British athletes are in contention for -80kg selection and all six are expected to be in action in Hamburg in March. These include former Olympians Craig Brown and Aaron Cook who met recently in the British Open final. Cook came out on top that time and went on to win the 2012 London test event in December 2011, having enjoyed the experience of working with the new GB coach Joseph Salim. “It was the first time I’d worked with Joseph. He’s a fantastic coach and we are really good friends,” Cook said. “We have a good relationship and hopefully it will continue and I can get selected for 2012 and we can work together again.” Other British players may have something to say about that, including Ruebyn Richards who had a fantastic run to the Croatian Open final in late 2011, beating Ramin Azizov along the way. There certainly is all to play for in March in what is going to be a pivotal month on the Road to London 2012.
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2012 London TOP-RANKED ATHLETES Division Male -58kg
Rank
Name
Nation
1st
KARAKET Pen-Ek
Thailand
2
MERCEDES Yulis
Dominican Republic
nd
Male -80kg
Name
Nation
1st
WU Jingyu
China
2
ZANINOVIC Lucija
Croatia
YANG Shu-Chun
Chinese Taipei
TSENG Pei-Hua
Chinese Taipei
nd
LEE Dae-Hoon
Korea
3
1
TAZEGUL Servet
Turkey
1
nd
2
BAGHERI MOTAMED
Iran
2
HOU Yuzhuo
China
3rd
DIOGO Silva
Brazil
3rd
ZANINOVIC Ana
Croatia
1st
AZIZOV Ramin
Azerbaijan
1st
KIM Mi-Kyung
Korea
2
KARAMI Yousef
Iran
2
AZIZOVA Farida
Azerbaijan
SARMIENTO Mauro
Italy
3
JOHANSSON Elin
Sweden
1
rd
nd
3
rd
1
CHA Dong-Min
Korea
2nd
UMAROV Gadzhi
Russia
3
NIKOLAIDIS Alexandros
Greece
st
Male +80kg
Female -49kg
Rank
st
3 Male -68kg
Division
rd
rd
Female -57kg
Female -67kg
st
nd
nd rd
Female +67kg
EPANGUE Gwladys
France
2nd
AN Sae-Bom
Korea
3
BARYSHNIKOVA Anastasiia
Russia
st
rd
Great Britain sent its athletes at the London Olympic Games for the -68kg and -80kg in the men’s division, and -57kg and -67kg in the women’s category. A total of 60 international referees, including 10 review juries, officiated at the tournament. The 60 were selected from among participants in the three WTForganized international referee selection and training camps for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
WORLD QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT FOR LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES CONCLUDES IN RESOUNDING SUCCESS After four days of dynamic and fair competitions, the WTF World Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games wrapped up in a great success in Baku, Azerbaijan on July 3, 2011.
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Olympic Center, Korea grabbed four tickets for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
A total of 15 countries took at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games through the just-ended WTF World Qualification Tournament.
Six countries – host Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, China, Croatia and Chinese Taipei – won two berths each for the 2012 Olympic Games, while eight countries – Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, France, Italy and Greece – took one spot to the London Olympic Games.
Through the World Qualification Tournament, which took place at the Sarhadchi Sport
A total of 109 countries submitted their entry forms for 345 athletes, 194 men and
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Compulsory anti-doping tests were carried out for all the 24 qualifiers and 16 reserve athletes. Twenty five percent of the registered athletes per weight category were seeded based on the WTF World Ranking as of June 1, 2011. A total of 128 athletes will compete for top honors at the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games. 151 women, to the WTF as of the final June 10 deadline. Each country may enter a maximum of two male and two female athletes, with one athlete per weight category. The four-day tournament featured four male and four female Olympic weight categories: -58kg, -68kg, -80kg and +80kg in the men’s division, and -49kg, -57kg, -67kg and +67kg in the women’s division. The top three athletes in each weight category qualified their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) a spot for the London Olympic Games. For fairer judging, the tournament used an instant video replay system. Three courts were used at the Baku tournament.
Of the 128, 24 spots are decided each through the Baku World Qualification Tournament, the Asian Qualification Tournament, the Pan American Qualification Tournament and the European Qualification Tournament. Sixteen sports are decided through the African Qualification Tournament, while the Oceania Qualification Tournament determines eight spots for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Four spots will be decided on through the tripartite consultation among the IOC, the ANOC and the WTF, which are known as “wild cards,” while the host country of Great Britain will secure four spots automatically.
World Taekwondo Federation
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2012 London AFRICAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT Takes Place on Jan. 11-12, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt
The WTF African Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games wrapped up in a resounding success on Jan. 12, 2012 in Cairo, Egypt after two days of competition. A total of nine countries won at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games through the two-day African Qualification Tournament. Host Egypt clinched four tickets, followed by Morocco with three berths. Nigeria and the Central African Republic each grabbed two berths, while five countries – Gabon, Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tunisia – took one ticket each. Algeria will participate in the taekwondo competition of the Olympic Games for the first time ever. The Central African Republic was also qualified to participate in the taekwondo competition at the upcoming Olympic Games through the qualification tournament for the first time. The Central African Republic attended the taekwondo
TOP-RANKED ATHLETES
competition of the Olympic Games before through the so-called ‘wild card’ invitation. A total of 85 athletes from 30 countries competed for the 16 berths for the taekwondo competition at the London Olympic Games. The tournament took place at the Cairo International Stadium. On Jan. 11, an opening ceremony was held to celebrate the tournament. WTF Secretary General Jin Suk Yang awarded plaques of appreciation to Gen. Ahmed Fouly, a WTF vice president and president of the African Taekwondo Union, and Mr. Hussam Kamal Morsy, President of the Egyptian Taekwondo Federation. A special appreciation was also extended to Mr. Amr Khairy, former world champion of Egypt, former national technical director and coach of the Egyptian national team.
Division
Rank
Name
Nation
1st
BAYOUMI TAMER
Egypt
Male -58kg
Name
Nation
1st
ATABROUR SANAA
Morocco
2nd
EL YAMINE MOKDAD
Algeria
2nd
KANG CATHERINE(SEUL-KI)
Central African Republic
1st
BOUI PATRICK
Central African Republic
1st
WAHBA HEDAYA
Egypt
2nd
DIEDHIOU BINETA
Senegal
1st
ELSAWALHY SEHAM
Egypt
Male -68kg
Female -57kg 2nd
MUHAMMAD ISAH ADAM
Nigeria
1st
ISSAM CHERNOUBI
Morocco
Male -80kg
Female -67kg 2nd
AHMED ABDELRAHMAN
Egypt
2nd
GBAGBI RUTH MARIE
Cote d'Ivoire
1st
ANTHONY OBAME
Gabon
1st
DISLAM WIAM
Morocco
2nd
BEN HAMZA KHAOULA
Tunisia
Female +67kg 2nd
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Rank
Female -49kg
Male +80kg
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Division
CHUKWUMERIJE CHIKA YAGAZIE
Nigeria
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2012 London ASIAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT Takes Place on Nov. 26-27, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand
The WTF Asian Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games concluded in a great success on Nov. 27, 2011 after two days of competition in Bangkok, Thailand. Through the Asian Qualification Tournament, which took place at the John Paul II Sports Center at the Assumption University of Thailand in eastern Bangkok, a total of 13 countries grabbed at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games. Jordan and Uzbekistan each took three berths for the London Olympic Games, while seven countries clinched two tickets. The seven are Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, host Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Kazakhstan. China, Iran, Lebanon and Chinese Taipei each grabbed one ticket. Reflecting the universality of the Olympic sport of taekwondo, a total of 14 countries in the Asian region clinched at least one ticket to the London Olympic Games as Korea already secured four berths through the WTF World Qualification Tournament, which ended in Baku, Azerbaijan on July 3, 2011 after four days of competitions.
Through the Asian Qualification Tournament, two Youth Olympic Games taekwondo medal winners earned their respective tickets to the 2012 Olympic Games. They are Jordan’s Dana Touran and Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Mamayev. In the women’s -49kg category, Jordan’s Touran, the silver medalist in the women's -49kg category of the taekwondo competition at the 1st Youth Olympic Games, earned her country a birth. In the men’s -58kg category, Kazakhstan’s Mamayev, the silver medal winner in the men’s -55kg taekwondo division at the 1st Youth Olympic Games, took the secondplace honors. A total of 99 athletes from 30 countries in the Asian region competed for 24 places for the taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games. The Asian Tournament was originally scheduled for Nov. 4-5 at the Mall Convention Center in downtown Bangkok, but was postponed because of the worst flooding in 50 years in Thailand.
TOP-RANKED ATHLETES Division
WTF
Name
Nation
1
WEI CHEN YANG
Chinese Taipei
2nd
MAMAYEV NURSULTAN
Kazakhstan
3
st
Male -58kg
Male -68kg
Male -80kg
Division
Rank
Name
Nation
1
SONKHAM CHANATIP
Thailand
2nd
KASAHARA ERIKA
Japan
TOURAN DANA
Jordan
st
Female -49kg
LE HUYNH CHAU
Vietnam
3
st
1
ABULIBDEH MOHAMMAD
Jordan
1
nd
2
KIM DMITRIY
Uzbekistan
3rd
NIKPAA ROHOLLAH
1st 2
rd
nd
3
rd
rd
NISAISOM RANGSIYA
Thailand
2
nd
PAOLI ANDREA
Lebanon
Afghanistan
3rd
HAMADA MAYU
Japan
BAHAWI NESAR AHMAD
Afghanistan
1st
HAJIPOURGOLI SOUSAN
Iran
ABDURAIM RASUL
Kyrgyzstan
2
CHU HOANG DIEU LINH
Vietnam
NEGMATOV FARKHOD
Tajikistan
3
AITMUKHAMBETOVA GULANAFIS
Kazakhstan
1
LIU XIAOBO
China
2nd
GULOV ALISHER
Tajikistan
3rd
IRGASHEV AKMAL
Uzbekistan
st
Male +80kg
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Rank
st
Female -57kg
Female -67kg
nd rd
1
DAWANI NADIN
Jordan
2nd
YERGESHOVA FERUZA
Kazakhstan
3rd
MAMATOVA NATALYA
Uzbekistan
st
Female +67kg
World Taekwondo Federation
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2012 London EUROPEAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT
Takes Place on Jan. 27-29, 2012 in Kazan, Russia
A total of 14 European countries were qualified for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games through the European Qualification Tournament, which wrapped up its three-day event in Kazan, Russia on Jan. 29, 2012.
Taken into account the four automatically assigned tickets to the host country, Great Britain, the total qualified NOCs for the London Olympic Games stands at 59 with a total of 124 quota places.
Serbia, Slovenia and Spain grabbed three Olympic tickets each through the European Qualification Tournament, while host Russia, Germany, Ukraine and Turkey clinched two tickets each. Seven countries won one ticket. They are Armenia, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Sweden and France.
Europe has reaffirmed its dominant position in taekwondo as its 18 member countries have secured 39 places out of 124 for the London Olympic Games, followed by Asia and the Pan American region with 14 qualified NOCs each for their respective 35 and 26 tickets. Africa came next with nine qualified NOCs for 16 tickets, compared with Oceania's four qualified NOCs for eight berths.
Through the European Qualification Tournament, Serbia and Armenia were qualified for the taekwondo competition of the Olympic Games for the first time. Through the WTF's six qualification tournaments, one world and five continental, which have determined 120 quota places, a total of 58 countries were qualified for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
TOP-RANKED ATHLETES Division
Rank
Name
Nation
1
Denisenko Alexey
Russia
2nd
Gonzalez Bonilla Joel
Spain
Male -58kg
3rd
Sanli Uno
1
st
nd
Male -68kg
Male -80kg
Nation Spain
Manz Sumeyye
Germany
Sweden
3rd
Kim Kristina
Russia
Fejzic Damir
Serbia
1
Gladovic Dragana
Serbia
2
Loniewski Michal
Poland
2
Mikkonen Suvi
Finland
3rd
Husarov Hryhorii
Ukraine
3rd
Harnois Marlene
France
1st
Tanrikulu Bahri
Turkey
1st
Nur Tatar
Turkey
2
Molfetta Carlo
Italy
2
Hellena Fromm
Germany
Trajkovic Ivan
Slovenia
3
Franka Anic
Slovenia
nd
3
1
Nur Tatar
Turkey
2nd
Hellena Fromm
Germany
3
Franka Anic
Germany
rd
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Name Yag端e Enrique Brigida
st
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Rank 1
rd
Male +80kg
Division
2nd
st
st
Female -49kg
st
Female -57kg
Female -67kg
nd
nd rd
1
Maryna Konieva
Ukraine
2nd
Milica Mandic
Serbia
3
Ysa Rajher
Slovenia
st
Female +67kg
rd
World Taekwondo Federation
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2012 London PAN AMERICAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT Takes Place on Nov. 18-20, 2011 in Queretaro, Mexico After three days of action-packed, fair competitions, the WTF Pan American Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games wrapped up in a resounding success in Queretaro, Mexico on Nov. 20, 2011. Through the Pan American Qualification Tournament, which took place at the Queretaro Centro de Congresos, a total of 13 countries earned at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games. Host Mexico and the United States each took four berths for the 2012 Olympic Games, while Canada and Cuba won three places each. Argentina earned two tickets, while Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Jamaica and Peru won grabbed one berth each. Reflecting the universality of the Olympic sport of taekwondo, a total of 14 countries
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in the Pan American region won at least one ticket to the London Olympic Games as the Dominican Republic already took one berth through the WTF World Qualification Tournament, which ended in Baku, Azerbaijan on July 3, 2011 after four days of competitions.
TOP-RANKED ATHLETES Division Male -58kg
Name
Nation
1st
MUNOZ OSCAR
Colombia
2nd
OVIEDO HEINER
Costa Rica
3 Male -68kg
Male -80kg
Female -49kg
Rank
Name
Nation
1st
ZAMORA GORDILLO ELIZABETH
Guatemala
2nd
ALEGRIA PEÑA JANNET
Mexico
LOPEZ CAROLA
Argentina
1
st
MUNOZ ALEMAN NIDIA
Cuba
2
nd
CONTRERAS YENY
Chile
LOPEZ DIANA
United States
1st
SERGERIE KARINE
Canada
2
MCPHERSON PAIGE
United States
ST.BERNARD ANDREA
Grenada
VILLA VALADEZ DAMIAN ALEJANDRO
Mexico
3
1
ISLAS GOMEZ IDULIO
Mexico
nd
2
LOPEZ PETER
Peru
3rd
JENNINGS TERRENCE
United States
3rd
1st
CRISMANICH SEBASTIAN
Argentina
2
LOPEZ STEVEN
United States
MICHAUD SEBASTIEN
Canada
3
nd
3
rd
1
DESPAIGNE SAGUET ROBELIS
Cuba
2nd
COULOMBE FORTIER FRANCOIS
Canada
3rd
EDWARDS KENNETH
Jamaica
st
Male +80kg
Division
st
rd
A total of 91 athletes from 29 countries in the Pan American region competed for 24 places for the taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Steven Lopez of the United States has become the first taekwondo player participating in the taekwondo competition of the Olympic Games for the fourth consecutive time as he beat No.1 seed Sebastien Michaud of Canada 3-0 in the men’s -80kg semifinal match.
Rank
rd
Female -57kg
Female -67kg
nd rd
1
SILVA NATALIA
Brazil
2nd
ESPINOZA MARIA DEL ROSARIO
Mexico
3rd
HERNANDEZ HORTA GLEHNIS
Cuba
st
Female +67kg
World Taekwondo Federation
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2012 London OCEANIA OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT Takes Place on Sept. 11, 2011 in Noumea, New Caledonia The first WTF Continental Qualification Tournament for the London 2012 Olympic Games concluded in Noumea, New Caledonia on Sept. 11, 2011 in a great success. A total of 35 athletes from 11 countries participated in this qualification tournament with hopes of winning tickets to London.
Four countries grabbed at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games through this tournament held at the Martial Arts Hall in Doumbia, nearby Noumea. The qualified countries are New Zealand (3 places), Australia (2 places), Samoa (2 places) and Papua New Guinea (1 place). The hall served as the venue for the 2011 Pacific Games taekwondo competition. Samoa has earned tickets to the taekwondo competition of the Olympic Games for the first time in its history since it became a full member of the WTF in 1997. In the women’s under 49kg, Theresa Tona from Papua New Guinea won the place for the Olympics. This is her second consecutive participation in the Olympic Games.
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In the women’s under 57kg, Robin Cheong from New Zealand defeated Caroline Marton from Australia with the referee’s punitive declaration and grabbed the place. Robin was losing 4-9 before Caroline received the 8th Kyong-go.
In the men’s under 80kg, Scott Vaughn from New Zealand defeated Hader Shkara from Australia.
In the women’s under 67kg, Carmen Marton from Australia knocked out Hayley
In the men’s over 80kg, Kaino Thomsen from Samoa defeated Tqufato Pita from Tonga 7-3, giving the country the second qualification place.
Schofield from New Zealand in the first round with a kick to the head. In the women’s over 67kg, Talitiga Crawley from Samoa earned her country the firstever ticket to the taekwondo competition of the Olympic Games. In the men’s under 58kg, 2011 Universiade gold medalist Safwan Khalil from Australia outpointed Marshall Islands’ hope Sam Jason 3-0, awarding a ticket to Australia for London. In the men’s under 68kg, Kismet Campbell from New Zealand won the place following withdrawal of Gilbert Pascua from Guam who was injured in his semifinal match.
Daedo PSS was used for this tournament and the competition ran smoothly.
TOP-RANKED ATHLETES Division
Rank
Name
Nation
Division
Rank
Name
Nation
Male -58kg
1st
KHALIL SAFWAN
Australia
Female -49kg
1st
TONA THERESA
Papua New Guinea
Male -68kg
1st
KISMET CAMPBELL
New Zeland
Female -57kg
1st
ROBIN CHEONG
New Zeland
Male -80kg
1st
VAUGHN SCOTT
New Zeland
Female -67kg
1st
MARTON CARMEN
Australia
Male +80kg
1st
THOMSEN KAINO
Samoa
Female +67kg
1st
CRAWLEY TALITIGA
Samoa
World Taekwondo Federation
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WTF WORLD RANKING (Olympic Weight Division, as of Feb. 29, 2012) WOMEN'S UNDER 49KG Rank First name
WOMEN'S UNDER 57KG
Last Name
Nation
Div
Rank First name
WOMEN'S UNDER 67KG
Last Name
Nation
Div
Rank First name
Last Name
Nation
1
JINGYU
WU
CHINA
F-49
1
YUZHUO
HOU
CHINA
F-57
1
KARINE
SERGERIE
CANADA
2
SANAA
ATABROUR
MOROCCO
F-49
2
PEI HUA
TSENG
CHINESE TAIPEI
F-57
2
SEHAM
EL SAWALHY
3
SHU CHUN
YANG
CHINESE TAIPEI
F-49
3
BINETA
DIEDHIOU
SENEGAL
F-57
3
KYUNGSEON
4
RUKIYE
YILDIRIM
TURKEY
F-46/49
4
MARLENE
HARNOIS
FRANCE
F-57
4
5
BRIGITTE
YAGUE ENRIQUE
SPAIN
F-49
5
ANA
ZANINOVIC
CROATIA
F-53/57
5
6
JANETE
ALEGRIA PENA
MEXICO
F-49
6
BAT-EL
GATTERER
ISRAEL
F-57
7
YASMINA
AZIEZ
FRANCE
F-49
7
SAMANEH
SHESHPARI
IRAN
8
CHANAPA
SONKHAM
THAILAND
F-49
8
LAMYA
BEKKALI
MOROCCO
9
LUCIJA
ZANINOVIC
CROATIA
F-49
9
HATICE KUBRA
YANGIN
TURKEY
10
ERIKA
KASAHARA
JAPAN
F-49
10
HEDAYA AHMED
MALAK WAHBA
11
YVETTE
YONG
CANADA
F-46
11
FLORIANE
LIBORIO
12
CAROLEN
CARSTENS
PANAMA
F-46/49
12
IVETT
13
KRISTINA
KIM
RUSSIA
F-49
13
14
DANA HAIDER
IZZAT TOURAN
JORDAN
F-46/49
15
BUTTREE
PUEDPONG
THAILAND
F-46
16
SUMEYYE
GULEC MANZ
GERMANY
17
ELIZABETH
ZAMORA GORDILLO
18
AMINATA
19 20
WOMEN'S OVER 67KG Div
Rank First name
Last Name
Nation
Div
F-62/67
1
GWLADYS
EPANGUE
FRANCE
F-73/+73
EGYPT
F-67
2
MARIA DEL ROSARIO
ESPINOZA
MEXICO
F-73/+73
HWANG
KOREA
F-67
3
WIAM
DISLAM
MOROCCO
YUN FEI
GUO
CHINA
F-67
4
ROSANA
SIMON
SPAIN
F73+
SARAH
STEVENSON
GREAT BRITAIN
F-67
5
ANASTASIA
BARYSHNIKOVA
RUSSIA
F-73/+73
6
MELISSA
PAGNOTTA
CANADA
F-67
6
SAEBOM
AN
KOREA
F73+
F-53
7
HELENA
FROMM
GERMANY
F-67
7
ANNE-CAROLINE
GRAFFE
FRANCE
F-73/+73
F-53
8
NUR
TATAR
TURKEY
F-67
8
BIANCA
WALKDEN
GREAT BRITAIN
F73+
F-53/57
9
MIKYUNG
KIM
KOREA
F-62/67
9
FERUZA
YERGESHOVA
KAZAKHSTAN
F-73
EGYPT
F-57
10
HAKIMA
MESLAHY
MOROCCO
F-67
10
HYERI
OH
KOREA
F-73/+73
FRANCE
F-53/57
11
ESTEFANIA
HERNANDEZ GARCIA
SPAIN
F-62
11
NATALIA
FALAVIGNA SILVA
BRAZIL
F-73
GONDA
CANADA
F-53
12
GULNAFIS
AITKUKHAMBETOVA
KAZAKHSTAN
F-67
12
LINDA
EZZEDDINE
ALGERIA
F73+
RAHMA
BEN ALI
TUNISIA
F-53/57
13
PAIGE
MCPHERSON
USA
F-62/67
13
KHAOULA
BEN HAMZA
TUNISIA
F-73/73+
14
JADE
JONES
GREAT BRITAIN
F-53/57
14
HABY
NIARE
FRANCE
F-62/67
14
NADIN
DAWANI
JORDAN
F73+
15
JIE
LEI
CHINA
F-53
15
HUA
ZHANG
CHINA
F-62
15
EVGENIYA
KARIMOVA
UZBEKISTAN
F73+
F-46
16
ROBIN
CHEONG
NEW ZEALAND
F-57
16
DHUNYANUN
PREMWHEW
THAILAND
F-62
16
GUADALUPE
RUIZ LOPEZ
MEXICO
F73+
GUATEMALA
F-49
17
LAURA VANESSA
VAZQUEZ RIVAS
EL SALVADOR
F-57
17
CARMEN
MARTON
AUSTRALIA
F-62/67
17
NUSA
RAJHER
SLOVENIA
F-73/+73
MAKOU TRAORE
MALI
F-49
18
ANDREA
PAOLI
LEBANON
F-57
18
SUJEONG
LIM
KOREA
F-62
18
MILICA
MANDIC
SERBIA
F-73/+73
RADWA
REDA
EGYPT
F-49
19
SARITA
PHONGSRI
THAILAND
F-53
19
RAHELEH
ASEMANI
IRAN
F-62/67
19
AMINATA
DOUMBIA
MALI
F-73/73+
SOHUI
KIM
KOREA
F-46
20
RANGSIYA
NISAISOM
THAILAND
F-57
20
EUNSIL
NOH
KOREA
F-62
20
GLENHIS
HERNANDEZ
CUBA
F73+
21
ELAIA
TORRONTEGUI
SPAIN
F-46/49
21
DORIS
PATINO MARIN
COLOMBIA
F-57
21
PARISA
FARSHIDI
IRAN
F-67
21
YING YING
HAN
CHINA
F-73
22
KATIA
ARAKAKI
BRAZIL
F-46
22
SOUSAN
HAJI POUR GOLI
IRAN
F-57
22
ASUNCION
OCASIO RODRIGUEZ PUERTO RICO
F-67
22
ALIMATOU
DIALLO
SENEGAL
F-73/73+
23
ITZEL ADILENE
MANJARREZ BASTIDAS
MEXICO
F-46
23
HAJIBA
ENNAHARI
MOROCCO
F-57
23
CAROLE
TOH IRIKA
COTE D'IVOIRE
F-62
MARYNA
KONIEVA
UKRAINE
F73+
24
LIZBETH JULISSA
DIAZ CANSECO
PERU
F-49
24
NIDIA
MUNOZ
CUBA
F-57
24
CHIA CHIA
CHUANG
CHINESE TAIPEI
F-67
24
KATHARINA
WEISS
GERMANY
F73+
25
THERESA
TONA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
F-49
25
IRMA EDITH
CONTRERAS RODRIGUEZ
MEXICO
F-57
25
PETRA
MATIJASEVIC
CROATIA
F-67
25
MELDA
AKCAN
GERMANY
F-73
26
SVETLANA
IGUMENOVA
RUSSIA
F-49
26
DEBORAH
LOUZ
NETHERLANDS
F-57
26
CHLOE ROSE
IRIYADI
AUSTRALIA
F-67
26
SANDRA JULIETH
VANEGAS VALDERAMA
COLOMBIA
F-73/+73
27
MAEVA
COUTANT
FRANCE
F-49
27
YENY ANYELINA
CONTRERAS LOYOLA
CHILE
F-53
27
KRISTINA
KHAFIZOVA
RUSSIA
F-62
27
RESHMIE
OOGINK
NETHERLANDS
F-73
28
ALISON
PINTENO
FRANCE
F-46/49
28
DIANA
LOPEZ
USA
F-57
28
KHAOULA
BEN HAMZA
TUNISIA
F-67
28
LAUREN
CAHOON
USA
F73+
29
SARA
KHOSH JAMAL FEKRY
IRAN
F-46/49
29
DRAGANA
GLADOVIC
SERBIA
F-57
29
SEUMI
WOO
KOREA
F-67
29
CHIA CHIA
CHUANG
CHINESE TAIPEI
F-73
30
IVETT
GONDA
CANADA
F-49
30
RAFAELA
ARAUJO
BRAZIL
F-57
30
RANGSIYA
NISAISOM
THAILAND
F-62
30
RUI
LIU
CHINA
F73+
F73+
World Taekwondo Federation
45
WTF WORLD RANKING (Olympic Weight Division, as of Feb. 29, 2012) MEN'S UNDER 58KG Rank First name
MEN'S UNDER 68KG
Last Name
Nation
Div
Rank First name
Last Name
Nation
MEN'S UNDER 80KG Div
Rank First name
Last Name
Nation
1
JOEL
GONZALEZ BONILLA
SPAIN
M-58
1
MOHAMMAD
MOTAMED BAGHERI
IRAN
M-68
1
ALIREZA
NASR AZADANY
IRAN
2
CHUTCHAWAL
KHAWLAOR
THAILAND
M-54
2
SERVET
TAZEGUL
TURKEY
M-68
2
ISSAM
CHERNOUBI
3
YULIS GABRIEL
MERCEDES
DOMINICAN REP
M-58
3
MOHAMMAD
ABU LIBDEH
JORDAN
M-68
3
FARZAD
4
CHEN YANG
WEI
CHINESE TAIPEI
M-58
4
IDULIO
ISLAS GOMEZ
MEXICO
M-68
4
5
PENEK
KARAKET
THAILAND
M-58
5
PETER
LOPEZ
PERU
M-68
5
6
MOKDAD
EL YAMINE
ALGERIA
M-54/58
6
WAHID
BRIKI
TUNISIA
M-63/68
7
TAMER
SALAH BAYOUMI
EGYPT
M-58
7
DAEHOON
LEE
KOREA
8
MARCIO
FERREIRA
BRAZIL
M-58
8
YOHANNY
JEAN BARTERMI
9
SHERIF
SHAABAN WASFY
EGYPT
M-54
9
DIOGO
10
MEISAM
BAGHERI
IRAN
M-54
10
11
RUI PEDRO
REBELO BRAGANCA
PORTUGAL
M-58
11
12
SAFWAN
KHALIL
AUSTRALIA
M-58
13
DAMIAN ALEJANDRO
VILLA
MEXICO
14
ALEXEY
DENISENKO
15
GUILLERMO
PEREZ
16
SEYFULLA
17
MEN'S OVER 80KG Div
Rank First name
Last Name
Nation
Div
M-74
1
YOUSEF
KARAMI
IRAN
M-87
MOROCCO
M-74/80
2
FRANCOIS
COULOMBE-FORTIER
CANADA
ABDOLAHI
IRAN
M-74/80
3
HOSSEIN
TAJIK
IRAN
RAMIN
AZIZOV
AZERBAIJAN
M-80
4
DONGMIN
CHA
KOREA
M-87/+87
AARON
COOK
GREAT BRITAIN
M-80
5
ROBELIS
DESPAIGNE SAUQUET
CUBA
M87+
6
ABDELRAHMAN
OSAMA TAWFIK
EGYPT
M-80
6
CARLO
MOLFETTA
ITALY
M-87/+87
M-63
7
SEBASTIEN
MICHAUD
CANADA
M-80
7
ANTHONY
OBAME
GABON
M-87/+87
DOMINICAN REP
M-68
8
SEBASTIAN
CHRISMANICH
ARGENTINA
M-74/80
8
AKMAL
IRGASHEV
UZBEKISTAN
SILVA
BRAZIL
M-68
9
NICOLAS
GARCIA HEMME
SPAIN
M-80
9
BAHRI
TANRIKULU
TURKEY
M-87/87+
REZA
NADERIAN
IRAN
M-63/68
10
NABIL
HASSAN TALAL
JORDAN
M-74/80
10
KOUROSH
RAJOLY
IRAN
M-87/+87
LOGAN
CAMPBELL
NEW ZEALAND
M-68
11
RIDVAN
BAYGUT
TURKEY
M-74
11
ARMAN
CHILMANOV
KAZAKHSTAN
M87+
12
BALLA
DIEYE
SENEGAL
M-68
12
MAURO
SARMIENTO
ITALY
M-80
12
XIAOBO
LIU
CHINA
M87+
M-58
13
MARTIN
STAMPER
GREAT BRITAIN
M-63/68
13
NESAR AHMAD
BAHAVE
AFGHANISTAN
M-74/80
13
FIRMIN SAINT
NOM ZOKOU
COTE D'IVOIRE
M87+
RUSSIA
M-58
14
TAEJIN
SON
KOREA
M-68
14
GOROME
KARE
SENEGAL
M-74/80
14
KAINO LAUTUSI
THOMSEN
SAMOA
M-877/+87
MEXICO
M-58
15
ALFONSO
VICTORIA ESPINOZA
MEXICO
M-63
15
MASOUD
HAJIZAVAREH
IRAN
M-74/80
15
CHIKA YAGAZIE
CHUKWUMERIJE
NIGERIA
M87+
MAGOMEDOV
RUSSIA
M-54
16
SIDDHARTHA
BHAT
CANADA
M-68
16
YUNUS
SARI
TURKEY
M-74/80
16
LEONARDO
BASILE
ITALY
M87+
MOHAMED
TLISH SALEM
LIBYA
M-58
17
NIDHAL
SBOUAE
TUNISIA
M-68
17
PATIWAT
THONGSALUP
THAILAND
M-74
17
JON
GARCIA AGUADO
SPAIN
M-87/+87
18
CHIA LIN
HSU
CHINESE TAIPEI
M-54/58
18
STEVENS
BARCLAIS
FRANCE
M-63
18
CARLOS ARMANDO VASQUEZ
VENEZUELA
M-80
18
KRISTOPHER
MOITLAND
COSTA RICA
M87+
19
JOHN PAUL
LIZARDO
PHILIPPINES
M-54
19
VASILY
NIKITIN
RUSSIA
M-68
19
URIEL AVIGDOR
ADRIANO RUIZ
MEXICO
20
OSCAR
MUNOZ
COLOMBIA
M-58
20
CEM
ULUGNUYAN
TURKEY
M-63
20
SCOTT
VAUGHN
NEW ZEALAND
21
REMZI
BASAKBUGDAY
TURKEY
M-54
21
MICHAEL
HARVEY
GREAT BRITAIN
M-63/68
21
ARMAN
YEREMYAN
22
JERRANAT
NAKAVIROJ
THAILAND
M-54/58
22
NACHA
PUNTHONG
THAILAND
M-63
22
DMITRIY
23
CESAR ROMAN
RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ
MEXICO
M-54
23
TERRENCE
JENNINGS
USA
M-68
23
24
YONGZHENG
XU
CHINA
M-58
24
ISAH ADAM
MOHAMMAD
NIGERIA
25
MOHAMMAD TARIQ JAMILU
NIGERIA
M-58
25
JEAN NOEL
OBOU SERI
COTE D'IVOIRE
26
MOUSSA
CISSE
FRANCE
M-54/58
26
ERICK
OSORIO NUNEZ
27
RUSLAN
POISEEV
RUSSIA
M-58
27
DAMIR
28
SERGEJ
KOLB
GERMANY
M-54
28
29
GUSTAVO
VILLA VALDEZ
MEXICO
M-54/58
30
JIWOONG
PARK
KOREA
M-54
M-87/+87 M87+
M87+
M-74
19
ROMAN
KUZNETSOV
RUSSIA
M87+
M-74/80
20
ALEXANDROS
NIKOLAIDIS
GREECE
M87+
ARMENIA
M-80
21
CHOLHO
JO
KOREA
M87+
KIM
UZBEKISTAN
M-74
22
MOHAMED
EL KHARZAZI
MOROCCO
M-87
STEVEN
LOPEZ
USA
M-80
23
TAVAKGUL
BAYRAMOV
AZERBAIJAN
M-87/+87
M-68
24
SEIFEDDINE
TRABELSI
TUNISIA
M-74
24
MICKAEL JUSTIN
BOROT
FRANCE
M87+
M-63/68
25
YASSINE
TRABELSI
TUNISIA
M-80
25
IVAN
NIKITIN
RUSSIA
M-87
MEXICO
M-68
26
MEHRAN
ASKARI
IRAN
M-80
26
YONGHYUN
PARK
KOREA
M-87
FEJZIC
SERBIA
M-68
27
TORANN
MAIZEROI
FRANCE
M-74/80
27
ABDELKADER
ZROURI
MOROCCO
M87+
DENNIS
BEKKERS
NETHERLANDS
M-68
28
ELVIN
MAMMADOV
AZERBAIJAN
M-74
28
GADZHI
UMAROV
RUSSIA
M-87/+87
29
YUAN CHIH
CHU
CHINESE TAIPEI
M-63
29
OUMAR
CISSE
MALI
M-80
29
SALVADOR
PEREZ RODRIGUEZ
MEXICO
M87+
30
ROHULLAH
NIKPAI
AFGHANISTAN
M-68
30
YOUSEF
KARAMI
IRAN
M-80
30
VANJA
BABIC
SERBIA
M87+
World Taekwondo Federation
47
2012 WTF EVENTS CALENDAR No.
Dates
Place
Event
Grade
1
Jan. 11-12
Cairo, Egypt
WTF African Qualification Tournament for 2012 London Olympic Games
G-5
2
Jan. 27-29
Kazan, Russia
WTF European Qualification Tournament for 2012 London Olympic Games
G-5
3
Feb. 9-11
Manama, Bahrain
4th Bahrain Open
G-1
4
Feb. 11-12
Treleborg, Sweden
Trelleborg Open 2012
G-1
5
Feb. 21-24
Las Vegas, USA
2012 US Open
G-2
6
March 3-4
Hamburg, Germany
German Open 2012
G-1
7
March 24-25
Alicante, Spain
10th Spanish Open
G-2
8
April 4-8
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
9th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships
N/A
9
May 3-6
Manchester, U.K.
20th European Senior Taekwondo Championships
G-5
10
May 4
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
2nd Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
N/A
11
May 5
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
1st Asian Junior Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
N/A
12
May 6-8
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
6th Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships
N/A
13
May 9-11
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
20th Asian Taekwondo Championships
G-5
14
May 20-25
Quebec City, Canada
2012 Sportaccord Convention
N/A
15
May 25-30
Pocheon, Korea
2012 World University Taekwondo Championships
G-2
16
May 26-June 2 (Taekwondo: May 27-29)
Seoul, Korea
7th Asia Pacific Deaf Games
N/A
17
July 4-8
Alexandria, Egypt
5th Alexandria International Open
G-1
18
July 27-Aug.12 (Taekwondo: Aug. 8-11)
London, U.K.
2012 London Olympic Games
G-10
19
Sept. 10-15 (Taekwondo: Sept. 11-13)
Margarita, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela
14th World Deaf Martial Arts Championships
N/A
20
Oct. 19-26
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
20th CISM World Military Taekwondo Championships
G1
21
Nov. 22
Santa Cruz, Aruba
3rd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships
N/A
22
Nov. 23-25
Santa Cruz, Aruba
2012 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships
G-5
23
Dec. 6-9
Medellin, Colombia
7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
N/A
2013 WTF EVENTS CALENDAR 1
TBD
TBD
2013 WTF World Taekwondo Championships
G-7
2
June 20-30
Mersin, Turkey
17th Mediterranean Games
TBD
3
Oct. 18-26
St.Petersburg, Russia
2nd Sportaccord World Combat Games
TBD
World Taekwondo Federation
49
2011 WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS in GYEONGJU, KOREA
IRAN CLINCHES MEN’S OVERALL TITLE AT 2011 WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS ATTRACTING A RECORD 149 COUNTRIES Iran grabbed the men’s overall title at the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships, which took place in Gyeongju, Korea on May 1-6, 2011. It marked the first time that Korea failed to retain the men’s overall title in the history of the biennial World Taekwondo Championships.
points, and Spain with one gold and one bronze for 36 points.
The event drew some 1,800 athletes and officials from a record 149 countries on the entry basis. A total of 80 international referees officiated at the championships. Korea managed to clinch the women’s overall title at the World Taekwondo Championships, which took place at the Gyeongju Indoor Stadium. China won the women’s overall title at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, the first ever in the WTF World Championships' history. In the men’s division, Iran garnered three gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals for a total of 74 points, followed by Korea with two gold medals and two silvers for 61 points. Turkey came next with one gold, one silver and one bronze for 48 points, followed by Thailand with one gold, one silver and one bronze for 37
52
WTF
In the women’s category, Korea won one gold, two silvers and three bronzes for 58 points, followed by China with two golds and two silvers for 55 points, and France with two golds and one bronze for 45 points. Croatia came next with one gold and one silver for 35 points, and Turkey with three bronzes for 31 points. The Gyeongju World Championships featured a protector and scoring system (PSS) and an instant video replay system, helping make the biennial event the most transparent and fairest competition ever. The Championships showed a very good medal
distribution with a total of 24 countries earning at least one medal. In the men's division, 18 countries won at least one medal, compared with 14 countries in the women's division. All the semifinal and final matches were broadcast live by Korea’s KBS TV and a dozen major TV stations around the world. Croatia’s Ana Zaninovic was chosen as the female Most Valuable Player of the championships, while Turkey’s Servet Tazegul became the male Most Valuable Player. The Good Fighting Spirit Awards went to Greece and Gabon, while the Active Participation Prizes went to Kazakhstan and Puerto Rico.
World Taekwondo Federation
53
The special event, which lasted 11 minutes, including a fiveminute first half and another five-minute second half, with a one-minute break, drew special attention from both spectators and international media. You can see the whole team match at the WTF YouTube. The weight categories of the male athletes for the team competition were -68kg and -74kg. No electronic protectors were used. In the first half, a contestant competed with his counterpart for one minute in accordance with the submitted fight list. Each team submitted their fight list 10 minutes before the start of the competition. In the second half, athletes were freely replaced at any time without limit after an athlete carried out at least two exchanges of techniques. Russia won the friendly team match 18-16.
The Best Referee Awards went to Mr. Jose Luis Gonzalo Morales of Spain, Mrs. Neydis Tavarez of Puerto Rico, Mr. Abubak Kordi of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Young Hwan Choi of Korea, and Mr. Stephen Liu of New Zealand. Iran’s Reza Mehmandoust earned the male Best Coach Award, while Korea’s Maeng Gon Kim won the female Best Coach Award. On May 1, there was an opening ceremony of the championships at the Gyeongju Indoor Gymnasium. The ceremony drew Korean Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Byoung Gug Choung, Jun-pyo Hong, president of the Korean Taekwondo Association; Gwan-yong Gim, governor of North Gyeongsang Province; and Yang-sik Choi, mayor of Gyeongju. “The 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships have attracted a record number of countries,” said WTF President Chungwon Choue in his opening remarks at the opening ceremony. Dr. Choue said, “As we continue to grow, it could not be a better time to reach out to our brothers and sisters around the world to better serve humanity … to serve each other.” “This year’s theme 'World Peace through Taekwondo' aims to stretch out our hands to offer help and hope to those in need around the world in orphanages and refugee camps,” he said. “The beginnings of these efforts can already be seen in Thailand and Guatemala, where the national taekwondo governing bodies have worked to bring the spirit of taekwondo and Olympism to youth in orphanages. It is my hope that more work like this can be done in other countries.”
MEDAL TALLY BY NATION Men Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Nation IRAN KOREA TURKEY THAILAND SPAIN GREAT BRITAIN UZBEKISTAN RUSSIA ITALY AZERBAIJAN AFGHANISTAN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CHINESE TAIPEI MOROCCO VIETNAM CYPRUS PORTUGAL MALI Total
Women G
S
B Rank
3 2 1 1 1
1 2 1 1
2
1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 8
8
1 16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Nation KOREA CHINA FRANCE CROATIA TURKEY RUSSIA MOROCCO GREAT BRITAIN THAILAND SPAIN CHINESE TAIPEI CANADA GERMANY SERBIA Total
G
S
B
1 2 2 1
2 2
3
1 1
1 1
1 1
3 2 1
2 1 1 2 1
8
8
16
At the end of the opening ceremony, a five-member team competition between Korea and Russia was held to show the world the dynamics of taekwondo competition.
World Taekwondo Federation
55
3RD INT’L SYMPOSIUM FOR TAEKWONDO STUDIES HELD IN GYEONGJU, KOREA opening address on behalf of WTF President Chungwon Choue. “The main theme of this symposium well reflects the growing popularity of taekwondo worldwide as a global sport for all that transcends nationality, gender, physical disability and age,” Mr. Coles said. “The development of taekwondo in this academic field should also involve global initiatives of exchanging ideas and academic discussions to accommodate the characteristics of taekwondo disciplines in different parts of the world,” he said. “This international symposium, therefore, opens a unique opportunity for international scholars in the field of taekwondo studies to share the ideas on taekwondo academic programs and curriculum as well as discuss findings of outstanding studies in the field.” The 3rd International Symposium for Taekwondo Studies was held at the Hyundai Hotel in Gyeongju, Korea on April 29, 2011, two days before the opening of the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships. Under the theme “Realization of Olympism through Taekwondo Education,” the two-day symposium drew about 300 academics and dignitaries from at home and abroad. A total of 46 papers from 13 countries, including Iran, Bolivia, Croatia, Greece, the United States, and Great Britain, were presented for the participants in the symposium. The first international taekwondo symposium was held in 2007 on the occasion of the 2007 World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing, China, with the second one in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. During the opening ceremony, Mr. Phillip Walter Coles, a member of the International Olympic Committee from Australia and a vice president of the WTF, delivered an
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Grandmaster Won-sik Kang, president of the Kukkiwon, made a congratulatory speech during the opening ceremony. “The importance of the educational value of taekwondo for the development of the taekwondo field cannot be underestimated. However, support and attention from various taekwondo organizations were lacking for the academic research and development of taekwondo,” Kang said. Two keynote speeches were made during the opening ceremony. Under the topic “The Exercise Pressor Reflex: What is it? Why is it important?” Dr. Charles Stebbins of the United States made the first keynote speech, while Dr. Jong Young Lee of Korea delivered a second keynote speech under the title “Social Scientific Considerations for Successful Taekwondo Globalization.” As a special event of the opening ceremony, Mr. Koptev Vladimir, a Russian parataekwondo practitioner, made a special taekwondo demonstration for about 10 minutes, drawing a big applause from the participants.
6TH WTF WORLD TAEKWONDO POOMSAE CHAMPIONSHIPS WRAP UP IN RESOUNDING SUCCESS IN VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA The 6th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships concluded its threeday competition in a great success in Vladivostok, Russia on July 31, 2011. The annual event drew about 570 athletes from 53 countries, with a total of 18 gold medals up for grabs. A total of 18 countries took home at least one medal at the annual championships, showing an even taekwondo poomsae techniques among nations. Besides the poomsae competitions, there were five-country invitational five-member kyorugi team exhibition matches, a three-nation friendship free-style poomsae contest, and a friendship poomsae contest for WTF member national association officials and WTF Council members, all of them drawing special attention from both the jam-packed spectators at the Olympiets sports complex and the international media.
According to the medal tally by nation, Korea topped others as it took home nine gold medals and one silver medal for the overall title of the championships. Vietnam came next with two golds, four silvers and one bronze. Germany followed with two golds, two silvers and one bronze, while Chinese Taipei won two golds, one silver and five bronzes. Host Russia clinched one gold, four silvers and three bronzes, followed by Great Britain and Mexico with one gold medal each. Iran grabbed two silvers and six bronzes, while Spain grabbed one silver and three bronzes. The Philippines followed with one silver and two bronzes, while Denmark and China won one silver and one bronze each. Turkey clinched seven bronzes, while Belgium, Canada, Colombia, the Netherlands and Thailand won one bronze medal each. In the five-member kyorugi team exhibition final match, Korea beat host Russia 36-12 for the gold medal and a top prize of $30,000. Russia took home $20,000.
Turkey brushed aside a stiff challenge from Azerbaijan to won the bronze-medal decider 45-32 for the bronze medal and a third-place prize of $15,000.
On July 29, there was an opening ceremony of the Vladivostok World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.
In the friendship poomsae contest for WTF member national association officials and Council members, Mr. Jarkko Makinen, secretary general of the Finland Taekwondo Federation, won the gold medal, while the silver went to Mr. Roger Piarulli, president of the French Taekwondo Federation. Ms. Liang Ming Wong, secretary general of the Singapore Taekwondo Federation, clinched the bronze medal in the friendship contest.
The opening ceremony featured various Russian modern and traditional dances and a Russian taekwondo demonstration by young taekwondo practitioners. There was a taekwondo display by the WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team, drawing big applauses from the spectators.
The MVP honors of the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships went to Russian Stanislay Ligai and Juliia Arkhipova, who won the gold medal in the 1st pair division. The Best Referee Award recipients were Chinese Taipei's Hua Lien Jung, Korea's Jung-jin Jeon, Italy's Costantino Luciano, Russia's Lifshits Vladimir and Morocco's Bamaarouf El Hadj.
The ceremony drew such influential figures as WTF President Chungwon Choue; Mr. Alexander Kostenko, 1st vice governor of the Primorsky Territory and chairman of the Vladivostok World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Organizing Committee; Mr. Victor Gorchakov, chairman of the Primorye Parliament; Vladivostok Mayor Igor Pushkarev; Mr. Anatoly Terekhov, president of the Russian Taekwondo Union; and Mr. Valery Kan, president of the Primorye Regional Taekwondo Federation. “The sport of taekwondo is ever changing. It has reached across the world, welcoming every person no matter their age, gender, race, religion, or physical
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Taekwondo is a way of being, which has become a fabric of my life, says Singaporean Sister Linda Sim.
The 56-year-old Singaporean sister, who started taekwondo at the age of 8, drew a special attention from both the spectators and the international media.
“Taekwondo gives much hope to those children with cancer and other serious diseases,” Sister Linda Sim said. “For me, taekwondo is more than a martial art and competitive sport. It is a way of being, which has become a fabric of my life.”
In 2006, the Singaporean Taekwondo Federation started offering free taekwondo lessons to children with cancer and other life-limiting conditions at the Assisi Hospice Children Day Care Center and Sister Linda Sim participated in the program as a coach.
As a player, Singapore’s Sister Linda Sim participated in the women’s individual 2nd master division of the 6th WTF World Takwondo Poomsae Championships in Vladivostok, Russia on July 30, 2011, in which she ranked 10th and failed to advance the next round.
Mr. Roger Piarulli, president of the French Taekwondo Federation ability,” said WTF President Choue at the opening ceremony. “It offers hope and determination, a sense of discipline and morality, and a strong foundation for a healthy way of life. But as our family grows larger, we must adopt and grow.” Dr. Choue continued to say, “This year, there is a new look to this poomsae competition. As you see, new competition uniforms have been implemented to bring a sense of authenticity poomsae events.” “But the changes won’t stop there. Next year, free-style poomsae will be introduced. Athletes will be afforded the ability to adapt the old forms of poomsae into new, dynamic and artistic forms of taekwondo.” As a special program prior to the opening ceremony, there was a five-member quarterfinal team match between China and Azerbaijan, in which Azerbaijan beat China 24-45. The action-packed team match drew big applauses from the spectators. Shortly after the opening ceremony, there was a five-member semifinal team match between Azerbaijan and host Russia. In the first half, which lasted five minutes, Azerbijan led Russia 12-8. In the second five-minute half, Russia came from behind to outpoint Azerbaijan 33-32. Five countries – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Korea, China and host Russia - competed for top honors at the five-member kyorugi team competition. Another highlight of the opening ceremony was a free-style poomsae friendship competition involving teams from the Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam. Free-style poomsae is the performance based on taekwondo techniques with composition of music and choreography. At the friendship competition, Vietnam won the gold medal with 7.58 points, while Turkey took the silver medal with 7.50 points. The bronze medal went to the Philippines with 7.38 points.
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MEDAL TALLY BY NATION Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 6 8 9 10 11 11 13 14 14 14 14 14
KOREA VIETNAM GERMANY CHINESE TAIPEI RUSSIA GREAT BRITAIN MEXICO IRAN SPAIN PHILIPPINES DENMARK CHINA TURKEY NETHERLANDS COLOMBIA BELGIUM CANADA THAILAND Total
Gold
Silver
Bronze
9 2 2 2 1 1 1 · · · · · · · · · · · 18
1 4 2 1 4 · · 2 1 1 1 1 · · · · · · 18
· 1 1 5 3 · · 6 3 2 1 1 7 1 1 1 1 1 35
Through the program, those children coached by Sister Linda Sim participated in competitions, including the 1st Singapore National Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in 2007, in which the children won six gold medals, two silvers and one bronze.
NEW WTF POOMSAE COMPETITION RULES (In force as of October 4, 2011) Article 9 Free Style Poomsae 1. Free Style Poomsae is the performance based on taekwondo techniques with composition of music and choreography. 2. Composition of Free Style Poomsae 2.1. Yeon-mu line shall choice of contestant 2.2. Number of Poom: Each performance shall be composite of 20 to 24 poom. (Composition of 1 poom shall be no more than 5 motions.) 2.3. Technique: Each performance shall be composite of attacking and defending techniques of taekwondo with 60% foot techniques and 40% hand techniques. 2.4. Music & choreography shall be choice of contestant. 2.5. Performed techniques must be within boundary of taekwondo. The definition of taekwondo techniques shall be determined
FREE-STYLE POOMSAE TO MAKE DEBUT AT 2012 WTF WORLD TAEKWONDO POOMSAE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN COLOMBIA
Article 10 Duration of Contest 1. Duration of Contest by Division 1.1. Free Style Poomsae: Individual, Pair, and Mixed Team competitions from 60 seconds to 70 seconds.
Article 15 Scoring Criteria 2. Free Style Poomsae (10.0) 2.1. Technical Skills (6.0) 2.1.1. Level of difficulty of foot techniques 2.1.2. Accuracy of movements 2.1.3. Degree of completion of Poomsae 2.2. Presentation (4.0) 2.2.1. Creativity 2.2.2. Harmony 2.2.3. Expression of energy 2.2.4. Music & Choreography 2.3. The types of kick in level of difficulty of foot techniques shall be designated by WTF Poomsae Committee every year. 2.4. Allotted Scoring Chart for Free Style Poomsae Scoring Criteria
Details of Scoring Criteria
Point
Colombia will host the 7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Medellin in December 2012, which will feature free-style poomsae competition for the first time.
The 7th annual World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships are scheduled to take place on Dec. 6-9 in Colombia’s second largest city of Medelline, which is located northwest of the Colombian capital of Bogota.
3.0
Free-style poomsae is the performance based on taekwondo techniques with composition of music and choreography. The duration of free-style poomsae will be 60 seconds to 70 seconds for individual, pair and mixed team competitions.
As part of its efforts to further promote taekwondo among all ages of people around the world, the WTF launched the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in 2006 in Seoul, drawing 584 athletes from 57 countries. The second World Poomsae Championships took place in Incheon, Korea in 2007, with the third edition in Ankara, Turkey in 2008. The fourth edition of the championships took place in Cairo, Egypt, with the fifth and sixth ones in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2010 and in Vladivostok, Russia in 2011, respectively.
Height of jump Level of difficulty of foot techniques (3.0)
Number of jumping kicks Gradient of turn Number of consecutive kicks Acrobatic actions
Technical Skills (6.0 ) Accuracy of movements (1.5) Degree of completion of Poomsae (1.5)
Basic movements Designated Technical Movement
1.5
Practicability Connectivity between offensive and defensive movements
1.5
Creativeness Presentation (4.0)
Harmony Expression of energy
4.0
Music & choreography Maximum Points (10.0)
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Raul Pinzon Salamanca (left), president of the Colombian Taekwondo Federation
10.0
According to the revised WTF Poomsae Competition Rules, which went in force as of October 4, 2011, scoring criteria for free-style poomsae consist of technical skills and presentation. Technical skills are made up of level of difficulty of foot techniques, accuracy of movements and degree of completion of poomsae, while presentation consists of creativeness, harmony, expression of energy and music & choreography. “The debut of free-style poomsae at the WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships will draw great interest from both the international media and the public, thus greatly helping enhance the image of taekwondo,” said Raul Pinzon Salamanca, president of the Colombian Taekwondo Federation, in a recent interview. Mr. Pinzon said, “By hosting the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, the first to be held in the Pan American region, Colombia will position itself well in the global taekwondo map as a strong poomsae country.”
Mr. Pinzon said Colombia is one of the strongest poomsae powers in the Pan American region, together with Mexico and Peru. “On the occasion of the World Poomsae Championships, the population of taekwondo in Colombia, which stands at about 50,000, will rapidly grow.” He said Colombia sent its poomsae athletes to the 2010 Pan American Senior Championships in Mexico and the 2011 Pan American Junior Championships in Las Vegas, the United States both featured free-style poomsae competitions.
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THE BIRTH OF JCalicu In 2006, the poomsae competition uniform committee convened and concluded that a different type of uniform to distinguish male, female, poom and dan would be developed, which was passed at the WTF General Assembly in Beijing, China in 2007. Public appearance:
POOMSAE COMPETITION UNIFORM MANUAL & SPECIFICATIONS • THE EMBLEM
• POOM HOLDER
JCalicu was first seen at the 20th World Taekwondo Championship held in Gyeongju, Korea in May 2011. It was then officially worn as a WTF-recognized uniform by all competitors at the 6th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Vladivostok, Russia in July 2011. Since its successful debut, JCalicu is widely used at competitions around the world. As a place to see the uniforms up-close and personal, Dolsilnai, which designed the uniform concept, runs a gallery in Insadong, downtown Seoul dedicated to JCalicu Poomsae Competition Uniforms. The opening ceremony of the gallery in December 2011 was drew VIPs such as WTF President Chungwon Choue, Honduran Amb. to Korea Michel Idiaquez Baradat, and the WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team put on an exciting performance for a vast applauding audience. JCalicu CEO James Chung said, "We wanted to portray Korean tradition in an aesthetically pleasing way to meet our consumers' needs. We are confident that with the rising number of taekwondo practitioners worldwide, JCalicu will contribute to boosting the public image of Korea."
Vest Basic Type A
Basic Type B
Male: White Top (Red/Black Collar) Male: White Top (Red/Black Collar) + + Blue Pants Red Pants
• GRAND MASTER
• DAN HOLDER
Meaning and symbolism The word JCalicu means passion, and our brand aims to inspire not only “passion for sport” but also “passion for life,” moreover it represents the passion of the JCalicu team who have endeavored to show the world that "we make it for the world to wear." Poomsae competition uniform is classified by "Geup," "Poom" and "Dan." The purpose is to emphasize an intensification of the martial art training and to identify the discipline and authority by distinguishing the order of rank - "Geup," "Poom" and "Dan." The new WTF poomsae competition uniform emblem was designed to convey the universality of taekwondo by internally centralising 'WTF' with Korean legendary God's (Phoenix, White Tiger, Blue Dragon and Black Tortoise) surrounding a Western crest and pointing in all four directions to depict the Korean outlook on the universe. The Taeguk symbol at the top of the emblem represents heaven, earth and man.
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Vest
Male: White Top (Red/Black Collar) Male: White Top (Red/Black Collar) + + Blue Pants Red Pants
Vest
Male & Female: Yellow Top + Dark Blue Pants
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2011 EUROPEAN MASTERS GAMES FEATURE TAEKWONDO COMPETITION FOR 1ST TIME The second edition of the European Masters Games, which drew 4,108 athletes, was successfully held in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy on Sept. 10-20, 2011. The taekwondo competition of the European Masters Games was held for the first time ever in taekwondo history, under the direction of Maurizio Dunnhofer, executive president of the event. It was sponsored by the World Taekwondo Federation and organized by the Italian Taekwondo Federation. The European Masters Games were created, citing from the EMG homepage, with the intention of: - Promoting the philosophy of “sport for life” and "sport for all” - Motivating a goaloriented and long-term attitude toward sport and physical fitness - Offering a broadbased participation in an open sports event featuring a number of disciplines in a truly multi-national environment - Encouraging matured individuals from all over Europe to participate in sport regardless of sex, race, religion or sports status - Setting an example by the participants to inspire the youth of Europe to acknowledge that competitive sport may continue throughout life. This event, particularly, drew massive media coverage as well: “Fourteen hours of TV production broadcast on RaiSport, reports from Lignano 2011 in the sporting programme Stade 2, France 2 and Austria’s Orf, over 150 hours of recordings and special broadcast on Friuli Venezia Giulia regional channels and 12 hours of live streaming on www.Lignano2011.it,” according to the official EMG news. Furthermore, “500 articles published at international, national and local levels in all types of newspapers including Equipe Magazine, La Gazzetta dello Sport and La Repubblica, as well as an on-line photo gallery also on Gazzetta.it, Repubblica. it and La Stampa.it” as quoted by the Lignano EMG news site. It is also said that “over hundred forty news posted on the Web site, over 80 TV reports, and over 90
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thousand photos taken.” All these numbers show how successful the event was and it was enough to capture the attention of both the public and the media. There were three martial arts sports in this competition, taekwondo, judo and karate, with a total number of 392 athletes. The taekwondo event, competed in by 107 athletes from 18 countries, was successfully held so that many countries shared the gold medals: Italy 8, Germany 7, Spain 7, Sweden 3, Finland 2, Norway 1, England 1, and Turkey 1. Germany and Spain got great results considering the small number of their participants and Italy won the most silver and bronze medals. Germany, Italy and Spain fought an intense battle in the poomsae competition, and Germany, Italy, Norway and Spain fought fiercely against each other in kyorugi. Italy, as a result, won the first place thanks to the home ground advantage and the large number of participants. The medals were given out by Dr. Sun Jae Park, president of the Italian Taekwondo Federation and vice president of the World Taekwondo Federation; Mr. S. Pragalos, president of the European Taekwondo Union; Mr. Angelo Cito, secretary general of the Italian Taekwondo Federation; Mr. Riccardo Chiumento, president of the Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia; and Mr. Young Ghil Park, technical delegate of the game appointed by Dr. Chungwon Choue, president of the World Taekwondo Federation; mayors and committee members of the game. In this competition, the skill level of the athletes was similar. Furthermore, the judges’ impartiality was proved by zero appeals and zero protests. Since it was the very first Masters Games, the Taekwondo Committee focused on preventing the athletes from possible injuries and risks by dividing the participanting
groups as follows: 1. Dividing into two divisions: professionals and amateurs 2. Each divisions separated again by ages and weights Professionals are the athletes who have competed in a European Championship, World Championships, and/or any competitions equivalent; compatible to a member of a national team. Amateurs are the rest.
to increase the number of categories from four to eight. The 9th World Masters Games as well as the very first World Taekwondo Masters Games will be held in Turin, Italy in 2013. Therefore, based on the success of the European Masters Games, the WTF should develop more precise competition regulations, rules, instructions and directions in advance, so as to establish the opportunity to contribute to taekwondo’s further diffusion and development to the world.
The Committee also adjusted the duration of the contest to three rounds of one minute in order to avoid any possible accidents in kyorugi between masters, and it turned out to be very effective considering the average ages of the participants. Overall, this European Masters Games surely were a historical event that all competitors shared the joy of participating more than winning. This game confirmed the passion in the hearts of participants toward taekwondo and also gave them happiness in seeing all their students gathere together to cheer for their masters. The athletes’ impressions of participating in the game were very inspiring; each participant clearly showed the joy of regaining his or her lost passion as well as self-confidence. Suggestions: We may leave the division-dividing system as it is now, professionals and amateurs, in order to attract more participants to the game. In order to run the games more effectively, however, in kyorugi, at least, it must be better World Taekwondo Federation
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070
London Olympic Referee Training Camp One
072
Road to London 2012
074
WTF S-Class IR (Kyorugi)
076
2012 IR Education Schedule
078
WTF Best Referee Award Recipients
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IR Interview
LONDON OLYMPIC REFEREE TRAINING CAMP ONE KICKS OFF IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN The WTF-organized Olympic Referee Training Camp One kicked off on Feb. 28, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan for a four-day run.
The first day of the camp was focused on hand signal and review of competition rules.
The camp was held in Musado, one of the WTF-designated Regional Taekwondo Training Centers worldwide.
All the 30 referees, who were selected for the 2012 London Olympic Games, attended this important camp, which will be critical to their performances at the Games period.
Mr. Jean-Marie Ayer, newly appointed WTF Secretary General, delivered a lecture to the referees at the camp under the topic “Olympic Challenges to Taekwondo.”After the opening ceremony, a press conference was held with the attendance of many TV and press journalists.
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Major contents of the training program were: Review on General Competition Rules, Review on Penalties, Review on Hand Signals, Review on Instant Video Replay, Review on Competition Procedure, Review on Scoring Criteria, Video Analysis, Ethics, Game Management & Scoring Simulations, One-and-One Feedback Sessions with Instructors.
FINAL 30 OLYMPIC REFEREES FOR LONDON 2012 No.
Age
Name
Continent
Nation (NOC)
1
32
Liang Si
Asia
China (CHN)
2
46
Shahram Arbabi
Asia
Iran (IRI)
3
47
Young Hwan Choi
Asia
Korea (KOR)
4
50
Abubakr Kordi
Asia
Saudi Arabia (KSA)
5
35
Julie Dib
Asia
Lebanon (LIB)
6
50
Roland Gayo Campos
Asia
Philippines (PHI)
7
40
Shu hua Dai
Asia
Chinese Taipei (TPE)
8
42
Kwang Cheol Oh
Europe
Azerbaijan (AZE)
9
35
Renata Crkvenac
Europe
Croatia (CRO)
10
54
David Coupar
Europe
Denmark (DEN)
11
45
Carmen Navarro Ingles
Europe
Spain (ESP)
12
39
Hlynur Gissurarson
Europe
Iceland (ISL)
13
56
Mohammed Argoubi
Europe
Netherlands (NED)
14
41
Stig Ove Ness
Europe
Norway (NOR)
15
33
Andrey Khegay
Europe
Russia (RUS)
16
32
Predrag Tesovic
Europe
Serbia (SRB)
17
34
Ahmed El Mofty
Africa
Egypt (EGY)
18
39
Moshoeshoe Mokake
Africa
Lesotho (LES)
19
50
Alioune Badara Traore
Africa
Mali (MLI)
20
59
Kerry Ann Maynard Lister
Oceania
Australia (AUS)
21
50
Stanley Dennis Wagner
Oceania
New Zealand (NZL)
22
53
Jose Eduardo Cornelio
Pan Am
Aruba (ARU)
23
44
Song Chul Kim
Pan Am
Canada (CAN)
24
59
Nelson Brizuela Cortes
Pan Am
Costa Rica (CRC)
25
51
Jorge Reynoso Cruz
Pan Am
Mexico (MEX)
26
47
Neydis Tavarez
Pan Am
Puerto Rico (PUR)
27
52
Myung Chan Kim
Pan Am
United States (USA)
28
64
Teong Chin Lim
Asia
Singapore (SIN)
29
42
Xuan Thanh Vu
Asia
Vietnam (VIE)
30
59
Denis Odjo
Europe
France (FRA)
Remarks
Female Female Female Female
Female
STATISTICS OF OLYMPIC REFEREES FOR LONDON 2012 Event
2012 London
No. of IRs
30
No. of NOCs
30
Female
6 (20%)
Asia
9
Europe
10
Pan Am
6
Review Jury
Africa
3
Review Jury
Oceania
2
Review Jury
Average Age
46
Female
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ROAD TO LONDON 2012 (1) CAMP 1: Baku, Azerbaijan (Jan. 14-17, 2011) (2) CAMP 2: Guangzhou, China (March 2-5, 2011) (3) CAMP 3: Mexico City, Mexico (April 7-10, 2011) 4) Size of the camp (No. of invited IRs): total 260 * Maximum No. of IRs invited per nation: 7 (1) CAMP ONE: Europe & Africa: 100 (75 from Europe, 25 from Africa) (2) CAMP TWO: Asia & Oceania: 100 (85 from Asia, 15 from Oceania) (3) CAMP THREE: Pan America: 60 5) Category of IRs to be selected: (1) Center Referee (2) Corner Judge (3) Review Jury 6) No. of IRs to be selected from camps: total 60 (1) Europe & Africa: 24 (18 from Europe, 6 from Africa) (2) Asia & Oceania: 24 (19 from Asia, 5 from Oceania) (3) Pan America : 12 7) Duration of camp: 3 nights and 4 days 8) Training Curriculum: (1) Competition Rules Review (2) Scoring Criteria (3) Penalty (4) Emergency Situation (5) Ethics Mr. Chakir Chelbat (right), chairman of the WTF Referee Committee and Technical Controller of referee matters for London 2012, and Mr. Philippe Bouedo, chairman of the WTF Games Committee and Technical Delegate for London 2012. By Chakir Chelbat, WTF Referee Committee Chairman and Technical Controller of 2012 London Olympic Games
In outcome, international referees have a better understanding of competition rules with the help of referee handbook, power point presentation and video clips.
WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue has always emphasized the importance of selecting the best referees for the 2012 London Olympic Games as impartial judging and refereeing will be the key to success of the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games. To achieve this goal, the establishment of efficient selection criteria and transparent assessment process were required.
At first stage, we selected 60 international referees out of 260 invited international referees who came to training camp from 5 different continents after strict assessment based on their achievements by rank.
I worked with Philippe Bouedo (Technical Delegate for London 2012) and WTF Referee Division staff diligently to build up four different evaluation stages before making final recommendation of the referees for the 2012 London Olympic Games to the WTF President.
Outline for Selection & Training Camps:
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Evaluation Criteria: - For Center Referee: 1) Hustling, 2) Positioning, 3) Consistency in Issuing Penalty, 4) Proper Hand Signals, 5) Application of Rules, 6) Video Replay Procedure, 7) Procedure for Knockdown, 8) Procedure for Emergency Situation, 9) Overall match management - For Corner Judges: ability of scoring shall be evaluated by computerized system - For Review Juries: 1) Quick Decision Making 2) Percentage of Correction 3) Application of Rules - Also some other factors were taken into consideration such as potentiality, physical size, experience, and willingness of adaptation. Final Comment: With harmony, trust and support from WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue and the WTF Secretariat, I have been putting so much effort on referee education as well as selection process of Olympic referees by considering three main categories; effectiveness, fairness and transparency. I will continue to work hard to make sure that taekwondo will have the best Olympic Games ever in London 2012.
9) Selection Criteria (1) Medical Check-up (Eye sight, Blood Pressure, Hearing) (2) Physical Test (Agility, Speed) (3) Scoring Test by Swiss Timing (4) Game Management Test (5) Written Test on Competition Rules (6) English Oral Test (7) Instant Video Review Test by Dartfish t "OZ *3 XIP EPFT OPU NBSL QBTTJOH TDPSF PO UFTU PS IF PS TIF XJMM OPU CF considered as an Olympic referee.
Brief overview of the selection and training camp is as follows:
1) No. of camps: three (3) 2) Period: between January and April, 2011
In education perspective, I and the WTF Referee Division have strengthened education materials by adding more practical and visual items.
At fourth and final stage, Mr. Chakir Chelbat (WTF Referee Committee Chairman and Technical Controller of referee matters for London 2012) and Mr. Philippe Bouedo (WTF Games Committee Chairman and Technical Delegate for London 2012) have been evaluating IRs’ performances during 5 continental qualification tournaments for the final selection of 30 IRs.
3) Places & Dates:
At second stage, 5 evaluation members of ad-hoc committee (Mr. Chakir Chelbat, Mr. Philippe Bouedo, Mr. Driss El Hilali, Mr. Mario Mandel Vaisman, and Mr. Kook Hyun Jung) evaluated all 60 IRs’ actual performances of matches during the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, Korea. At third stage, once again same 5 evaluation members were in Baku, Azerbaijan to evaluate all 60 IRs performances for the second time during the World Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
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WTF S-CLASS INTERNATIONAL KYORUGI REFEREES (as of Feb. 29, 2012) Continent
Country
IR Number
Name
Promotion Date
Birth Date
Gender
Brunei
015-0687
Kalanayagam A.R. Nadarajan
2008/12/31
1949/12/19
Male
010-0568
Sung Kuang Sen
2000/12/31
1946/04/27
Male
010-0570
Mao Kee Lung
2004/06/30
1951/03/10
Male
010-0560
KIM Sa Ok
2002/12/31
1944/04/24
Male
006-0257
Charles Mok Hung Fai
2002/06/30
1948/10/09
Male
024-0987
MOON Myoung Gon
2010/06/30
1957/02/05
Male
Indonesia
018-0852
Acen Tanuwijaya
2011/12/31
1944/08/23
Male
Iran
025-0002
Mojtaba Nazmdeh
2010/12/31
1957/03/23
Male
001-0154
MOON Chang Nam
1994/09/10
1942/05/26
Male
001-0155
HONG Jeong Boo
1994/09/10
1943/03/03
Male
002-0070
KANG Sun Jang
2003/06/30
1947/01/15
Male
002-0083
KIM Kang Ein
2001/12/31
1948/07/18
Male
002-0086
LEE Sang Hyun
2003/12/31
1942/03/05
Male
002-0088
LEE Kyu Hyung
2000/12/31
1945/09/01
Male
Costa Rica
002-0118
KIM Ki Yong
2002/06/30
1948/03/15
Male
Mexico
002-0282
PARK Hyun Sup
1998/06/30
1946/03/02
Male
016-0737
OH Soo Gon
2008/12/31
1956/01/12
Male
016-0750
CHANG Myeong Soo
2009/12/31
1959/09/15
Male
016-0752
HAN Sang Jin
2008/06/30
1954/09/14
Male
Chinese Taipei
Hong Kong
Asia
Korea
016-0753
Europe
74
WTF
CHOI Jung Ho
2000/12/31
1954/09/22
Continent
Country
IR Number
Name
Promotion Date
Birth Date
Gender
001-0162
LEE Byung Kyu
1994/09/10
1944/10/25
Male
008-0572
Ken Wai-Kin Cheung
2002/12/31
1950/07/03
Male
015-0684
YU Myung Ok
2007/06/30
1952/08/21
Male
020-0938
Nelson Brizuela Cortes
2011/12/31
1953/05/26
Male
012-1061
Sergio Chavez
2005/12/31
1955/09/08
Male
015-0703
Rafael Jesus Ruelas Reyes
2010/06/30
1952/09/25
Male
013-0604
Varo Barragan
2006/08/02
1955/09/24
Male
001-0175
LEE Young Keun
1994/09/10
1939/06/17
Male
002-0281
KIM Young Sam
2000/12/31
1942/11/25
Male
Male
002-0069
LEE Eui Bin
2000/12/31
1941/05/03
Male
002-0072
PARK In Kon
2006/06/30
1945/04/04
Male
002-0100
KIM Dong Sup
2000/12/31
1943/02/03
Male
Canada
Panama Pan America
016-0766
KIM Kil Lae
2008/06/30
1943/08/20
Male
Malaysia
015-0692
Tai Loke Woon
2008/12/31
1961/02/06
Male
Nepal
015-0685
Deep Raj Gurung
2010/12/31
1959/09/15
Male
005-0225
KIM Koang Woong
1996/01/01
1937/07/10
Male
Singapore
006-0594
Teong Chin Lim
2001-06-30
1948/02/14
Male
013-0625
Gregory S. Kailian
2010/06/30
1946/05/23
Male
Croatia
021-0952
Miroslav Brezan
2011/12/31
1951/02/12
Male
019-0861
Bruce C.K.W. Harris
2000/12/31
1951/05/11
Male
France
013-0623
Benjamin John
2008/12/31
1953/03/31
Male
019-2059
William Sullivan
2011-12-31
1950-06-13
Male
Germany
013-0640
BAEK Jin Kun
2008/06/30
1947/08/24
Male
018-0848
JEONG Ki Young
2006/12/31
1946/06/08
Male
Italy
008-1034
Tricoli Lorenzo
2000/12/31
1951/10/05
Male
018-1082
Mohamed Riad Ibrahim
2010/12/31
1955/10/26
Male
Netherlands
001-0170
SEO Myung Soo
1998/12/31
1939/12/05
Male
013-0634
KIM Yong Kwang
2007/06/30
1948/04/23
Male
Russia
030-0002
Sergey A.Danilov
2010/12/31
1951/06/09
Male
013-0633
Snosy A. Mohamed
2009/06/30
1953/05/08
Male
Sweden
029-0134
Chakir Chelbat
2011/12/31
1964/08/28
Male
Australia
029-0123
Samuel Michael Loiacono
2010/12/31
1952/12/10
Male
Turkey
013-0632
Galip Ziya Yalginkaya
2009/12/31
1950/06/27
Male
New Zealand
020-0939
Stephen Liu
2011/12/31
1957/12/13
Male
U.S.A.
Egypt Africa Libya Oceania
World Taekwondo Federation
75
2012 INTERNATIONAL REFEREE EDUCATION SCHEDULE Month
Place, Country
Dates
Events
Al Fujairah, U.A.E.
10-14
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Al Fujairah, U.A.E.
15-17
IR Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
Sofia, Bulgaria
23-26
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
Baku, Azerbaijan
Feb. 28-March 2
Referee Training Camp for LOG 1
Auckland, New Zealand
12-16
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
4-8
WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships (Referees’ meeting and training : 1-3)
Abuja, Nigeria
17-20
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14-18
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
20-23
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
Belgrade, Serbia
6-10
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Suzhou, China
8-12
Referee Training Camp for LOG 2
June-July
Medellin, Colombia
Jun 28-July 2
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Aug.
London, U.K.
8-11
London Olympic Games (Referees’ meeting and training : 6-7)
Oct.
Sucre, Bolivia
15-18
IR Seminar & IR Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
Nov.
Oranjestad, Aruba
22-25
WTF World Cup Team Championships & 3rd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships (Referees’ meeting and training : 19-21)
Dec.
Medellin, Colombia
6-9
WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships (Referees’ meeting and training : 3-5)
Feb.
March
April
May
June
Remarks
WTF BEST REFEREE AWARD RECIPIENTS KYORUGI Event Title: 6th World Junior Taekwondo Championships Place: Hochiminh City, Vietnam Date: July 26~30/2006
Event Title: 17th (12th Women’s) World Taekwondo Championships Place: Madrid, Spain Date: April 13~17/2005 No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Thekla Breitenfeld (F) Linda Kwan (F) Chakir Chelbat (M) Jose Molero Lopez (M) Uwe Otterbein (M) Zhao Lei (M)
030-0014 029-0045 029-0134 025-0110 033-0029 034-0195
Germany Canada Sweden Spain Cuba China
Event Title: 1st World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships Place: Bangkok, Thailand Date: September 14~18/2006 No. 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
78
WTF
IR Number
Nationality
1
Chen Chun-Feng (F)
029-0098
Chinese Taipei
2
Nazmdeh Mojtaba (M)
025-0002
Iran
3
Myung Ok Yu (M)
029-0045
Canada
4
Thomas Klaey (M)
038-0024
Switzerland
5
Benali Youssef (M)
028-0001
Morocco
Event Title: 18th (13th Women’s) World Taekwondo Championships Place: Beijing, China Date: May 18~22/2007
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Jessica B. Stenholm (F) Tung Ya Ling (F) Khim Hua Seng (M) Dong Jun Sin (M) Vladimir Sheyka (M)
025-0020 034-0141 029-0042 045-0338 044-0001
Norway Chinese Taipei Australia Japan Russia
1 2 3 4 5
Event Title: 19th (14th Women’s) World Taekwondo Championships Place: Copenhagen, Denmark Date: October 14~18/2009
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
Ian Leafe (M) Carmen Navarro Ingles (F) Soo Gon Oh (M) Nelson Brizuela Cortes (M) Mohamed Hosni Ahmed (M)
025-0102 038-0226 016-0737 020-0938 038-0020
Great Britain Spain Korea Costa Rica Egypt
Event Title: 2009 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships & 1st ParaTaekwondo Championships Place: Baku, Azerbaijan Date: June 10~14/2009
Event Title: 7th World Junior Taekwondo Championships Place: Izmir, Turkey Date: May 7~11/2008 No.
Name (Gender)
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Joseph Elias Khoury (M) Denis Odjo (M) John Lee Holloway (M) Ahmed Hassan El Mofty (M) Rene Raymond Leveaux (M)
038-0046 035-0031 019-0865 046-0075 034-0172
Lebanon France U.S.A. Egypt Australia
1 2 3 4 5
No.
Event Title: 8th World Junior Taekwondo Championships Place: Tijuana, Mexico Date: March 6~9/2010
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
1
Jung Kwang Jeon (M)
034-0062
Korea
1
Mohammed Argoubi (M)
038-0216
Netherlands
2
Sandra Magally Pena (F)
043-0099
Colombia
2
David Coupar (M)
030-0006
Denmark
3
Myung Chan Kim (M)
019-0910
U.S.A.
3
Carmen Chiu (F)
046-0004
Macau
4
Predreg Tesovic (M)
050-0014
Serbia
4
Soo Hyeon Park (F)
038-0104
Korea
5
Faraj Alfadhel (M)
045-0240
Kuwait
5
Jose Eduardo Cornelio (M)
038-0163
Aruba
Event Title: 2010 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships Place: Urumqi, China Date: July 17~20/2010
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Serge Sembona (M) Barbara Ruth Marian (F) Song Chul Kim (M) Jatuporn Hemwonno (F) Samuel Michael Loiacono (M)
051-0004 043-0016 038-0164 042-0017 029-0123
France Canada Canada Thailand Australia
1 2 3
Event Title: 20th (15th Women’s) World Taekwondo Championships Place: Gyeongju, Korea Date: May 1~6/2011
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Si Liang (M) Julie Dib (F) Mohammed Bin Ishaq (M)
046-0046 046-0012 025-0211
China Lebanon U.A.E
1 2 3 4 5
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
Jose Luis Gonzalo Morales (M) Abubakr Kordi (M) Neydis Tavarez (F) Young Hwan Choi (M) Stephen Liu (M)
048-0062 025-0107 050-0024 038-0075 020-0939
Spain Saudi Arabia Puerto Rico Korea New Zealand
World Taekwondo Federation
79
POOMSAE
Event Title: 1st WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Seoul, Korea Date: September 4~6/2006 No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Event Title: 2nd WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Incheon, Korea Date: November 4~6/2007
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Kang-Ein Kim (M) Tong-Wan Shin (M) Varo David Barragan (M) Carmen Navarro Ingles (F) Teong Chin Lim (M) Nur Syahidah Binti Abdullah (F)
001-0027 003-0018 001-0122 005-0010 006-0055 006-0046
Korea Great Britain Panama Spain Singapore Malaysia
Event Title: 3rd WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Ankara, Turkey Date: December 16~18/2008 No. 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
80
WTF
IR Number
Nationality
1
Santiago Escutia (M)
001-0125
Mexico
2
Aly Mohamed Taher Nour (M)
006-0067
Egypt
3
In Ok Yang (F)
006-0021
Korea
4
Shin Boo Kim (M)
001-0121
Australia
5
Mustapha Moutarazak (M)
002-0011
Netherlands
Event Title: 4th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Cairo, Egypt Date: November 30~December 2/2009
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Jong Wan Kim (M) Jin Beom Kim (M) Maria Nelly Chacin (F) Raymond Hsu (M) Galip Yalcinkaya (M)
004-0010 006-0035 007-0031 007-0008 003-0008
France Korea Venezuela U.S.A. Turkey
1 2 3 4 5
Event Title: 5th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Tashkent, Uzbekistan Date: October 8~10/2010 No.
Name (Gender)
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
Jong Joo Kim (M) Kostas Kaloudis (M) Elba Monroy Garcia (F) Ahmed Mahmoud Rizk (M) Jose Luis Gonzalo Morales (M)
006-0023 009-0020 007-0019 002-0074 005-0024
Korea Greece Mexico Egypt Spain
Event Title: 6th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships Place: Vladivostok, Russia Date: July 29~31/2011
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
No.
Seung Jae Heo (M) Elio Luppichini Mella (M) Vera Moens (F) Roberto Lovpez (M) Ahmed Hassan El Mofty (M)
008-0012 007-0013 001-0141 001-0004 009-0006
Korea Chile Belgium Mexico Egypt
1 2 3 4 5
Name (Gender)
IR Number
Nationality
Jung Hua Lien (M) Costantino Luciano (M) Jung jin Jeon (F) Vladimir Lifshits (M) El Hadj Bamaarouf (M)
001-0133 003-0013 008-0010 006-0068 004-0021
Chinese Taipei Italy Korea Russia Morocco
What’s your overall evaluation of referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games? I thought the training at the camp was very fair and relevant to the duties of an international referee and a video jury. The rules are now more clear and transparent and the referees are very focused on their jobs. The evaluation process encourages the referees to do their best jobs they can and the video review jury are well trained to give the best outcome for the competitors. The training encourages the referees and jury to work together as a more professional team. What’s your opinion of using the PSS (Protector and Scoring System) and introducing an instant video replay system at the 2012 London Olympic Games? The PSS reduces the risk of human errors and is a more transparent system for scoring, though every system can be improved and the manufacturers are continually working to improve the scoring system. The video replay system offers the coach the opportunity to appeal decisions of the referee or judges, giving the competitors the best opportunity for a fair result; I think it will show taekwondo to be a fair and honest sport at these London Olympic Games.
Do you have any suggestions for the development of taekwondo and referee education of the World Taekwondo Federation? I would like to see the WTF help the poorer countries hold an IR Seminar because at the moment the cost is too expensive for many countries. How long have you been an international referee and what motivated you to become an international referee? I became an international referee in 1987. I was motivated by my master who nominated me to attend an International Referee Seminar as I had been a national referee in Argentina for many years. I felt it would be very beneficial for the development of taekwondo in my country to become an international referee, particularly a female because 1987 was the first time women participated in the World Taekwondo Championships and I wanted to develop the competition for females in my country. When did you start practicing taekwondo and what was your motivation? In 1975 my parents suggested I take up a sport for my health and fitness and I tried many different sports, but when I saw a demonstration of taekwondo at a club in Buenos Aires, I fell in love with it immediately.
82
WTF
What is your goal as an international referee?
Of course it would be wonderful to officiate as an international referee at the London Olympic Games, as I have worked for many years to develop taekwondo in South America. I visit many countries to help with their competitions and it is very exciting to see how the sport is growing in our region. My goal is to continue to support the development of taekwondo in the Pan American region. What is your biggest achievement so far as an international referee? I have been fortunate enough to officiate at many World Championships, World Cups, Olympics Qualifications and other exciting competitions, but when I was selected by the WTF in 1994 as one of the top ten referees in the world and traveled to Seoul, Korea to celebrate the centenary of the International Olympic Committee, I felt very proud.
Do you have any advices for those who are interested in becoming an international referee?
International referees have the big gift of living the fights in first line not as spectators but as an important part of its development, which makes us owners of the responsibilities of knowledge, continually learning, making the fairest judgments and keeping the fair play.
What’s your overall evaluation of the refereeing and judging at world and continental taekwondo qualification tournaments for the 2012 London Olympic Games? There has been a clear evolution in referees and judges work worldwide, which makes the selected team acquire a greater level of consistency.
Did you experience any difference in referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games compared with previous referee selection camps for Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympic Games? If so, what are differences? I had the chance to be part of the selection procedure for Athens, Beijing and London. The biggest deference is the feeling of transparency we get and the great feedback we get for our work.
What was your feeling toward entering as one of 60 nominees for the 2012 London Olympic referee?
I feel much honored and happy to be selected among the 60 nominees. It is the first step to be at the Olympics Games. And a way to reassure my responsibility is improving my skills and opening doors for people behind me.
You became the only female review jury officiating at the world and continental taekwondo qualification tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games. How do you feel? Taekwondo history shows that women conquer step by step their own place through their hard work. In this regard, being a review jury is just one more step for women in our sport.
Would you name several positive changes of refereeing and judging in the last 10 years? The change in the scoring system, which gives up to four points for a single successful turning kick to the head, as well as the introduction of the video replay system and the Protector and Scoring System, creates greater techniques, thus helping produce more exciting fights.
Would you name positive changes of referee education in the last 10 years? The education program nowadays focuses more on problem resolutions, which get us closer to reality. Over these last years the program produces more professional referees and judges focusing on their own duty: judging, refereeing, and video reviewing.
World Taekwondo Federation
83
How long have you been an international referee and what motivated you to become an international referee? I have been a WTF international referee since 2007. The urge to understand the workings of WTF competition arena, equipment and competitors behaviors during competition motivated me to become a referee.
When did you start practicing taekwondo and what was your motivation? I started practicing taekwondo in 1979 in Lagos, Nigeria. The struggle to defend myself against school bullies was my motivating factor.
What’s your opinion of using the PSS (Protector and Scoring System) and introducing an instant video replay system at the 2012 London Olympic Games? The PSS system is one of the numerous achievements of the WTF in terms of competitive taekwondo. It is an exhibition of fair play. I compared taekwondo tournaments in my days as an athlete and now, the PSS is a great success. Introducing the instant video replay and the use of the PSS at the 2012 London Olympic Games is fair play at its best. Do you have any suggestions for the development of taekwondo and referee education of the World Taekwondo Federation? The regular referee education by the WTF is lovely and it keeps one studying all the time and should be encouraged.
What is your goal as an international referee?
I won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1991 All Africa Games, the 1992 Olympic Games and the 1993 World Taekwondo Championships, respectively. It will be a big achievement for me to officiate at the All Africa Games, the World Championships and the Olympics Games. I have done at the All Africa Games and the World Championships and hoping to do the almighty Olympic Games.
What is your biggest achievement so far as an international referee? My biggest achievement so far was the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, Korea.
What’s your overall evaluation of referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games? The overall referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games was very fair from my point of view. The ideology of taekwondo as a world sport was indeed practiced totally. Selection was cut across all continents, this is a good work.
84
WTF
Do you have any advices for those who are interested in becoming an international referee? Hard work all the time and international referees can’t afford to make mistakes. What’s your overall evaluation of the refereeing and judging at the World and Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournaments for the 2012 London Olympic Games? Fair play at its best.
What was your feeling of being selected among the 60 referee nominees for the 2012 London Olympic Games? Words could not express how I felt. When I heard that I was among the best 60 international referees in the world, I was really excited. A kind of confidence took over me.
As a former Barcelona Olympic athlete and referee nominee for the 2012 London Olympic Games, would you like to share with us some of your taekwondo story? I am an example of a person burn and programmed to fail in life that was saved by the God of taekwondo. I lost my father at the age of three and survived by the day with no hope of seeing tomorrow. I hawked things and did all sort of jobs to survive. When I was 11 years old in 1979, I stumbled into the National Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria and found little boys like me practicing some form of martial arts which I later found out to be taekwondo. I walked to the instructor (Grandmaster Kofi Sunday Anani) and asked him if I could join the class. He said yes and that was the turning point. I was taught the tenants of taekwondo, taekwondo morals and discipline, physical training and so on. The passion for competitive taekwondo started in 1984 and grew by the day. I later continued training taekwondo with Grandmaster Emmanuel Ikpeme. When I saw the beauty and good looks on national champions of taekwondo and other sportsmen, the urge grew and thought of becoming a national champion too. At this time Korean instructors (Grandmaster Park and Kim Moo-cheon) came to Nigeria through the Nigerian army and taekwondo standards started to improve. In 1988 I became a national middle champion after beating the then 1987 All African Games gold medalist Tony Ilukho at the 1st Korean Ambassador’s Taekwondo Championships. I realized at this time that I can go far in competitive taekwondo, so I practiced harder and moved to the heavyweight class and became the national champion. In 1991 I got the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the All Africa Games in Egypt with Grandmaster Lee Byoung Ho as the national coach. I won a gold medal in the heavyweight class. The 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games were next, I got a silver medal and finally competed at the 1993 World Taekwondo Championships and won a bronze medal.
Would you name three positive changes of refereeing and judging in last 10 years? Refereeing is more professional. Refereeing is fairer and human errors have reduced to zero. Team work of referees is excellent.
Would you name three positive changes of referee education in last 10 years? Better knowledge of referee rules. Kept referees working constantly. More opportunity to review referee rules.
World Taekwondo Federation
85
What’s your overall evaluation of the refereeing and Judging at World and Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games?
How long have you been an international referee and what motivated you to become an international referee?
In the World Qualification in Baku, Azerbaijan, the refereeing was manual with few mistakes, leading the referees were on the top-level, elite referees. Most participants were satisfied with referees decisions.
I have been an international referee for 12 years. My drive is to understand taekwondo well to teach my players properly to enable them to win in the contest. Also I wanted to do something important for my country and for myself.
When did you start practicing taekwondo and what was your motivation?
What was your feeling toward entering as one of 60 nominees for the 2012 London Olympic Games referee?
I started taekwondo in 1985 when I was a university student majoring in chemistry. I wanted to spend my leisure time successfully and usefully. Also I think that taekwondo made me more organized in arranging my spare time and being successful in my major at university. Actually taekwondo changed the course of my life and improved my abilities and skills in refereeing and training.
I am proud to be in London qualification and I've looked forward to having this chance. I think I'm one of the best IRs in the world. I'm glad and grateful to those who granted me this chance. In addition, I'm pleased that my efforts and sacrifices of myself and my family didn't go in vain. In fact, it is my pleasure to extend my special thanks to the WTF for facilities that they granted me to improve method in refereeing.
Would you name positive changes of refereeing and judging in last 10 years?
What is your goal as an international referee?
I participated in several World Championships in Korea, Denmark, Mexico, and a lot of Asian and Arabic open championships. Also, as a poomsae international referee, I participated in the World Poomsae Championships in Uzbekistan. I participated in the World Taekwondo Qualification for the London Olympic Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. I also officiated at the African and European qualifications.
What’s your overall evaluation of referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games? It was conducted in a professionally and highly skilled manner as the Referee Evaluation Committee was fair. The criteria were much more logical, accurate than before. I think there were a lot of outstanding referees and those selected were the best. As for me, I tried hard and also this camp promoted my own abilities and skills.
86
WTF
What’s your opinion of using the PSS (Protector and Scoring System) and introducing an instant video replay system at the 2012 London Olympic Games? The use of a video replay system gives the coach a chance to protest against the refereeing mistakes and I think there is always a satisfactory situation for all. As to the PSS, this aid helps the referees a lot to more accurate, making the players feel relieved and get their rights. Due to competitors are much faster in their performance, the PSS is most wanted, it makes the referee's errors less, so the referees work with fewer mistakes in contrast with manual scoring. There are few objections to the PSS done by others. Unfortunately, there are so many objections to the judges’ scoring manual.
Do you have any suggestions for the development of taekwondo and referee education of the World Taekwondo Federation? It's essential to give much more attention for developing countries since they have unique skills, abilities and outstanding referees, but the infrastructure and facilities are poor.
Do you have any advices for those who are interested in become an international referee?
First of all, the criteria of choosing the best referees are fair and on the basis of justice and competence, based on science and technology. Second, the amendments to the rules continuously made the game more beautiful and much interesting which run with the skills and training aspects. Third, the use of the PSS and video replay helped lessen the refereeing mistakes and made them less.
Would you name positive changes of referee education in last 10 years? The use of the refereeing technology promoted the manner of refereeing such as DVD of referee's mistakes in order to use them in developing and training courses for all referees in the world.
Training hard nationally and doing their best to develop their abilities. Better for them, thinking for achievements, not money.
World Taekwondo Federation
87
Do you have any advices for those who are interested in becoming an international referee?
How long have you been an international referee and what motivated you to become an international referee?
Some of my advices are as follows: “Do the ordinary things extraordinarily well. In doing your hand signals, do it with excellence.” “Be patient and persevering, your time will come.” “Be focused and declare the true champion all the time, integrity is a must.” “Your seniors will advise you along the way, be open to corrections and be humble.” “I hope these will help to improve your game.”
I have been an international referee for 20 years. After my kyorugi competition days, I still wanted to be active in taekwondo. Through the tenets of taekwondo imbibed in me, I got more involved in officiating tournaments to practice what I believe in the hope that I can make a difference in my decisions when declaring the winner. With my actions I wanted to be a good example to my colleagues. My family is a big factor that motivates me. The encouragement, praises and prayers helps me to continue to do my best. With that I can say my family has always been there to motivate and continually there to support me.
What’s your overall evaluation of the refereeing and judging at the World and Continental Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games? I believe we did an excellent job, in spite of some challenges along the way, we managed to overcome them and performed our best abilities.
When did you start practicing taekwondo and what was your motivation? I started practicing taekwondo when I was 15 years old. My motivation was for self defense and to build up my self-confidence. I was encouraged by my brothers to continue on to reach black belt. With hard work, perseverance and patience, I did.
What’s your opinion of using the PSS (Protector and Scoring System) and introducing an instant video replay system at the 2012 London Olympic Games?
What is your goal as an international referee?
My goal as an international referee is to see that every game I officiate is judged in a fair, impartial and transparent manner. True sportsmanship among athletes is achieved. Teaching and transferring my knowledge and experiences to those who want to be referees is my ultimate goal. What is your biggest achievement so far as an international referee? My biggest achievement so far as an international referee was to be selected two times as an Olympic international referee at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. What’s your overall evaluation of referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games? I believe the organizers did an excellent job. The speakers clearly explained the rules and regulations. There were improvements that brought about the best referees in the selection process.
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Using the Protector and Scoring System eliminates the doubt about human errors in scoring, intentionally or accidentally, because it is done electronically. The coach’s inquiry about the game can be answered immediately using the instant video replay system. A clear picture of the event in question can be answered with fairness, impartiality and transparency. Thus the true winner can be declared. Do you have any suggestions for the development of taekwondo and referee education of the World Taekwondo Federation? For the development of taekwondo, I suggest the following: Integrity of its leaders - Maintaining its status now being an Olympic sport and to be open to empower new leaders to carry on what they started. Be people-oriented and listen to their suggestions and needs. For Referee education- The WTF has been doing their part to help educate future referees. However I suggest once a deserving referee qualifies, especially for Olympic selection, sponsorship of his/ her trip be covered. Empower knowledgeable and capable referees to conduct seminars internationally and in their regions since they talk from experience with the endorsement of the WTF. Uplift the moral and integrity of international referees to higher standards on a par with international referees in other sports by acknowledging their craft as selected referees which bring prestige to another category to their sport.
Did you experience any difference in referee selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games compared with previous referee selection camps for Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympic Games? If so, what are differences? In the selection camp for the 2012 London Olympic Games, it was more comprehensive and transparent. The organizers are well prepared and equipped. It challenges us more each day and it brings out the best in us. What was your feeling of entering among the 60 international referee nominees for the 2012 London Olympic Games? It was a great privilege and honor to be part of the 60 referee nominees for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Would you name three positive changes of refereeing and judging in last 10 years? First, the introduction and implementation of the Protector and Scoring System and the instant video replay system. It erases the doubt and minimizes/eliminates protest. Second, putting review jury and installing three corner judges makes it more transparent and fair in judging. Third, the implementation of the multiple scores: One point – body kicks or punches. Two points –turning kick to the body. Three points – kick to the head. Four points – turning kick to the head. With these it creates more dynamic kicks and techniques to the athletes and the game more exciting to watch.
Would you name three positive changes of referee education in last 10 years? The positive changes of referee education in the past 10 years are as follows: First, using computer-aided technology to enhance the learning process. Second, the people involved like the referee chairman and the staff, their total commitment and their passion to uphold the integrity of the tournament motivates us, and lastly the pursuit of excellence always instilling in us to be the best in what we do.
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3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp
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WTF-KHU Partnership Taekwondo Training Program
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Reflections
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WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps
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WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team
3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp Draws 254 Athletes and Officials from 27 Countries The 3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp, jointly organized by the World Taekwondo Federation and the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, attracted 254 athletes and officials from 27 countries. The annual event, which took place in Seoul and Muju, Korea on Aug. 1-6 in 2011, once again emphasized the importance of Olympic Values Education Program (OVEP) and the taekwondo philosophy. The third edition of the camp encouraged the young taekwondo practitioners not only to discover but to have a better understanding of various cultures that make up the global community. The main objective of the camp is to promote and spread the spirit and philosophy of taekwondo to the youth of the world, thus helping them overcome the challenges they face in their lives. The camp also aims at promoting the OVEP and Olympism, while promoting and encouraging friendship and better understanding of diverse and
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unique cultures among the global taekwondo family. The participants in the camp, 215 taekwondo practitioners and 39 officials, once again endorsed the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" and helped build friendship and solidarity among the taekwondo family. In 2009, Mr. Dai-soon Lee, then chairman of the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, and vice president of the WTF, crafted the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" to bring the much needed guidance to the youth from all around the world who have to make difficult choices every day. The five basic principles in the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" are based on the "Five Commandments for Secular Life" that were practiced by the Hwarang Flower Youth in ancient Korea. They are :
2. Serve parents and love family (Family) 3. Respect the people including teachers and elders and to be faithful to friends (Society) 4. Helping neighbors, serving the country and community (Country) 5. Live in harmony with the nature and contribute to promotion of peace and prosperity of mankind (World) Every year it becomes more evident that the status of the Olympic sport of taekwondo has enhanced mainly due to its true belief in the Olympic movement, the OVEP and the common grounds that the Olympic ideology and taekwondo philosophy share. On Aug. 2, the first day of the camp started with kyorugi or sparring practice with professors who were former world taekwondo champions and Olympic champions. All the young athletes were eager and excited about practicing with Olympic champions and they were giving it their all. In the evening Chairman of the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, Mr. Dai-soon Lee, officially inaugurated the 3rd World Youth Taekwondo Camp in a ceremony that was attended by the WTF President, local and national governmental officials. In his opening speech, Mr. Lee told the young athletes, "It is important to win competitions and medals, but what is more important is to win competitions with the right attitude that taekwondo emphasizes."
He pointed out the opportunity this camp presents to all those who are participating and talked of the principles and main values of Olympic movement and the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners." The TPF chairman finished his speech by reminding all the young participants of the importance of moral values, respect and discipline in order to have a flourishing future. WTF President Chungwon Choue then welcomed the guests, participants and especially the young athletes and said, "We come from all different cultures and have different life styles but we all have one thing in common – our love for taekwondo and this gives us a chance to share our cultures with each other." He went on to explain the key objectives of the camp. "We are here to provide the world youth with high-level taekwondo training and education on taekwondo spirit as well as Olympic values and ideals." WTF President Choue concluded his welcoming speech by promising that the World Taekwondo Federation will continue its efforts to raise awareness of the importance of Olympic values among the youth around the globe while seeking new initiatives for the OVEP. The opening ceremonies ended with dinner and a special performance of the Korean traditional music.
1. Keep both body and mind strong and lead a righteous life (Individuals)
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Road to Excellence as an Olympic Medalist Then the young athletes listened to the Olympic medalists’ success stories. This year, Ms. Luo Wei, a gold medalist of the 2004 Athens Olympics and a world champion; Mr. Myung-sam Chang, a gold medalist of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a world champion; Prof. Kuk-hyun Jung, a gold medalist of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and four-time world champion; and Mr. Yousef Karami, a bronze medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and three-time world champion, had the opportunity to tell their stories on how they became an Olympic medalist to the young Olympic hopefuls. Mr. Yousef said, "I was born in a very small town in Iran and started practicing taekwondo when I was about 9 years old. There were never any champions from our town, so I set a goal for myself to be the first person from our small town to become an Olympic medalist and a world champion. The fact that I was from a small town not only did not deter my will, but it made me stronger and to try harder."
On Aug. 3, the second day of the camp, the training continued with Kyorugi at the Yeche Cultural Center. After the training session in the morning it was time for a cultural experience of Korea. A traditional Korean vegetable dish, Bibimbap, was served for lunch. After lunch, all participants got to walk in the Jeonju Hanok Village where the scent of traditional culture of Korea is perfectly encapsulated. At the Jeonju Hanok Village everyone got a firsthand experience of the old Korean tradition, walked the alleys of the old village and even had a chance to play the Korean traditional drums which seemed to go well with the young athletes as they got to beat their own drums. In the evening, the participants were divided into two groups. Masters and coaches attended special lectures on the WTF Competition Rules and Regulations, antidoping education. The second group, the athletes, went for a special lecture on the subject of "Olympic Values Education Program" and listened to the firsthand stories by the Olympic medalists on "What Created Olympic Champion?" The masters and coaches were once again reminded of the significance of the fight against doping by the Korea Anti-Doping Agency, the IOC and the WTF and the importance of spreading the message to the youth and other athletes. They were also given a refresher course on the revised WTF Competition Rules and Regulations.
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OLYMPIC VALUES EDUCATION PROGRAM The young athletes first attended a lecture by Prof. Dong-whan Kim, a member of the Education Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia and vice president of the Korean Olympic Committee. In his lecture, Prof. Kim explained about Olympism and its educational values, Olympic movement, "Olympic Values Education Program" and the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" to get the young athletes more familiar with the pillars of the OVEP and the three main Olympic values – respect, friendship and excellence." "Olympism is a philosophy of life to combine body, will and mind. Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental of ethical principles." He then continued to explain in detail about the Olympic values – joy of effort, fair play, respect for others and pursuit of excellence and how to create a balance between body, will and mind. In addition, he talked about OVEP and told the young captivated athletes about Olympic education toolkit given by IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge. In the end, he once again read the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" to remind everyone of the common ground between the Olympic values and taekwondo philosophy.
He finished his story by saying, "So my message to you young kids is that if you want to be successful not only in sports but in life, set a goal for yourself. And don't let loses or even injuries distract you and make you lose sight of your dream. Strive forward to reach your goal. Every disappointment in life should be used as a bridge to cross and reach your final destination.” “When you feel that you are tired and you can't continue anymore, reach down in your heart and let the goal you have set for yourself, give you the energy you need to continue. Don't ever say I can't. I hope one day I have the opportunity to sit here and listen to your story and hear that I was able to inspire you to reach your dream." The next Olympic champion who took the floor was Ms. Luo Wei from China.
She talked about how she started playing taekwondo and about what difficulties she went through training at the Chinese training center. The training center was once an old warehouse and lacked the usual recreation facilities. She went through stressful time over one and a half years at the center. She continued by describing how she almost quit training and how the coaches had to convince her to come back. "Through that experience I learned that at times an athlete can be hurt, angry or depressed from training too hard, but one should not give up and he or she needs to continue. In preparing for the Olympics, I faced many difficulties and I had a lot of stress, but my coaches and my friends helped me and I learned that there are always going to be difficulties in the world. But as long as we hold up we can overcome the difficult times". The next Olympic champion that talked to the young athletes was Mr. Myung-sam Chang who said: "I started practicing taekwondo because I was a small guy and I was constantly getting beaten up at school so I started practicing hard to be able to defend myself." "I got so good in taekwondo and I won an Olympic gold medal, a world championship, two World Cups and the Asian Championships." He then described how he used to train. Sometimes he practiced the same kick thousands of times to teach himself the discipline that was necessary for a champion to have. He finished off his speech by saying, "Taekwondo is a martial art. All of you start from the white belt. Firstly what does a white belt beginner learn? Probably it is to firstly learn courtesy from Dojang. And, watch yellow belt, orange belt, green
belt, blue belt, brown belt, and red belt will go it up with black belt at last. It is to change with black if these all colors are put together. Please learn etiquette (respect), patience, friendliness, helping others, a lot of other things. If an uneducated practitioner acquired a black belt, there is a doubt if he or she is really qualified for masters.
In the last part of the evening, everybody moved to an already set-up bonfire to end the night. All the teenage taekwondo practitioners held hands and sang in a show of unity among the taekwondo family that truly accentuated the effort put forward by the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation and the World Taekwondo Federation.
but you would never forget a week that has brought you new friendships and a better perceptive of taekwondo and Olympism." He then thanked everyone for their participation in the camp and wished them a dynamic future.
Breaking Demonstration The last Olympic champion was Prof. Kuk-hyun Jung, who mentioned, "I lost in the Korean national team selection several times, but I never lost hope. I remember once when I lost a selection I went to a hill behind my university and tried to climb the hill while practicing kicks. I always thought I have to go on with my practice even when I was the most tired. Never stop, I always told myself." He finished his talk by saying, "When training hard, I always thought my biggest opponent is myself and if I could overcome my own weaknesses, I could win any match and this mentality helped me be successful in my life." The Organizing Committee, in the spirit of unity, a better appreciation of each other in the large taekwondo family and the spread of Olympic values, asked the participating nations to bring with them their traditional costumes and to perform a folk song to introduce their nations and traditions. This is usually, as it has been in the past two years, one of the favorite parts of the camp since it brings a lot of joys and laughter to everyone. The young future Olympic hopefuls got a chance to interact with their peers and show their traditional costumes and even show off their artistic talents to prove that there are more aspects in making a true champion than just hard practice.
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On Aug. 5, the fourth day of the camp saw the camp move from Muju to Seoul for a nationally televised poomsae and breaking demonstration at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. All 254 camp participants, after one week of hard training, the Olympic champions and other VIPs joined the stunning performance of taekwondo. After the poomsae demonstration, it was finally time for the young athletes to try to literarilly break their bad habits on the way to become a better person.
The TPF Chairman, Mr. Dai-soon Lee, in his closing remarks summarized the mutual foundations in Olympics and taekwondo philosophy and asked the young athletes to uphold honor, respect and humanity in order to be able to contribute to their community and the world at large. He concluded his farewell speech by pointing out the five principles of the "Creed of Taekwondo Practitioners" and IOC's Olympic Values Education Program, which together could aspire to realize our vision. The ceremony ended by awarding the best group of the camp, a photo session and presentation of souvenirs and participation certificates.
As rehearsed in Muju, the young taekwondo practitioners wrote down a bad habit that they felt they needed to break, on a piece of wood. By using hand or foot techniques, camp participants broke the wood to show off their determination of making a balance of body, mind and will that would allow them to prevail over the stumbling blocks they would face in their lives in the future.
On Aug. 6, the last day of the camp, when it was time to say goodbye, the young athletes who had grown to be fond of each other and had become friends hugged and wished one another a great future and hoped to see each other again.
Farewell Moments
Goodbyes are always difficult. But what they have gained in one week is unlike anything they have ever experienced in their lives and could help them greatly in the future.
The farewell dinner hosted by the World Taekwondo Federation began with a speech by WTF President Dr. Choue, who said, "I think you have had a week of hard training
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WORLD YOUTH TAEKWONDO CAMP
WTF-KHU PARTNERSHIP TAEKWONDO TRAINING PROGRAM A taekwondo training program, jointly organized by the WTF and Kyung Hee University in Korea, is drawing dozens of coaches and athletes every year from the WTF’s 200 member national associations.
Coaches June 20 -July 8, 2011
Athletes July 11 -July 29, 2011
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No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Nation Belarus Belarus France India Hungary Hungary Egypt Egypt Mozambique Mozambique Mongolia Poland Lebanon Lebanon Nepal Nepal Tunisia Tunisia Slovakia Montenegro Mozambique Mozambique Mozambique Mozambique Mozambique Lebanon Lebanon Lebanon Mongolia Montenegro British British British British Honduras Portugal
Name Vitali Butovich Viachaslau Hrynkevich Cathiana Grosset BalasubramaniHaribabu Gergo Mate Zsolt Mate Gaber M.B Abdelrehim Ahmed Mohamed Zahran Rogerio Uthui Lucrecio Tivane Turmunkh Gantumur Gabriel Siliwoniuk Elie Najem Elie Elia Govinda Prasad Sharma Phadindra Khadka Saidi Manna Mounir Nouioui Peter Zagyi Fikret Dushku Isabel Seu Ilsa Dasilva Deolinda Chachine Vanessa Jarisse Theura Chong Andrea Robert Paoli Elias Nazih ElHedari Michel tony Samaha Turtulga Gantumur Balsa Radunovic Gavin Davison Scott Abley Jordan Bignall Mattew Donne Oscar paredes Andre Tiago Magone
Gender M M F M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M F F F F F F M M M M M M M M M M
The WTF-KHU Partnership Taekwondo Training Program dates back to 2005, when 15 coaches and 20 athletes from 26 countries attended the program.
Coaches Nov. 28Dec. 16, 2011
Athletes Sept. 26Oct. 14, 2011
No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Nation Costa Rica Costa Rica Israel Switzerland Mexico Nigeria Guatemala Senegal Jordan Netherland Poland U.S.A. Azerbaijan India India India Japan Croatia Mexico Hungary New Zewaland Honduras Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Malaysia Malaysia
Name ALBERTO SANCEZ ALVARADO
JAVIER RUBI RAMIREZ ELDAR KULIEV DIEU HUY SONG OLLIN MEDINA ANTHONY ANAFULU OSCAR CAJBON MILIAN CHEIKH BAMBA MBAYE MUATASEM BISHTAWI ROWDY LEEDEMAN KAMIL SOBOL MIA LORA ETIBAR IBRAHIMOV AMIT AGGARWAL ATUL PANGOTRA ABHISHEK DUBEY AKIRA KOMOTO BORNA PAULIK OLLIN MEDINA DORA BALOG YOUNGMIN HER KELYN AMAYA P.G.P MADUKA GAYASHAN J.A NISHSHANKA R.B.C RATHNA YAKA GOH KEE WEI TEOH ZHENG FUNG
Gender M M M M F M M M M M M F M M M M F M F F F F M M M M M
WTF-KHU Partnership Taekwondo Training Program (2005-2011) Year
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Coaches
15
22
25
19
18
27
36
Athletes
20
12
19
6
11
32
27
Countries
26
34
40
23
26
28
31
Total
35
34
44
25
29
59
63
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these two courses in Korea. But most importantly there would not be enough space in my thoughts, heart and soul, to keep the true knowledge of taekwondo. It is a reality that taekwondo (sparring and poomsae) has become a global sport, where the barriers of the languages do not represent a challenge, as taekwondo itself is a language. Moreover it is crucial to point out that taekwondo is still a martial art. Therefore, our sport-martial art does not only give competitors medals or coaches, who teach good techniques, taekwondo also gives the world good warriors honor, and coaches, who show us through their training, the correct way of living with “Tao” or “Do”.
I would like to extend my heart-felt thanks to both the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwondo Academy of Kyung Hee University for their joint support and efforts to promote and develop the practice of poomsae around the world. I had the chance to enroll myself to the WTF-Kyung Hee University Partnership Taekwondo Training Program 2011 (Poomsae Coach), which was held from Sept. 26 to Oct. 14, 2011, as well as to the WTF-KHU Partnership Taekwondo Training Program 2011 (Poomsae Athletes) from Nov. 28 to Dec. 16, 2011. As an international-level poomsae competitor, I supposed I have had enough experience in the poomsae field when I arrived to Korea, specifically to the Kyung
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Hee University Suwon campus, with the plain idea of knowing everything about taekwondo. But I had a very big surprise. Day after day, training after training, class after class, I realized that the knowledge of taekwondo is endless. Through this training program, I got to increase my technical skills in poomsae. I learned so much new knowledge about how to train a poomsae athlete in the correct way and I also learned a little Korean to better understand the application of the techniques. I think a hundred pages would not be enough to write about what I have learned in
Olympic champions, world medalists, and Pan-American champions, regarding to the poomsae selection, we have a female world champion, three world medalists, and world university champions. Recently, the pass to the 2012 London Olympic Games was achieved in the four categories in which the athletes participate. Mainly thanks to the training that I received through the WTF-KHU partnership program, I could realize that it is not only sufficient to become good athletes; our responsibility, among the athletes, coaches, and all the national federations, is to become “good human beings.”
What is taekwondo? “Taekwondo is the training of body and mind to become a good human being.”
After all the experiences and knowledge that I got at this program, I go back to Mexico with the firm idea of promoting taekwondo, not only as an Olympic sport, but also as a way of living which provides a good balance to the world, that taekwondo also could be good human beings and good citizens.
I believe that there is not such a better definition to describe what taekwondo gives to the world: “Good human beings”.
Currently in the world, we are facing moments of conflicts and bad issues among the people of the world and these ones with the environment as well.
The development of taekwondo in Mexico has been fast and successful. Due to the good vision of the president of the Mexican Federation of Taekwondo, Mr. Juan Manuel Lopez Delgado, and of course to the support of Dr. Chungwon Choue, president of the World Taekwondo Federation.
Big victories begin with a dream and women and men should learn how to dream. I already have a dream to accomplish harmony and peace with the nature through taekwondo.
In Mexico taekwondo is the second most practiced sport right after soccer. As a high performance sport, in Mexico we have within the national sparring selection, two
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WTF TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS WORLD FRIENDS
For short-term Taekwondo Peace Corps activities, Kim went to the African country of Rwanda from Jan. 15 to Feb. 26 this year, together with three other members. “As a member of the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps, I was so lucky to do volunteer works for children on two occasions, and if another chance comes to me, I will definitely take it,” Kim said.
WTF TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS GIVES ‘HOPE AND DREAMS TO YOUTH OF THE WORLD’ As part of its efforts to spread hope and dreams to the youth of the world through taekwondo, the World Taekwondo Federation established the WTF World Taekwondo Peace Corps in 2008.
Corps Foundation in 2009. WTF President Choue serves as chairman of the foundation, and Lee Hyu-won, vice chairman of Shinhan Investment Corp., assumes the presidency of the non-profit organization.
Since then, a total of 626 members of the Taekwondo Peace Corps, mostly university taekwondo students, have been dispatched in 157 teams on eight occasions to 75 different countries around the world. One team consists of four members and the short-term period of dispatch is one to two months.
As recently as in January and February this year, a total of 102 university students were sent to 22 countries in 26 teams for their short-term Taekwondo Peace Corps activities.
The WTF has also dispatched 18 mid-term Taekwondo Peace Corps members in nine teams to eight countries for a period of three to six months. It plans to send mid-term teams to Africa, Oceania and Pan American regions this year. The WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps project started as a pilot program for WTF President Chungwon Choue’s proposal for a joint U.N. and IOC Sport Peace Corps program. The program was institutionalized by the creation of the World Taekwondo Peace
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Among the dispatched countries were Rwanda and Tuvalu, both of which became the WTF’s new member countries in 2011. Some Taekwondo Peace Corps members are willing to continue their volunteer works abroad, if other opportunities are given. A good example is Young-kyu Kim, a senior taekwondo-major student at Kyung Hee University in Korea. Kim, a 5th Kukkiwon black-belt holder, was dispatched to Morocco as a member of the Taekwondo Peace Corps for its mid-term activities from October 2010 to March 2011.
Under the 2011 theme “World Peace through Taekwondo,” the WTF launched in 2011 a global campaign to offer free taekwondo programs to children at orphanages and refugee camps around the world. The WTF continues the program in 2012, under its new theme “Spreading Hope and Dreams to the Youth of the World through Taekwondo.” To attain its goal, the WTF has paid a special attention to the African region. Of the dispatched 22 countries early this year, eight countries are in Africa. They are the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Comoros and Niger. The WTF plans to keep sending more teams to African countries.
Rwanda Rwanda is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of about 11.4 million. “Taekwondo was first introduced to Rwanda in 2003, when a Korean master, a member of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), taught children taekwondo for about one month,” Kim said. “In 2009, an American master, Marty, came to Rwanda to start
teaching taekwondo to children.” Marty, who serves as technical director of the Rwanda Taekwondo Federation, pushed for the establishment of the national taekwondo federation in 2009 and its affiliation with the WTF in 2011. Among martial art sports, taekwondo is the first for Rwanda to join the International Sports Federation as a full member. Rwanda has now 13 taekwondo clubs with some 400 students across the nation. “The Rwanda government has recently selected as strategic sports taekwondo, soccer, volleyball and basketball and it plans to put taekwondo on the curriculum for its military and police starting in 2013,” said Kim, quoting a Rwanda National Olympic Committee official. He said, “Reflecting growing popularity of taekwondo, dozens of students from Rwanda’s neighboring countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, also participated in our taekwondo classes every Saturday.” “The most memorable thing during my volunteer taekwondo service in Rwanda, was when our Taekwondo Peace Corps members taught taekwondo to children at orphanages every Sunday,” Kim said. For the development of taekwondo in Rwanda, he called on the WTF and other taekwondo organizations to provide the African country with taekwondo equipment like mats and uniforms, and send taekwondo instructors for a systematic education.
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WTF TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS ACTIVITIES(SHORT-TERM)
Tuvalu Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbors are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Its population of 10,472 makes it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world. With a land size of 26 sq. meters, Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world. A four-member Taekwondo Peace Corps team left Korea on Jan. 24 to arrive in Funafuti, Tuvalu on Jan. 30, four days behind original schedule, for connection problems. The team stayed in Fiji for four days for taekwondo education. The team returned home on Feb. 24.
LIST OF COUNTRIES FOR 2011 WINTER TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS Continent (No. of Teams)
Asia (5)
Taekwondo was first introduced to Tuvalu by a Korean master, who lives in Tonga, in 2011 when he taught Tuvalu children taekwondo for five days. Tuvalu became a member of the WTF in 2011 along with four other Oceania countries. Taekwondo is the first martial art sport known to Tuvalu people. Volleyball, soccer and rugby are popular sports in Tuvalu. Africa (8)
Europe (3)
Oceania (2)
Pan America (4) Total
Countries
No. of Members
Period of Dispatch
Nepal
8
2012. 1. 25-2012 2. 28
Nepal (2)
4
2012. 2. 5-2012. 2. 28
Malaysia
4
2012. 2. 1-2012. 2. 29
Singapore
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 29
Thailand
12
2012. 2. 5-2012. 2. 25
Uzbekistan
4
2012. 2. 8-2012. 2. 29
Republic of the Congo
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 26
Rwanda
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 26
Tanzania
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 27
South Africa
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 26
Algeria
4
2012. 1. 19-2012. 2. 24
Morocco
4
2012. 1. 21-2012. 2. 26
Comoros
3
2012. 1. 31-2012. 2. 29
Niger
4
2012. 1. 16.-2012. 2. 26
Greece
4
2012. 1. 10-2012. 2. 27
Russia
3
2012. 1. 20.-2012. 2. 29
Sweden
4
2012. 2. 3.-2012. 2. 26
Tuvalu
4
2012. 1. 24.-2012. 2. 24
Papua New Guinea
4
2012. 1. 17-2012. 2. 26
Bolivia
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 19
Puerto Rico
4
2012. 1. 15-2012. 2. 19
Nicaragua
4
2012. 2. 1-2012. 2. 29
Surinam
4
2012. 2. 4.-2012. 2. 28
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Term
Period of Dispatch
1st
July-August 2008
2nd
3rd
No. of Dispatched Members, Teams & Countries 27 members, 7 teams in 5 countries (China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Paraguay)
32 members, 8 teams in 8 countries January– (Greece, Russia, Morocco, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, February 2009 Egypt, China, Kyrgyzstan) July-August 2009
48 members, 12 teams in 12 countries (El Salvador, India, Isle of Man, Bhutan, Samoa, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Angola, Philippines, Azerbaijan)
4th
98 members, 27 teams in 24 countries (Angola, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Cambodia, Iran, JanuaryLaos, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, February 2010 Timor-Leste, Greece, Poland, Russia, New Zealand, Samoa, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Surinam)
5th
110 members, 25 teams in 20 countries (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Belarus, Finland, Sweden, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago)
6th
7th
8th
July-August 2010
103 members, 25 teams in 25 countries (Nepal, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Cambodia, Libya, Mauritius, Mozambique, JanuaryAlgeria, Egypt, Cameroon, D.R. Congo, Tunisia, February 2011 Greece, Russia, Belarus, Sweden, Croatia, Tonga, Fiji, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Jamaica, Nicaragua)
July-August 2011
106 members, 27 teams, 19 countries (Cambodia, Nepal, Laos, Barbados, Poland, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Macao, Senegal, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand, Congo, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Lesotho, Mauritius)
January102 members, 26 teams in 22 countries February 2012 626 members, 157 teams in 75 different countries
Total
t 4IPSU UFSN NFNCFST BSF EJTQBUDIFE BCSPBE GPS MFTT UIBO UXP NPOUIT “During our stay in Tuvalu, we had two taekwondo sessions every day, one for children aged up to 10 years and the other for those over 11 years old, most of the students showed high interest in taekwondo,� said Chan-hoo Kim, a senior student of Seowon University in Cheongju, Korea. He majors in English education and does not practice taekwondo. “I volunteered to work for less fortunate children abroad and that is why I joined the Taekwondo Peace Corps,� Kim said. “After my service in Tuvalu, my heart is full with pride and if chances are given to me, I really want to have another experience. I want to take up taekwondo again.� Kim quoted a Tuvalu official as saying that “Just for the mental and physical health of children, the Tuvalu government chose taekwondo.� To help taekwondo take root in Tuvalu, he stressed the need for financial and technical supports to Tuvalu.
WTF TAEKWONDO PEACE CORPS ACTIVITIES (MID-TERM) Term
Period of Dispatch
No. of Dispatched Members, Teams & Countries
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16 members, 8 teams in 7 countries October 2010(Thailand, Philippines, Kazakhstan, Tanzania, April 2011 Morocco, Bulgaria, Papua New Guinea)
2nd
August 2011December 2011
2 Members in 1 Country (The Philippines)
t .JE UFSN NFNCFST BSF EJTQBUDIFE BCSPBE GPS NPSF UIBO UISFF NPOUIT BOE less than 6 months.
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WTF TAEKWONDO DEMONSTRATION TEAM GOES TRULY GLOBAL
The World Taekwondo Federation launched its taekwondo demonstration team, together with the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps in a ceremony in Korea on July 5, 2008.
place in Africa, for example, then a new WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team, with most members from African countries, will be set up for demonstrations.
The WTF selected a total of 62 university students with a taekwondo major for its Taekwondo Demonstration Team.
Since its launch in July 2008, the WTF has sent its Taekwondo Demonstration Team abroad on 21 occasions. The team has been invited for domestic events on 17 occasions.
As recently as in December 2011, the WTF selected five children, four male and one female, for its new WTF Children Taekwondo Demonstration Team. It plans to select 15 to 20 more elementary school students, fourth and fifth graders, this year for its Children Taekwondo Demonstration Team. So far, all the WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team members are Korean. To be a genuinely global demonstration team fit for the WTF, the WTF plans to have a new demonstration team made up of international members. In this regard, the WTF revised its Statute in 2011. As early as the upcoming London Olympic Games, a newly-born WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team, with members from various WTF member countries, will show off its taekwondo skills to the world. The WTF Demonstration Team is scheduled to make several special demonstrations during the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games.
In April 2009, the WTF Demonstration Team made a one-month demonstration tour of Mexico and U.S. cities, drawing great interest in taekwondo from both the public and the media. Among major taekwondo events to which the WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team was invited were the opening ceremony of the World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2009; the 1st Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010; and the opening ceremony of the WTF European Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2012 London Olympic Games in Kazan, Russia on Jan. 25, 2012. To further help boost the image of taekwondo around the world, the WTF plans to dispatch its demonstration squad more frequently abroad, thus spreading hope and dreams to the youth of the world through taekwondo.
The WTF also encourages its 200 member nations to establish their own national taekwondo demonstration teams. If a major taekwondo event takes
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1st WTF International Children’s Art Contest
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World & Continental Qualification Tournaments
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6th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
WTF HOLDS 1stst INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S ART CONTEST AT 2011 WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS Under the 2011 slogan “World Peace through Taekwondo,” the World Taekwondo Federation held its first International Children’s Art Contest on the occasion of the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships on May 1-6, 2011 in Gyeongju, Korea.
Together with dozens of separately selected Korean art works, the WTF works were on display during a ceremony in Seoul, Korea on Sept. 20, 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the International Day.
The WTF organized the Children’s Art Contest to help promote world peace, one of the ideals of Olympism, by bringing together creative works by children from the WTF’s member nations around the world.
After thorough screening, the WTF selected best works. The top-prize honors went to Mr. Robert Khajaralla of Lebanon. Born in December 1999, Mr. Khairalla, a junior school student of Mont-la-Salla, has practiced taekwondo since he was 4 years old. His oil painting was titled “Power of Taekwondo.”
The WTF member national associations were requested to hold their respective art contests to select the best works for their submission to the WTF-designated booth at the competition venue of the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships. Upon submission, the applicants presented the WTF application form, which requires them to specify the applicant’s name and explanation of the work. The theme of the art contest was “Peace and Taekwondo” and the size and method of the works were free. Entries were required to be submitted to the WTF without frames and should be hand-drawn. Computer prints were not subject to be reviewed and there was no limit to the entries by one member national association. The WTF received a total of 32 works from four countries – Jordan, the Philippines, Poland and Lebanon.
Ms. Jamia Mei Tolentino of the Philippines, born in May 1998, won the secondplace prize for her work titled “Building Peace and Friendship through Taekwondo.” The third-place prize was shared by Ms. Ayah-Abu Ali of Jordan, an 8-year-old student of Amman National School, and Mr. Mikhail Chriztien Gatchalian Tanodra of the Philippines, who was born in August 1999. The WTF also selected five other best works. The WTF hopes to hold more International Children’s Art Contests on the occasion of its major taekwondo events.
1st WTF International Children’s Art Contest
Overview Under the 2011 slogan “World Peace through Taekwondo,” the WTF held its first International Children’s Art Contest on the occasion of the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships on May 1-6, 2011 in Gyeongju, Korea. The propose of the Children’s Art Contest was to help promote world peace, one of the ideals of Olympism, by bringing together creative works by children from the WTF’s member nations around the world.
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The third-place prize was shared by Ms. Ayah-Abu Ali of Jordan, an 8-year-old student of Amman National School (above), and Mr. Mikhail Chriztien Gatchalian Tanodra of the Philippines, who was born in August 1999.
The top-prize honors went to Mr. Robert Khajaralla of Lebanon. Born in December 1999, Mr. Khairalla, a junior school student of Montla-Salla, has practiced taekwondo since he was 4 years old. His oil painting was titled “Power of Taekwondo.”
Ms. Jamia Mei Tolentino of the Philippines, born in May 1998, won the second-place prize for her work titled “Building Peace and Friendship through Taekwondo.”
1st WTF International Children’s Art Contest
Overview Under the 2011 slogan “World Peace through Taekwondo,” the WTF held its first International Children’s Art Contest on the occasion of the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships on May 1-6, 2011 in Gyeongju, Korea. The propose of the Children’s Art Contest was to help promote world peace, one of the ideals of Olympism, by bringing together creative works by children from the WTF’s member nations around the world.
The WTF selected five other best works.
Mr. Mohammad Al-Aseer of Jordan (8 years old)
Ms. Gajewska Gabrysia of Poland (12 years old)
Mr. Saif Shaker of Jordan (9 years old)
Ms. Alexandra Santos Palacio of the Philippines (11 years old)
Ms. Bana Al Majali of Jordan (8 years old)
WORLD & CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENTS PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD & CONTINENTAL QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENTS PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS
6th WORLD TAEKWONDO POOMSAE CHAMPIONSHIPS PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS
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WTF Holds Athlete Outreach Program
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Appointment of New WTF Secretary General
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Taekwondo in Thailand
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Taekwondo in Mexico
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Taekwondo at 2011 Pan American Games
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WTF Taekwondo Web TV
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WTF Calls for Support for Japan Devastation
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Reflections on 2nd World Para-Taekwondo
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New WTF Council Member Interview
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WTF HOLDS ATHLETE OUTREACH PROGRAM AT WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS For the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), outreach means providing necessary information about doping and its consequences, not just to athletes, but to coaches, officials, and all those who want the eradication of the improper use of drugs in sport. The program aims to raise awareness while ensuring that athletes are involved and part of the solution.
The WTF’s Athlete Outreach Program was held in Gyeongju, Korea on May 1-3, 2011 in conjunction with the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships. This program was held for the first time in the WTF’s history highly motivated by the WADA Outreach Program. The WTF created the Athlete Outreach Model for stakeholders involved in delivering the anti-doping message to athletes around the globe. Stakeholders tailor the Model to meet sport specific and national needs.
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At this outreach program, a team composed of anti-doping experts and retired athletes from around the world delivered the program, which was set up in a highly visible location during the event. The Outreach Team interacted with athletes and their support personnel who visited the Outreach Center, providing one-on-one discussion about the dangers and consequences of doping. Interaction with athletes at the World Taekwondo Championships in Gyoungju, Korea was designed to be both informative and fun. During the three-day outreach event, more than 150 athletes and team officials visited the outreach booth. A quiz about
anti-doping, available in numerous languages, allowed participants to test their knowledge on anti-doping and be rewarded for their efforts. At some events, Korean Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) official educated RTP athletes and coaches for ADAMS whereabouts programs. Athletes were also encouraged to take home anti-doping education materials, available in a multitude of languages. Given the overwhelming success of the Athlete Outreach Program, the WTF plans to organize the outreach programs more often.
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DR. JEAN-MARIE AYER APPOINTED AS SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE WTF The World Taekwondo Federation announced on Feb. 14, 2012 the appointment of Dr. Jean-Marie Ayer of Switzerland as new secretary general of the WTF.
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Dr. Ayer brings a respected background and knowledge in the sport community. Being no stranger to the sport world, his deep understanding of its operations will help bolster the WTF’s good governance practices. It will also aid in strengthening relations with other sport organizations.
Dr. Ayer’s resume is adorned with significant leadership experience in both finance and administrative management with large international organizations.
Dr. Ayer’s firsthand knowledge in new media and information technology has already helped the WTF revolutionize competitions with the establishment of an instant video replay and the Taekwondo Web TV that allows for broadcast coverage in new media format. Furthermore, his background in technology will enhance the implementation of the WTF Global Membership System that will compile a sophisticated database of all WTF taekwondo competitors and practitioners around the world.
He received his Ph.D. in economics from Fribourg in Switzerland. He served as chief financial officer at ABB Power Generation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and as vice president of Swisscom International in Bern, Switzerland.
Dr. Ayer replaces Mr. Jin Suk Yang who, after 5 years of service to the WTF and the taekwondo family as WTF secretary general, takes the helm as chairman of the WTF Academy.
Having served as director of the WTF Lausanne Office for the past six years,
Dr. Ayer’s appointment took effect as of February 14, 2012.
WTF
“Spreading Hope & Dreams to the Youth of the World”
THAILAND BOASTS OF 1 MILLION TAEKWONDO POPULATION EXPECTS 1ST GOLD MEDAL AT LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES Thailand is one of the fastest growing taekwondo powers in the world. The Southeast Asian country boasts of its taekwondo population of more than 1 million. It has about 1,500 taekwondo gyms across the nation. It aims to clinch the first gold medal in the taekwondo competition at the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Thailand won a bronze medal in the women’s -49kg weight division and it grabbed a silver medal in the same female category at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Thailand secured three tickets to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games through the world and Asian qualification tournaments. Thai athletes will compete in the men’s -58kg, the women’s -49kg and the women’s -57kg divisions. Thailand hosted the WTF Asian Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the London Olympic Games on Nov. 26-27, 2011. The Asian tournament was originally scheduled for Nov. 4-5 in Bangkok, but was postponed because of the worst flooding in 50 years in Thailand. In Thailand, the most popular sport is football, followed by muetai or kickboxing, and taekwondo. Ten years ago in 2002, Thailand had a taekwondo population of about 50,000, which rose to about 400,000 after the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and to 800,000 after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. At the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Thailand won two gold medals in the taekwondo competition, the first gold medal in taekwondo at the Asian Games. At the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeongju, Korea, Thailand also clinched two gold medals, the first gold medals at the World Championships.
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“Now about 1 million people practice taekwondo. If we won a gold medal in the taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the taekwondo population would rapidly surge,” said Young-seok Choi, the national coach of Thailand in a recent interview. Choi, who started his national coach career in 2002, pins his gold medal hopes on the women’s -49kg and -57kg categories. He attributes much of the credit for the rapid growth of taekwondo in Thailand and its strong performances in recent years to the strong support of the leaders of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand, together with the strong backing of the Thai government. Mr. Pimol Srivikorn serves as the current president of the Taekwondo Association of Thailand. In 2011, the Thai government built a state-of-theart gymnasium solely dedicated to the Olympic sport of taekwondo. “Reflecting the high popularity of taekwondo in Thailand, the week-long Thai National Taekwondo Championships alone draw about 3,000 and 4,000 athletes,” Choi said. “Taekwondo is very popular in Thailand as taekwondo values high on etiquette, discipline and respect for the elders.” Thailand is a model member nation of the World Taekwondo Federation. The Taekwondo Association of Thailand started a taekwondo project for less fortunate children in 2008. The project, called “Sai Sampun Sam-fun Taekkwondo,” offers free training programs for orphans in Thailand. The WTF has encouraged its 200 member national associations to join its global campaign to give free taekwondo education to children in orphanages and refugee camps around the world.
TAEKWONDO IS MOST POPULAR SPORT AFTER SOCCER IN MEXICO WANTS TO REPEAT 2008 BEIJING OLYMPIC GLORY IN TAEKWONDO receives a lot of financial support from the authorities, along with its 32 state taekwondo associations. Mexico hosted the 1st World Taekwondo Tour in November 2009, the 8th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships in the Mexican city of Tijuana in March 2010, and the WTF Pan American Qualification Tournament for the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games in November 2011 in the Mexican city of Queretaro. Mexico is now going all-out to host the 2013 World Taekwondo Championships, which will be decided at the WTF Council meeting in April 2012 on the occasion of the 9th World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Egypt. Mexico secured four taekwondo tickets, two male and two female, to the London Olympic Games through the Pan American Qualification Tournament. Guillermo Perez of Mexico, the gold medalist in men’s -58kg at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Maria del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico, the gold medalist in women’s +67kg at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
Taekwondo is the most popular sport after soccer in Mexico. About half a million people practice taekwondo, mainly from 5 to 16 years old. Mexico has about 2,000 taekwondo gyms, or dojangs, across the country. It also has training and instruction centers at private elementary, junior and high schools. At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Mexico obtained only three medals: two gold medals in taekwondo and one bronze medal in diving. After Beijing, the Mexican government and sports authorities turn to support taekwondo a lot. Sergei Chavez, WTF IR
With good budgets, the Mexican junior and senior national taekwondo teams travel to Korea for training, and participate in major open tournaments around the world every year. The Mexican Taekwondo Federation, the nation’s taekwondo governing body,
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“Mexico wants to repeat its 2008 Beijing Olympic glory by grabbing two gold medals in taekwondo at the upcoming London Olympic Games,” said Sergei Chavez, a WTF S-class international referee. Mexico has shown a good performance at the Olympic Games. At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Mexico won one bronze medal in the men’s -80kg division. It clinched one silver and one bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Mexico earned two gold medals in taekwondo, one male and one female, at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “Taekwondo has a very good chance to win medals at the Olympic Games, just like Afghanistan and the Dominican Republic, which makes brighter the future of taekwondo,” said Chavez. “Just like the WTF’s 2012 motto, “Spreading Hope and Dreams to the Youth of the World through Taekwondo,” taekwondo really gives hope and dreams to the youth of the world.” "The WTF’s global membership of 200 really tells the universality of the Olympic sport of taekwondo," said Chavez, who started taekwondo when he was 14 years old. “My first and only job in my life was, is and will be teaching taekwondo.”
Mexican President Felipe Calderon (second from right at the second row) watches the taekwondo competitions on the opening day of the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico on Oct. 15, 2012, together with his wife and son (first from right at second row). Also in attendance were Mario Vazquez Rana (second from right at first row), president of the Pan American Sports Organization, and his wife.
Taekwondo Highlights Opening Ceremony of 2011 Pan American Games (Guadalajara, Mexico) Taekwondo highlighted the opening ceremony of the 2011 Pan American Games, which took place on Oct. 14 in Guadalajara, Mexico. During the opening ceremony of the Pan Am Games, Maria del Rosario Espinoza of Mexico, the gold medalist in the women’s +67kg division at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was one of four high-profile Mexican torch bearers inside the stadium. She handed over the torch to Paola Espinoza, a bronze medalist in diving at the Beijing Olympic Games, who lit the cauldron. Guillermo Perez of Mexico, the gold medalist in the men’s -58kg category at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was one of eight athletes to carry the IOC flag into the opening ceremony. Rosa Maria Adam, a Mexican international referee who officiated at the taekwondo competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was one of two international referees who took the referees’ oath. Reflecting the high popularity of taekwondo, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who officially opened the 2011 Pan Am Games during the opening ceremony, visited the taekwondo venue, together with his wife and son, on Oct. 15 to watch the taekwondo competitions. Mario Vazquez Rana, president of the Pan American Sports Organization, also watched the taekwondo competition, together with his wife. A total of eight gold medals were at stake in the taekwondo competition of the 2011 Pan Am Games, which took place on Oct. 15-18.
WTF TAEKWONDO WEB TV IS EVER-EVOLVING NEW MEDIA
WTF CALLS FOR SUPPORT, SOLIDARITY AMONG GLOBAL TAEKWONDO FAMILY FOR JAPAN DEVASTATION
The year 2012 marks the 5th year since the WTF Taekwondo Web TV (www.wtftaekwondo.tv) was marketed for the first time. In 2008 as an ambitious initiative by the World Taekwondo Federation to take advantage of the latest new media technology in order to reach out to the worldwide taekwondo fans and realize the potential of this fast growing global sport.
The World Taekwondo Federation called on the global taekwondo family to give support and solidarity to Japan for its natural disaster in March 2011.
As soon as it was introduced, the WTF Taekwondo Web TV was highly welcomed by worldwide taekwondo fans, thanks to its abundant video contents and its key features such as catalogued videos, easy navigation, data-index, and rating and commenting. Since its launch, it has been successfully established as a main engine for the WTF’s drive for new media among the taekwondo fans around the world. It records 4 million views of more than 10,000 matches by the end of 2011. To better serve taekwondo’s main stakeholders, it offers a special service for the taekwondo athletes who are registered in the WTF Global Athlete License System.
All registered athletes can see all videos of their matches on their own individual GAL online profile page. This service was made available from the 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships held on July 29 to 31, 2011 in Vladivostok, Russia. Moreover, to go mobile, the WTF took another initiative in July 2011. It launched WTF Taekwondo TV’s application for iPhone and iPad in order to bring the dynamic taekwondo world to the hands of the taekwondo fans around the world. It recorded more than 10,000 downloads in less than six months. The WTF Taekwondo TV is made available on other mobile devices through a browser from January 10, 2012. These significant steps have been taken jointly by the WTF and its new media partner Dartfish, which secializes in video analysis and new media platform, to bring the taekwondo fans the fastest and easiest way to access to the more than 10,000 matches of top-rated international taekwondo competitions.
WTF President Chungwon Choue sent a letter of condolences to Mr. Noboru Kanehara, president of the All Japan Taekwondo Association. “My spirit has grown weary with sorrow as I have watched and lived together with the people of Japan the fatal events unfold,” WTF President Choue said in the letter. “Please know that I and the entire taekwondo family continue to hold you in our thoughts and prayers, and we will do our utmost to be of assistance to you. If there is anything that we can do to help, please do not hesitate to let me know.” Dr. Choue said, “Hope begins in darkness and brings forth the dawn. The WTF and our entire taekwondo family throughout the world will remain at your side as you and your nation begin to find that hope.” WTF President Choue also sent a letter to member national associations, urging them to give messages of hope and solidarity. “In the name of solidarity and the taekwondo spirit, I wish to encourage all of our MNAs to send your condolences, prayers, messages of hope to our family in Japan,” WTF President Choue said. “Though it may seem that words may be of little consolation at this time, they will bring light and guidance toward hope.” Dr. Choue said in the letter, “I pray that our members all around the world continue to be well. As we continue through this year of ‘World Peace through Taekwondo,’ remain as one in our taekwondo family. “Stay steadfast in your dedication toward one another.” He concluded by saying, “Let us help those in need to stand, and continue to walk with each other during these trials and tribulations.” As a small token of its solidarity, the WTF started raising funds at the WTF headquarters to be delivered to the Japanese side.
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never be able to use my left arm for the rest of my life. Again I was devastated at the thought of no way to make a life for myself. The counsellors worked with me for about six months and I got enough self-esteem to realize that I still had a brain that worked, even though the doctors feared there was damage done there as well. I had also broken a bone that runs between the ears. Fortunately that did heal with no effects on my intellect, and this is where my path to taekwondo and Grandmaster Tae Eun Lee begins. After five years of relearning how to live and going to university, I felt I needed to get back into a sport of some kind to get in shape and I could only think of martial arts. I called all the schools I could in and asked if they would take a disabled person into training. I kept getting answers of rejection. Again, I was let down because I was different and no one was willing to give me a chance. That is until I called Grandmaster Tae Eun Lee. He said yes he can train me and to come in and meet him. I was overjoyed to hear that I am being accepted for the desire to try and better myself. My path of living a new life, with newly found hope began in Grandmaster Tae Eun Lee’s Dojang.
REFLECTIONS ON 2ND WTF WORLD PARA-TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS (in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010) By Mr. Gene Amell of Canada The above picture is a winning photo of the men’s A6 +80 heavyweight match of the 2nd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 10, 2010. The match was Israel versus Canada, with me Gene Amell (red), the bronze medal winner in the match. I am told that this is a great achievement and I will believe what I am told. I have been gifted with the memory of a special time in the history of the WTF. This is the honor to have represented Canada at a world-class level in a sport that I have come to love. The excitement of the athletes was a buzz in the arena and in the hotel where we stayed. We could barely contain ourselves because of the nature of what we were doing. We were groundbreaking in an area that has been slowly gaining momentum in the world of martial arts. Not only that we were on the ground level of the sport, but we were in Mother Russia! It felt as if I were in a dream world, but, we alI knew it was the real deal.
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The challenge to me personally was to get a grip on reality after over 23 hours of flight, feeling the jet lag, and representing Canada made it feel as though there were 1,000 elephants standing on my chest. Not to mention this was my first time ever competing in a sparring match, or being off North America. I never thought that was even possible for me in my life time. These are the ideas I have had in my mind since I was a young boy. My life was one of many adversities which led me to walk a self-destructive, self-loathing path that nearly took my life one near fatal night in May 1994 by way of a car accident. I was the boy who was always in trouble in the eyes of the neighborhood and in school. There wasn’t a day that went by that I had fears of being beaten up by the bullies. My true nature is and was a caring person who loved animals and fellow people. In my life, I trusted people that were not worthy of that trust, and I loved people that weren’t worthy of that love. I was harmed in ways that are not one any person ought to be harmed. As a result I grew into a young man that felt that the bigger I was and the more I could do would protect me from being hurt again. Yet the little
boy inside was still there, slowly getting locked away by the hardening young man I was becoming. Today I understand that hurt people hurt people, and I am not a hurt person. I fell into a life of addiction. As a result, it all came to a rock bottom that I would not wish on any human being. You see, I was running away from the pain inside. I was trying to numb all that I felt and it just wasn’t working any longer. I made a decision to drive a vehicle while under the influence of mood-altering substances.
was extensive physical trauma to my left arm that was yet to be determined and my entire wrist was shattered and needed reconstruction, I was told that my wrist looked like cornflakes. Fortunately, Dr. Donald Chow was able to put it back together. Nerve damage was to be discovered some time after I was discharged. I was in the hospital for a total of eight days. My family was told to be prepared for my possible death since they had trouble stopping the fluid in my lungs until the 7th day.
I trained for several years at the dojang trying to develop the art of taekwondo. This was a challenge to me since I had to modify all the training to fit my disability. At times it was exciting to work with Grandmaster Lee and the other very willing and helpful black belts in the school. Yet, I would get very hard on myself. Of all the people I am hardest on, it's me. Grandmaster Lee would smile at me and give me the encouragement I needed to the particular challenge I was facing at the time.
The climax of that was that I totaled a car. I was thrown out the window at 100kmh onto the pavement in a remote part of this area. After I was thrown I got up and was in shock from the accident as if nothing happened. Fortunately for me there was another car coming down road and saw it all. The people got out and came to me and told me I was in a bad accident, and I needed to lie down because I was injured; I did as I was told.
As I lay in the hospital bed I was at a point of desperation that I can only describe as spiritual, mental, emotional and physical bankruptcy. I had nothing left to live for because I had lost everything. I had completely surrendered and gave up on myself. The doctors told me that it would be at least nine months before I could use my arm and had exercises to do to build it up. It was a routine check in that the doctor decided to see if there was nerve damage.
As I progressed through the belts to black, I began to find my inner spirit and self-confidence I had lost. I was training regularly and became part of a family. If anyone has experience with a person with a bit of a difference, they know that it becomes less obvious and more normal. Yes I felt more normal than disabled. People treated me as an equal, and looked at me as if there was nothing I couldn’t do in our class.
I was then taken to a nearby hospital, but the injuries were so severe that I was sent by air ambulance to the Ottawa Civic Hospital and put into the critical care unit. I was in it for three days and unaware that my left lung was collapsed and they couldn’t stabilize it. I was in danger of dying from drowning in my own fluids, and they were concerned that I had brain damage. There
By then I had checked myself into a long-term rehabilitation center where professionals guided me in the right direction. I did some very sensitive tests that involved the Toronto Hospital. The findings were that I have severe nerve damage and that I needed to do nerve grafting to try and repair some of what I had lost. To no avail, the damage was so severe that I would
As I reflect on my practise of taekwondo, the more I learn about myself and reveal mental challenges that may not have been so transparent for me to see. One such challenge is that of wanting to be perfect in my execution of the high endurance often required in the art. I have discovered that of all the people, the one I am hardest on, is myself.
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ate a nice meal and boarded the next flight. This flight was a short time. It felt like we were on a taxi ride in the air. I met a classical music director and was honored to do such a thing. Once again, my mind wandered into the thoughts of the great German composers. I found harmony in the journey I had started.
not really believe this was happening, or going to amount to the real thing. I injured myself several times, but I trained as best I could and followed all the instructions I was given. Then the time came. It became real for me when I went to our WTF office to get my uniform. I’d have to say it was the proudest, scariest moment in my life. Indeed I was going to Russia! WOW!! Team Canada, I was still struggling with fear and doubt in my abilities as a taekwondo competitor. I had watched videos of sparring and various combinations that might help me to be a success in the tournament. I suppose watching younger and faster competitors had an unnerving effect, since I was twice the age and most likely the weight as well. I hit mental blocks that are often detrimental to my progress. In some cases I become paralysed in my mind, body and spirit. This is a great enemy to my ongoing success. I can relate this to a story I was told as a youth. This is the story of David, a small boy and a giant Goliath. David was a young man that became the champion of a community through his own determination, and yet laughed at when he prepared for a battle with a sling and a stone. He was faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, and yet that small stone found its target and brought down the armor-clad giant. As I said earlier, I am the hardest on myself and I am my own David and my own Goliath. It is Grandmaster Lee that is the stone in my sling. He is the rock in my life that leads me into my life battles and helps me win my personal internal wars. That is a gift I will be forever grateful. This brings me to when I got a surprizing phone call from Grandmaster Lee. He said that there was a tournament, the 2nd WTF World ParaTaekwondo Championships, and felt I had a good chance at winning. In all honesty, I though Grandmaster Lee had the wrong guy. There was no way that I could stand a chance, and why would anyone want to do such an out-of-my-world thing. Never could I do anything like this, and I of all people could never stand a chance in such a level of taekwondo. Again, Goliath became that scary giant in full gear. Grandmaster Lee is not one to give up on any of his students … ever. I sometimes still give up on myself and this is one of the biggest challenges that I have in all areas of my life, especially in taekwondo. After speaking to Grandmaster Lee, I began preparing for the tournament. All along I still did
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Once we arrived in St. Petersburg, time began to return to here and now. I followed Grandmaster Lee and trusted his experience. There was only one drawback. The driver would only take Grandmaster Lee because he was only assigned to him solely. I’ll never forget this because the words Grandmaster Lee said was, “We are family.” This was very emotional for me. I nearly cried when I heard those words. I belonged.
Nevertheless, I rose up to the challenge and ignored the negativity and practiced the best spirit I was capable of drumming up. I acted as if I were the gold medal champion of the heavyweight world para-taekwondo tournament. This I believe was a huge personal challenge.
The day came to compete. It was the moment I had trained and prepare for after several months. I was nervous and had a new coach that I was unfamiliar.
I needed to focus on my inner strength and believe in myself and that I had to believe in me as Grandmaster Lee did. I could feel the positive energy Grandmaster Lee had, and used his spiritual greatness to draw from in my most difficult times of training. I had the support of the fellow Tae Eun Lee family and used that as much as I could. Their experience and encouragement pushed me forward in the task I was focused on.
But I could see Grandmaster Lee sitting at the technical panel with the other technical judges and soldiered onto the match. I thought of the powerful words that were spoken at the opening speeches where it was said that we were not really disabled, but inconvenienced. I also remembered the Dojang motto that we only fail if we don’t try. That was enough to draw on for the courage and inner strength I needed to do it. The stone in my sling.
In fact, I trained so hard that I lost the focus on a balanced training program and injured my calves in the process. This complicated my moving forward because when I thought I was good to go; my hard training reinjured them once again. Fear and self-doubt set in. It was only one week to the tournament and I wasn’t sure that I would be healed enough to do my best. I also had a tendon injury in the hip that I was unaware of that would periodically give out and cause great pain. Yet I had faith that I would be ready and all would be well. When the time came to go, I was mesmerized with being in the presence of the Grandmaster. The way he moved and carried his self is something of a higher presence of positive energy unsurpassed by anyone I have ever known. I found great comfort in this and knew that everything was going to be nothing short of a spiritual awakening no matter what had happened in the tournament itself. Not only that, I could not see how this experience could be any better than it already was at this point. The plane trip was long and yet it was not grueling at all. It was almost like time itself had stopped or was moving in super slow motion. This especially seemed true when we were flying over Iceland and all I could see was ice and snow. It seemed to go on forever and that time was no longer part of my life as I understood it to be. Eventually we got to Frankfurt, Germany and landed. As we were approaching the city, I could see the forests and small outlying villages that took me to another time and place. I envisioned the stories of Grimm and imagined the writing of the fairy tales. In my mind, I thought that I was writing my own fairy tale and I had a God Father that was granting me a magical gift that could only happen in a storybook.
The match was in the center of the arena and the crowd was watching in anticipation as to who would win the heavyweight match in our age category. We both gave our best in the match. The intensity of competition was unparalleled in all of my life. Each round was full of blocking and kicking to hit the point area that was quick and full of spirit and energy. Once again, for that time the world had stopped and the only thing that existed was the two of us in the match and my coach telling me to kick left or right. In that moment nothing else mattered, but my giving all that I had to complete the match. My left hip was injured and I couldn’t land a kick higher than my opponent’s waist. Not once did I think of my arm being a part of the match at all. I made it! I had what it took to go into that battle with Goliath. I was all into what I needed to do and how I was going to give every ounce I had to score points. When it was over, I had won the bronze medal for our Dojang, Canada, Grandmaster Lee, and most of all myself. I was a winner. I did it! I got the bronze medal and felt like I had won gold. Grandmaster Lee left his post long enough to come and tell me that he was proud of me. That made it all the more important, the man who I have come to love because of all the kind words over the years, and belief in me was proud. In closing, all I have to say is … Gold in Aruba. Go Team Canada Go!!
Grandmaster Lee and I had just enough time to eat and go to our departure gate. We
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TAEKWONDOWON TO HONE BODIES, MINDS AND SPIRITS is to spread the positives of taekwondo to youths all over the world as well as to make an affirmative impact on young athletes. The TPF also has co-organized the annual International Taekwondo Symposium with the University of California in Berkeley to explore the various topics of “Women’s Participation and Para-Taekwondo,” “Educational Value of Taekwondo and University Taekwondo's Future Direction,” “Curriculum Development for Taekwondo Majors at Four-Year Colleges & Universities,” and “The History & Spirit of Taekwondo and Strategies for Globalization.”
Taekwondowon, formerly Taekwondo Park and is currently under construction in Muju, North Jeolla Province in Korea, will be opened in 2013. The newly appointed Chairman of the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation (TPF), Mr. Bae Jhong-shin, firmly believes that Taekwondowon will be the most equipped and adequate complex to experience everything about taekwondo and it will also serve as a great gathering place for world taekwondo people. More importantly, it will embody the spirit of taekwondo by educating youths and providing a tranquil environment for visitors to meditate.
Welcome to
The Taekwondowon 2013
TPF Chairman Bae Jhong-shin sincerely looks forward to having every taekwondo practitioner’s interest and active cooperation for the successful completion and operation of Taekwondowon. In this regard, Chairman Bae stresses that with all-out support from the world taekwondo family, Taekwondowon will be able to foster a more increasing number of well-rounded people with high moral values in the future.
Dr. Dai-soon Lee, former TPF chairman and president of the Asian Taekwondo Union, has become an honorable chairman of the foundation to continuously support the successful completion of Taekwondowon. Lee also serves as a vice president of the World Taekwondo Federation. The all-purpose training and education complex will include a 5,000-seat arena, the World Taekwondo Academy, training and lodging facilities, a taekwondo exhibition and experience center, a grandmasters’ self-discipline zone on a sprawling site of 2.31 million sq. meters. The World Taekwondo Academy, a global taekwondo education and research center, will be organized by the Kukkiwon. The entire project, backed by public and private funds, is expected to cost around $300 million. When completed, it is expected to provide tens of millions of taekwondo practitioners around the world a place to gather and hone their bodies, spirits and minds. What sets taekwondo apart from other modern sports is that it preaches the importance of moral values and respect for elders. For practitioners of taekwondo, it is not merely important to be a good athlete, but also to develop into well-rounded people with outstanding moral values. This is part of the reason why the TPF and the World Taekwondo Federation jointly organize the World Youth Taekwondo Camp every year. The overall goal of the camp
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Taekwondo Promotion Foundation 5F Dan-Am Bldg., 120, 5-ga Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea, 100-704 Tel +82-2-777-3200 Fa x +82-2-776-7198~9 www.tpf.kr tpf@tpf.kr
WTF GLOBAL MEMBERSHIP EXPANDS TO 200, 8TH LARGEST AMONG IFS The global membership of the World Taekwondo Federation reached 200 in 2011, the eighth largest among International Sport Federations, as eight countries newly joined the world’s taekwondo governing body. The WTF approved five countries as its new members at its 22nd General Assembly in Gyeongju, Korea on April 30, 2011. The five countries are Cook Islands, Rwanda, Tuvalu, Guadeloupe and Martinique. The WTF also approved three Oceania countries – Nauru, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia - as its new members at its Council meeting in Vladivostok, Russia on July 28, 2011. The three provisional members will become full members of the WTF pending a final approval at the WTF’s next General Assembly in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on April 3, 2012 on the occasion of the 9th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships.
WTF Membership by Continent WTF Membership by Continent
Year of Establishment
Number of Member Countries
African Taekwondo Union
1979
45
Asian Taekwondo Union
1976
43
European Taekwondo Union
1976
49
Pan American Taekwondo Union
1978
44
Oceania Taekwondo Union
2005
19 Total : 200
The WTF had only seven national member associations when it was established in 1973. They are Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Ecuador, Germany, Korea, the Philippines and Mexico. “This is such an exciting time for our sport. We are growing in number and reaching into almost all areas around the world,” said WTF President Chungwon Choue. “Taekwondo is truly a global sport that breaks barriers and opens the door for fairness and equality.” The WTF expects new member countries at the upcoming Egypt General Assembly.
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What was your main purpose to visit the WTF headquarters? I met with WTF President Chungwon Choue to exchange opinions on how to promote taekwondo in the Oceania region. I especially asked for WTF support and assistance in organizing the International Referee Seminar and the International Referee Refresher Course on poomsae in Auckland, New Zealand on March 1216, 2012. It marked the first poomsae international referee seminar and refresher course in New Zealand.
New WTF Members in 2011 Oceania (5) Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Tuvalu
Pan America (2)
Africa (1)
Martinique, Guadeloupe
Rwanda
200
200
What’s your feeling of making five new WTF member countries from the Oceania region? As a WTF Council member and president of New Zealand Taekwondo Inc, I arranged to make five Oceania nations new WTF member countries in 2011. I am very proud of it and I will do my utmost to activate the new member countries. With the new additions, the Oceania Taekwondo Union has 19 member countries. The expanded WTF membership would greatly help taekwondo maintain its Olympic status. As part of promoting taekwondo in the five new countries, the WTF sent four members of the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps to Tuvalu on Jan. 24 for about two months.
The three provisional member national associations can attend the WTF-promoted and sanctioned competitions, but have no voting rights until they become full members. With the eight additions, the number of Oceania Taekwondo Union members has increased to 19, compared with 45 for the African Taekwondo Union, 43 for the Asian Taekwondo Union, 49 for the European Taekwondo Union, 44 for the Pan American Taekwondo Union.
Mr. Tae Kyung Kim, a WTF Council member and president of New Zealand’s national taekwondo governing body, played a crucial role in making five Oceanian countries new members of the WTF in 2011. The five countries are Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu. Mr. Kim visited the WTF headquarters in Seoul, Korea recently to meet with WTF President Chungwon Choue.
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150 What kind of supports do you think are necessary for the promotion of taekwondo in the Oceania region?
85
100
The Oceania region needs more WTF supports in the forms of the dispatch of instructors and taekwondo equipment, among others.
50 10
7 1973
What is the current situation of taekwondo in New Zealand?
1988
2005
2011
2012*
(* More WTF Members are Expected in 2012)
The popularity of taekwondo is keep growing in New Zealand. New Zealand has now about 10,000 taekwondo practitioners, and 17 WTF international referees. When I first became president of New Zealand Taekwondo Inc. in 2005, there was not a single international referee. With the New Zealand government’s strong support, we plan to send this year our athletes to Great Britain, the United States, Mexico and Korea for international taekwondo competitions.
What are your Oceania region’s preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games? Four Oceania countries won at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the London Olympic Games through the Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament on Sept. 11, 2011 in Noumea, New Caledonia. New Zealand grabbed three tickets, while Australia and Samoa took two berths each. Papua New Guinea earned one ticket. For Samoa, it will mark the first Olympic taekwondo participation. We pin Olympic medal hopes on the men’s -68kg weight category.
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Would you tell us about your taekwondo story? I took up the sport of taekwondo in 1965. I was impressed with the discipline displayed by the practitioners and felt it would be good for fitness training. Then I found that taekwondo enables the realization of the full potential of a person, both spiritually and physically. It develops healthy bodies and virtues of modesty, benevolence, wisdom, justice, courtesy and perseverance. Taekwondo is in my blood. It is part of my life. It is my way of life. How popular taekwondo in your country?
How did you feel when you came to know that you were appointed as a new WTF Council member? The WTF Council is the highest decision-making authority for taekwondo in the world. It sets the direction for the organization for the further propagation and development of the sport. To be included as a member in this august body, I feel honored and privileged to be given the opportunity. Most of all, I am grateful to the WTF President, Dr Chungwon Choue, and the other Council members for the appointment and trust in me. As a new kid on the block, I have certainly had a lot to learn from all of them. I look forward to their guidance and advice so that I can be an effective contributing member of the Council. How did you feel when you came to know that you were appointed as a new WTF Council member? When I heard about the appointment as a WTF Council member, I was very surprised and very pleased at the same time. At first I could not really believe it. I served as a WTF Council member from 2005 to 2009, but failed to be re-elected at the General Assembly election in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. I was so happy after this appointment and also grateful for the trust that has been given to me by WTF President Chungwon Choue. In my opinion our President Dr. Choue demonstrates the global taekwondo family that his attitude is not only a short-term, but also a long-term way of thinking for our sport of taekwondo and the WTF.
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What is your main goal and priority for 2012 as a WTF Council member? In the short term, I would like to contribute to the success of the taekwondo competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games to show the international sports community that taekwondo is an Olympic sport and the WTF is a worthy member of the Olympic Movement. Furthermore I would like to help establish taekwondo as an Olympic sport in the long term. Through my experience in sports and sports policy, as the president of the German Taekwondo Federation and European Taekwondo Union vice president, I could help develop taekwondo without forgetting the origins of our sport. I ask all WTF members to recognize me again as a WTF Council member and I really hope to arrange the future of taekwondo in a good way together with all friends under the leadership of WTF President Dr. Choue.
What is your main goal and priority for 2012 as a WTF Council member? The WTF is doing very well. There have been a lot of improvements in the running of the organization and the managing of the sport. I am impressed with the administrative efficiency of the WTF which has resulted in a wellmanaged Secretariat capable of looking after the needs of 200 member national associations. Taekwondo, as an international sport, has also seen vast improvements in terms of excitement and spectator-appeal. In view of the current status of the WTF, it is in a good position to bring the sport up to another level. As a WTF Council member, my priority for 2012 is to do whatever I can to contribute to the WTF’s effort to ensure that the sport remains in the Olympic Games beyond 2020. With the support and cooperation of every member in the taekwondo fraternity, I am confident that the WTF can accomplish its primary vision. My other task will be to support and help make it a reality whatever initiatives endorsed by the Council.
Taekwondo is one of the most popular sports in Singapore. It has a following of well over 25,000 members and the number is growing as we begin to see more educational institutions showing interest in promoting the sport. It can be attributed to the annual tournaments which are organized separately for students in primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, polytechnics, institutes of technical education and universities. Last year, Edgefield Secondary School adopted taekwondo and made it compulsory for all its students. We are hoping that the school will serve as a model for other schools to follow. In February this year, we fielded 250 taekwondo performers for the 2012 Chingay Parade which is a signature and iconic event created by Singaporeans to showcase to the world what is uniquely Singaporean. The event was televised locally and internationally. The Singapore Taekwondo Federation, the national governing body for taekwondo, is proud that taekwondo is among the top sports in Singapore based on participation. Do you have any recommendations for the development of taekwondo and the WTF? Despite the current status of taekwondo and the WTF, I believe that there is still room for improvements. For example, I would like to see the WTF initiating some control over the team heads, team managers and coaches. They are the leaders of taekwondo and they must understand their responsibilities toward the sport and organization. I would also like to see taekwondo having the ability to attract a full house of spectators for every event. Currently, only some events can attract the crowds. As I see it, there is a possibility that taekwondo does not have "stars" that can drive the fans crazy. Anyway, I would like to discuss some of my ideas with the other Council members. As I have said, I am a new kid on the block and I will require some guidance.
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CONTINENTAL TAEKWONDO UNION ACTIVITIES
LEADERS OF WTF CONTINENTAL TAEKWONDO UNIONS GATHER TO EXCHANGE OPINIONS ON HOW TO FURTHER PROMOTE TAEKWONDO Presidents and secretaries general of the WTF’s five Continental Taekwondo Unions gathered at the WTF headquarters in Seoul, Korea on Feb. 4-5, 2012 to exchange opinions on how to further develop taekwondo and the WTF. The meeting, which was held in a very cordial atmosphere, drew all presidents and secretaries general of the WTF’s five Continental Taekwondo Unions except Mr. Phil Coles, president of the Oceania Taekwondo Union. Mr. Jean-Marie Ayer, who was appointed as new secretary general of the WTF, also attended the meeting, along with another WTF Lausanne Office staff. The participants exchanged a variety of views on the promotion of taekwondo and the WTF and adopted a resolution on the second and final day.
MESSAGE FROM AFTU PRESIDENT The African Taekwondo Union is going all-out to promote taekwondo among its member countries. The taekwondo competition of the All African Games took place on Sept. 14-17, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique, drawing 29 African countries, the largest ever. On the occasion of the All African Games in Mozambique, the AFTU held its General Assembly on Sept. 13 with the attendance of 26 representatives. Also a WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course was held in Maputo, Mozambique on Sept. 8-11, 2011. On Jan. 11-12, 2012, the WTF African Qualification Tournament was held in Cairo, Egypt, attracting 85 athletes from 30 countries. A total of nine countries clinched at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games through the African Qualification Tournament. The standard of athletes reflects the progress achieved within the African Taekwondo Union in promoting taekwondo in their region. The AFTU expects better results for the African athletes at the London Olympic Games. Africa will host the 9th WTF World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on April 4-8, 2012.
President
Gen. Ahmed Fouly For international referees in Africa, we will hold a WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course in Abuja, Nigeria on April 17-20, 2012. Despite limited budget of the African Taekwondo Union, we plan to hold another big taekwondo event of the African Cup and the Senior Kyorugi Taekwondo Championships, which will be held in Madagascar during the last week of October. We plan to raise the level of poomsae in the African region with the launch of the African Poomsae Championships starting in 2013.
2012 AFTU EVENTS SCHEDULE Dates
Place
Events
Jan. 11-12
Cairo, Egypt
African Qualification Tournament
April 4-8
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
9th World Junior Taekwondo Championships
April 17-20
Abuja, Nigeria
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course
October
Madagascar
African Cup and Senior Championships
2012 ATU EVENTS SCHEDULE Dates
Place
Events
Feb. 9-11
Manama, Bahrain
4th Bahrain Open International Championships
End of May
Iran
4th Asian Club Championships 24th Fajr Cup Open Championships
May 3
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
ATU Council Meeting and ATU General Assembly
MESSAGE FROM ATU PRESIDENT
May 4
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
1st Asian Junior Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
The Olympic year of 2012 has dawned. At the beginning of the New Year, the joyful shouts of young people participating in the 1st Youth Winter Olympic Games rang out in the snowfield of Innsbruck and gave the world hope and excitement.
May 4
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
2nd Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
May 5-6
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
6th Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships
May 7-8
Hochiminh City, Vietnam
20th Asian Taekwondo Championships
May 14-18
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course (Poomsae)
May 20-23
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
May 25-30
Pocheon, Korea
2012 World University Taekwondo Championships
Sept. 4
All ATU Member Nations
Taekwondo Day : "Kicking of Miracles" Event
The expectations of the world for the 2012 London Olympic Games are much more earnest and greater than ever before because the world is currently faced with serious potential crises such as deteriorating economy and social unrest, global power shift, conflicts and confrontations among the nations, and natural catastrophes, which all generate great anxieties across the world. The Olympic Games have instilled and fostered a joy of life, peace and prosperity in the hearts of mankind. This is the reason that people are looking forward to the upcoming London Olympic Games and anxious to make it a great success. Under the circumstances, we realize that taekwondo has a great role to play because it originated in the spirit of bringing benefits to all mankind. So taekwondo athletes should stand in the forefront in practicing fair play and showing respect and friendship. This year, the Asian Taekwondo Union plans to hold both junior and senior championships simultaneously. So we will have a launching ceremony for the 2012 Olympic year and get ready for our challenge and expedition to that historic world event. The ATU and its members will give their best to the success of the London Olympic Games. Secondly, it will launch a new movement in order to solve the problems of young people across the world. To celebrate Taekwondo Day, which falls on Sept. 4, we will simultaneously hold taekwondo events under the title “Kicking of Miracles� in all member nations of the ATU. The participating athletes and members are expected to reflect on themselves while practicing the movements of poomsae and breaking. The success of this event will depend on how much interest we can generate among many young people who are still ignorant of taekwondo. On Taekwondo Day this year, we intend to help all member nations carry out volunteer programs in accordance with their circumstances so that the taekwondo values can take root in their societies.
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President
Mr. Dai-Soon Lee
We are also planning to have a friendship intercontinental competition between the East and West at the end of this year and will have talks with the authorities of the European Taekwondo Union. If the male and female taekwondo athletes of the East and West get together to have friendly competitions, they will be able to extend the excitement of the London Olympic Games and open a new era of cooperation and peace. In 2013, the World Taekwondo Federation will mark the 40th anniversary of its founding. The global taekwondo family should be united to promote taekwondo values as well as the Olympic spirit, so that we can make contributions to the new world order marked by peace and prosperity. This is the role and responsibility of taekwondo as an Olympic sport.
2012 ETU EVENTS SCHEDULE ETU A-CLASS TOURNAMENTS MESSAGE FROM ETU PRESIDENT Dear members of the taekwondo family, My wishes for the New Year are even warmer than the previous years, not only because I feel great respect toward all of you, who believe in human values that are developed through sports, but also the many years of our cooperation has made our relationship even closer and has made us finally one loving family. The year 2012 will be unique due to the fact that the world of sport will hold the celebration of celebrations where all social classes of the world, whether rich or poor, will come together. This celebration is the Olympic Games which will be hosted in one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe, London, Great Britain.
President
Dates
Place
Events
Feb. 11-12
Trelleborg, Sweden
Trelleborg Open
Feb. 25
Ingolstadt, Germany
German Open Poomsae
Feb. 28-March 2
Baku, Azerbaijan
Referee Training Camp 1 for London Olympic Games
March 3-4
Hamburg, Germany
German Open
March 17-18
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Dutch Open
March 24-25
Alicante, Spain
Spanish Open
March 30-April 1
Gent, Belgium
Belgium Open
June 2-3
Innsbruck, Austria
Austrian Open
June 16
Vienna, Austria
Austrian Open Poomsae
Aug. 18
Turku, Finland
Finnish Open Poomsae
Aug. 18
Budapest, Hungary
Hungarian Open Poomsae
Oct. 20-21
Belgrade, Serbia
Galeb Belgrade Trophy
Dec. 8
Belgrade, Serbia
Serbian Open Poomsae
Mr. Athanasios Pragalos
I feel it is my duty and I am compelled to remind you of the words of the president of the WTF, Dr. Chungwon Choue: "Taekwondo is Korea’s gift to the world to enhance the mind, body and soul of the younger generation." This gift gives us the chance to show our presence in this great celebration of 2012 in London, exceptionally in these difficult times with many crises around the world. The tasks and events of the ETU have been productive in the preparation for the young people that compete for their country, family, or teachers. The many years of training in taekwondo were the result of our younger generation in arming themselves with more power to prepare them to tackle the problems and decisions in life. It is not by luck that in Europe there are so many numbers of different choices for sports for men and women, and taekwondo is the leader as more and more of our young generation has made taekwondo their first choice in sport. This is attributed to the great training of not only the body, but of the mind that taekwondo offers. The love we all have for taekwondo has driven us to organize and promote a series of events, which in 2012 apart from the Olympic Games, will be comprised of the European Cadets Championships, the European Youth Championships and the European Senior Championships in Manchester, England. Additionally, this year will see the first friendly intercontinental competition between Europe and Asia. I feel that as long as you are there as the heads of your countries, you are obliged and it is your duty to continue and spread the traditions and values for the continuous wellness of mankind, and within the new ETU Executive Board we will go forward. With the opportunity of the leap year and the 366 days to follow, I wish that 2012 to be a good year for all of you and your families.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
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Dates
Place
Events
Feb. 23-26
Sofia, Bulgaria
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course (Kyorugi)
May 3-6
Manchester, Great Britain
European Senior Championships
June 6-10
Belgrade, Serbia
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course (Poomsae)
Oct.
-
European Championships for 16-21 years
TBD
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Friendship Competition Europe - Asia
5th IOC World Conference on Women and Sport Mr. Soo-hung Li (left), chairman of the WTF Advisory Council, poses with Dr. Thomas Bach, a vice president of the IOC, at the JW Marriott in Los Angeles, USA on Feb. 18, 2012, the final day of the 5th IOC World Conference on Women and Sport. in all 2012 events, especially at the London Summer Olympic Games. As in the past, the PATU will be your first and best partner to achieve your goals in developing taekwondo in all areas of Pan America. Please continue with positive yet constructive communications with PATU leadership, so that we may advance to renew our record-breaking results again by working together in unity and harmony from continued success in cooperative leadership and communication, professional tournament organization and management, and to highly educational and beneficial seminars for all.
MESSAGE FROM PATU PRESIDENT Dear PATU family members and friends, On behalf of the PATU EXCO and Council Members, I would like to wish everyone happiness, health and prosperity in this New Year of Black Dragon! 2012 is a very important year for all of us as the London Summer Olympic Games are fast approaching us in August. Taekwondo will be celebrating our competitions as an official program for the fourth time in the Summer Olympics. The success of this Olympic Games is directly related to our continued success as a core sport in the Olympic programs. I would like to urge all members of the PATU to forward unprecedented support and cooperation for the success of this London Olympic Games. The PATU has successfully completed our Olympic Qualification Tournament and duly qualified 24 of the Pan American region’s best athletes to represent our region in London. Our sincere congratulations to all qualified countries for their hard work and dedication to pursue their excellence in London. As with other years, our regular businesses and activities are being scheduled as we anticipate to have many other important international and Pan American events planned for this year, including the South American Championships to be organized by the Argentina Taekwondo Federation, the World Junior Championships in Egypt, the 1st Canada Open, the Pan Am Junior Open to be held in the United States, the Pan Am Kyorugi & Poomsae Championships with the Pan Am Para-Taekwondo Championships and the Pan Am Open to be held in Bolivia, the World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships and the World Para-Taekwondo Championships to be held in Aruba. We are extremely proud and excited to announce that the 2012 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships will also be held in Medellin, Colombia as the WTF Council just recently has completed their voting on selecting Colombia as the hosting country for this highly prestigious event. It will be the first time in the Pan American region to host the World Poomsae Championships. This event will without doubt fast forward the development of WTF standard poomsae movement in our region. Our sincere appreciation is extended to WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue and the members of the WTF Council for having their confidence in our region with such an honor. I am also excited to announce that the PATU has established a stronger presence in the PASO (Pan Am Sports Organization) as I was elected as an Executive Board member of the ACODEPA (Association of Pan Am Sports Confederations) at the
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President
Mr. Ji Ho Choi ACODEPA Executive Board election held during the PASO General Assembly prior to the 2011 Guadalajara Pan American Games. With this positive momentum, the PATU has already begun our preparations for the 2012 Central and Caribbean Games and the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games with each corresponding organizations. The PATU will continue our efforts to improve our presence among these Games to realize certain increases in the number of athletes, officials and ultimately increase the weight categories for our sport. During this year, the PATU will make hard work to continue organizing our successful educational, technical seminars in different regions, to pursue our efforts to establish the modernization of our sport, and to realize a balanced standardization of our athletes in all areas. The strong presence enjoyed by successful nations can be achieved by continuously monitoring and following all technical matters with the latest changes in our sport. I would like to remind all members to refer to the 2012 PATU events schedule and plans for the preparation of your national teams in realizing unprecedented success
As we have planned for the past few years, this year the PATU is initializing our long awaited kyorugi referee seminars, instructor and coach certification seminars beginning with our small countries for the next few years to realize standardization of taekwondo techniques and knowledge to modernize our technical development programs in all areas of taekwondo together with effective instructor and coach educations. I am confident that we can achieve these goals with the help from our leading countries in different regions along with many other volunteer instructors and masters who have expressed their willingness to support these programs.
I would also like to urge all MNAs to take a full advantage of already available developmental support programs, such as the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps, the World Youth Taekwondo Camp, jointly organized by the WTF and the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, and various intern and resident instructor support programs by many other organizations. Thank you always for your continued dedication and endless efforts to develop our sport in the Pan America region, and I look forward to working with you throughout the year to achieve our common goal in taekwondo. I would like to wish everyone an unprecedented success through positive and assured progress in 2012!
2012 PATU EVENTS SCHEDULE Dates
Place
Events
Feb. 21-25
Las Vegas, USA
2012 U.S. Open Taekwondo Championships
March 7-8
Mexico City, Mexico
2012 PASO General Assembly
TBA
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
PATU Technical Seminar / South American Region
May 25
Portland, Oregon
PATU Executive Council Meeting
May 26
Portland, Oregon
Pan Am Junior Open International Championships
TBA
TBA
PATU Technical Seminar / Caribbean Region
TBA
TBA
Canada Open International Championships
TBA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
South American Championships
TBA
Buenos Aires, Argentina
PATU Technical Seminar South / American Region
TBA
TBA
PATU Technical Seminar / Central American Region
TBA
TBA
PATU Technical Seminar / Caribbean Region
TBA
Sucre, Bolivia
18th Pan Am Taekwondo Championships
TBA
Sucre, Bolivia
2nd Pan Am Junior Poomsae Championships
TBA
Sucre, Bolivia
2nd Pan Am Para-Taekwondo Championships
TBA
Sucre, Bolivia
2012 Pan Am Open International Championships
Nov. 22
Santa Cruz, Aruba
World Para-Taekwondo Championships
Nov. 23-25
Santa Cruz, Aruba
World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships
Dec. 6-9
Medellin, Colombia
World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course for Poomsae – Auckland, New Zealand in March 2012
MESSAGE FROM OTU PRESIDENT The 2010-2011 year brought new and exciting challenges for the Oceania Taekwondo Union and our member nations and it is fitting to note that our member nations and the OTU have more than met those challenges.
Our region continues to provide its members with access to international accreditation and this was evident by the International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course for Poomsae that was held in Auckland, New Zealand on March 12-16, 2012.
The OTU continues to grow with the 2010/11 period seeing the growth of the OTU membership from 14 member nations to 19 members. The introduction of the five Oceania countries as member nations of the WTF saw the WTF reach a global membership of 200 nations, the 8th largest International Sports Federation in the world. The new Oceania and WTF member nations admitted to membership in this period were:
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Taekwondo Announced as a Sport for the 2013 Mini Pacific Games President
Mr. Phil Coles The additional members have strengthened our Continental Union and placed it in a very strong strategic position which will see it continue to be a leading force within the WTF and regionally. The OTU will continue to grow and continue to provide leadership and a voice for its Oceania members globally.
Major OTU Activities International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course – Hosted by New Caledonia in 2010 and Australia in 2011 In December 2010, the WTF conducted an International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course in New Caledonia in conjunction with the 2010 Oceania Championships. The course was well attended and proved to be a great success. This was followed up in September 2011 with a further seminar and refresher course being hosted in conjunction with the Sports Taekwondo Australia. Again the course was well attended and successful. The International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course was held on the Gold Coast Queensland. The course provided an opportunity for the OTU and our regional members to have additional international referees accredited thus providing our athletes and our competitions with the highest standard of officiating possible.
event to be held by a WTF Continental Taekwondo Union for the 2012 Olympic Games. It was followed by similar regional selection events held in Pan America, Africa, Asia and Europe. It was encouraging to see so many member nations entering athletes for this most important selection event. The standard of competition was, as expected, very high and there were many close and exciting matches between Oceania athletes who showed great fighting spirit in their quest to be selected for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Wallis & Fortuna will host the 2013 Mini Pacific Games and taekwondo has been confirmed as a program sport for the Games. This is yet another important multisport games in our Oceania region, which continues to promote our sport as well as providing valuable international experience for our Oceania athletes.
1st Australian Open – September 2011
2011 Pacific Games a Great Success
Over 300 athletes contested two days of competition in both senior and junior divisions as well as poomsae events. Participating nations included New Zealand, France, Samoa, Malaysia, New Caledonia, the United States, India, Indonesia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
The 2011 Pacific Games held in New Caledonia in September proved to be a great success particularly for the sport of taekwondo. The Games saw record numbers of athletes and member nations participating in this important regional event. Oceania London Olympic Qualification Tournament – September 2011, New Caledonia
The first Australian Open Championship was held in September 2011 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia with a great success.
This is an event that promises to grow and get bigger every year. The next phase of this event is to obtain WTF world ranking status for the 2012 Australian Open, which will again be hosted on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
The Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament was held after the conclussion of the 2011 Pacific Games. The Oceania Olympic selection event was the first qualification
2012 OTU EVENTS SCHEDULE Dates
Place
Events
March 12-16
Auckland New Zealand
WTF International Referee Seminar and Refresher Course (Poomsae)
March 17-18
Auckland, New Zealand
New Zealand Open
Sept.
Gold Coast, Queensland
Australian Open
Nov./Dec.
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5th Oceania Championships
OTU Secretary General
Mr. John Kotsifas
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Magazine 2012, Issue No.99 ISSN 1599-3779
REVIEW Publisher / Dr. Chungwon Choue, President Editor-in-Chief / Dr. Jean-Marie Ayer, Secretary General Magazine Director / Mr. Seok-jae Kang, PR Deputy Secretary General Editors / Mr. Corbin Min, Mr. Stephen Kyle Donnell, Mr. Olof Hansson, Mr. Eil-chul Kim Design Senior Advisor / Chair Prof. Kenneth S. Park, Seoul Art College Contributing Photographer / Mr. Seuk-je Lee Designed by / GG Company
The WTF is delighted to bring you the official publication of the federation. The WTF Taekwondo magazine epitomizes our enthusiasm and progressive mindset in leading taekwondo and the WTF in the new century. The WTF Taekwondo is published annually. It is a summary of the previous year’s events, competition results and happenings throughout the world of taekwondo. It provides the events of this year, interviews with taekwondo stars and the useful information on taekwondo.
Š 2012 World Taekwondo Federation This publication and its contents may not be reproduced, even in part, in any form, without the written permission of the WTF. 4th Fl., Joyang Building 113, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, 135-090 Tel. (82-2) 566-2505 / 557-5446 Fax. (82-2) 553-4728 Homepage: www.wtf.org / E-mail: pr@wtf.org