The WTF is the largest governing body in Taekwondo, though it is several years younger than the ITF. WTF sparring therefore is the most widely recognized as "TKD" sparring, since literally millions of people watch the fights during the Olympic games.
On this website, we'll refer to WTF sparring as a style of sparring, called Full Contact. The object in WTF sparring is to score more points than your opponent or to knock your opponent out. You can be losing the match 5-0, but if you land that perfect round kick to the side of the head that KO's your opponent, you win!
Of course, if he lands his on you... it's lights out!
The World Taekwondo Federation is located in Seoul Korea
The World Taekwondo Federation is located in Seoul Korea
If you were to draw a flow diagram of TKD organizations it would quickly become as confusing as a plate of spaghetti. Best advice you'll get all day... forget about all the organizations, governing bodies, and politics and just train! But in a nutshell, this is kind of what it looks like.
The ITF & the WTF are the two major governing organizations in the Taekwondo world, however not everyone belongs. These days, lots of schools are independent of either group. Still even the independent schools generally do follow the basic structure of one or the other organizations.
So what does it mean if your school isn't ITF or WTF? Probably not much, unless you want a Kukkiwan certification, or if you want claw your way into the politics of one of those governing bodies. (Personally I'd rather spar a Grizzly Bear!)
Being an independent school does give you some latitude in how you train. Some Indie schools are training fighters in both Continuous Point and Full Contact sparring, and with great success. And while your chances of going to the Olympics may be reduced by not being in the WTF family of schools, it's not elminated thanks to the Opens.
The Opens are national competitions that are held to find the best athletes for that country's Olympic Team. The US Open is controlled by the USAT, or USA Taekwondo, and qualifying athletes may compete, regardless of school affiliation.
Every country that participates in the Olympics has their own governing body that picks their TKD Olympic squad, and to the best of my knowledge they mostly all have an Open competition of some sort to choose the athletes. In Great Britain the BTCB, or British Taekwondo Control Board, handles the selection to their Olympic Team.
Being an independent school does give you some latitude in how you train. Some Indie schools are training fighters in both Continuous Point and Full Contact sparring, and with great success. And while your chances of going to the Olympics may be reduced by not being in the WTF family of schools, it's not elminated thanks to the Opens.
The Opens are national competitions that are held to find the best athletes for that country's Olympic Team. The US Open is controlled by the USAT, or USA Taekwondo, and qualifying athletes may compete, regardless of school affiliation.
Every country that participates in the Olympics has their own governing body that picks their TKD Olympic squad, and to the best of my knowledge they mostly all have an Open competition of some sort to choose the athletes. In Great Britain the BTCB, or British Taekwondo Control Board, handles the selection to their Olympic Team.
Point sparring....
The main difference beteween Point Sparring and Full Contact Olympic-Style is the degree of force that the athletes utilize. In Point Sparring, the object is to make solid but controlled contact. Generally that's considered to be a good "pop" sound upon impact.
In Point Sparring there is no intent to injure and knock outs are not rewarded with victory. In fact in most associations that I'm familiar with if you knock out our opponent in Point Sparring you will be Disqualified for an Uncotrolled Attack.
There are two main types of Point Sparring, Continuous and Stop Action. In Stop Action Point Sparring, when the corner officials see a point scored they kihap, or yell, and the center referree "stops the action" and checks to see if enough judges saw the point for it to score.
In Continuous Point electronic scoring is used and the corner officials score points by using game controllers like you might find in an old video game. For a point to go up on the board you still need a majority of officials to score it, at virtually the same time. The big difference is obviously that the referee doesn't have to stop the action after every point so the fights are more realistic, and more like Full Contact Sparring. The most common type of Point Sparring is still probably Stop Action, however Continuous Point is a growing trend and I expect it to knock Stop Action into a small footnote in the next few years. The style of Point Fighting determines the strategy that each fighter must employ.
You can read more about Stop Action point fighting strategy or if you're in the new breed of Continuous Point Fighters go here to find strategy info.
Different TKD associations have different rules about what equipment is required for Point Sparring. At a minimum all agree that Point Sparrers need to wear "Punches" and "Kicks".
If you're new to the Martial Arts and/or TKD you might wonder how you wear "Punches" or "Kicks" but that's just slang for the type of foam rubber padding that's worn over the hands and feet. The padding by the way is there for your Opponents protection, not necessarily yours! Additionally some associations, especially those doing continuous Point...may require a Hogu. The Hogu is the chest protector that is unique to TKD sparring. It's really a type of armor that's worn to protect the ribs, in this case your ribs! The Hogu, (and the cup for male athletes), is among the only equipment that's worn for your protection instead of your opponents.
As a side note, I fought for years without a Hogu, but now I wear one, even during practice sparring in the Dojang. Why? Well it takes a bit of getting used to wearing something that makes you look and feel a bit like the Michelin Man. They're hot, and can be heavy too. The second reason, is that my ribs don't ache for days after going up against a better athlete anymore! Which means I get to train more, and keep getting better, instead of spending a day or two "recovering."
Here's a shot of me in Helmet, Hogu, Punches and Kicks (not pictured). This is my standard attire for Continuous Point Sparring in the USSSA style. Some Continuous Point rules don't require the Hogu, so you may need to check with your instructor or the tournament official to see what's required for you.
Under my Dobok top, you can't see, but I'm wearing elbow and forearm pads. These are required by my school, but not my association. The reason we require elbow pads is that we block kicks to Zone 1 with our elbows, and we wear them to protect our opponents who generally don't enjoy a bony jab of the elbow into their instep!
Oh, I almost forgot another required piece of equipment, that's worn for your protection, the Mouthpiece. The Mouthpiece is a rubbery plastic device that fits over your top teeth, and is held in place when you close your mouth. The Mouthpiece isn't there to protect your teeth however, it's to protect your brain!
Evidence suggests that wearing a Mouthpiece can help prevent you from being knocked out, should you get slammed in the chin! And while punches and kicks to the face are not allowed in Point Sparring, accidents do happen!
So where should you get all this stuff? There are lots of sources, including possibly the school where you train. For value and convenience I recommend Century. They've got a great reputation for both quality and value, and ship quickly.
Wherever you get your supplies make sure they are good quality! Punches and kicks will wear out with regular use, in 6 months to a year (another good reason to price shop), but your Hogu should last for years and years.
In Point Sparring there is no intent to injure and knock outs are not rewarded with victory. In fact in most associations that I'm familiar with if you knock out our opponent in Point Sparring you will be Disqualified for an Uncotrolled Attack.
There are two main types of Point Sparring, Continuous and Stop Action. In Stop Action Point Sparring, when the corner officials see a point scored they kihap, or yell, and the center referree "stops the action" and checks to see if enough judges saw the point for it to score.
In Continuous Point electronic scoring is used and the corner officials score points by using game controllers like you might find in an old video game. For a point to go up on the board you still need a majority of officials to score it, at virtually the same time. The big difference is obviously that the referee doesn't have to stop the action after every point so the fights are more realistic, and more like Full Contact Sparring. The most common type of Point Sparring is still probably Stop Action, however Continuous Point is a growing trend and I expect it to knock Stop Action into a small footnote in the next few years. The style of Point Fighting determines the strategy that each fighter must employ.
You can read more about Stop Action point fighting strategy or if you're in the new breed of Continuous Point Fighters go here to find strategy info.
Different TKD associations have different rules about what equipment is required for Point Sparring. At a minimum all agree that Point Sparrers need to wear "Punches" and "Kicks".
If you're new to the Martial Arts and/or TKD you might wonder how you wear "Punches" or "Kicks" but that's just slang for the type of foam rubber padding that's worn over the hands and feet. The padding by the way is there for your Opponents protection, not necessarily yours! Additionally some associations, especially those doing continuous Point...may require a Hogu. The Hogu is the chest protector that is unique to TKD sparring. It's really a type of armor that's worn to protect the ribs, in this case your ribs! The Hogu, (and the cup for male athletes), is among the only equipment that's worn for your protection instead of your opponents.
As a side note, I fought for years without a Hogu, but now I wear one, even during practice sparring in the Dojang. Why? Well it takes a bit of getting used to wearing something that makes you look and feel a bit like the Michelin Man. They're hot, and can be heavy too. The second reason, is that my ribs don't ache for days after going up against a better athlete anymore! Which means I get to train more, and keep getting better, instead of spending a day or two "recovering."
Here's a shot of me in Helmet, Hogu, Punches and Kicks (not pictured). This is my standard attire for Continuous Point Sparring in the USSSA style. Some Continuous Point rules don't require the Hogu, so you may need to check with your instructor or the tournament official to see what's required for you.
Under my Dobok top, you can't see, but I'm wearing elbow and forearm pads. These are required by my school, but not my association. The reason we require elbow pads is that we block kicks to Zone 1 with our elbows, and we wear them to protect our opponents who generally don't enjoy a bony jab of the elbow into their instep!
Oh, I almost forgot another required piece of equipment, that's worn for your protection, the Mouthpiece. The Mouthpiece is a rubbery plastic device that fits over your top teeth, and is held in place when you close your mouth. The Mouthpiece isn't there to protect your teeth however, it's to protect your brain!
Evidence suggests that wearing a Mouthpiece can help prevent you from being knocked out, should you get slammed in the chin! And while punches and kicks to the face are not allowed in Point Sparring, accidents do happen!
So where should you get all this stuff? There are lots of sources, including possibly the school where you train. For value and convenience I recommend Century. They've got a great reputation for both quality and value, and ship quickly.
Wherever you get your supplies make sure they are good quality! Punches and kicks will wear out with regular use, in 6 months to a year (another good reason to price shop), but your Hogu should last for years and years.
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