What is sparring? Good Question... it is really confusing for people that do not participate in Taekwondo or that are just starting Martial Arts.
Due to the many various organizations for Taekwondo, here we will focus on the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) - the official Taekwondo for the Olympics.
We need to first focus on the structure of sparring and how people different ages are grouped in combination with which rank or Taekwondo belt color or Dan they are. There are many divisions and groupings such as Junior C, B, A and Senior competitors. Each grouping is determined by age and weight. For simplicity lets focus on Junior A, Senior and Olympic Divisions:
1. Junior A Divisions: 14~17yrs old - 10 Divisions
Weight category Men Women Fin - 45kg - 42kg Fly 45kg - 48kg 42kg - 44kg Bantam 48kg - 51kg 4kg - 46kg Feather 51kg - 55kg 46kg - 49kg Light 55kg - 59kg 49kg - 52kg Welter 59kg - 63kg 52kg - 55kg Light Middle 63kg - 68kg 55kg - 59kg Middle 68kg - 73kg 59kg - 63kg Light Heavy 73kg - 78kg 63kg - 68kg Heavy +78kg +68kg
In order to quality for National Competition teams, you must be competing officially in all tournaments, collecting points for your wins. To quality for the Junior Canadian National Team, you need to medal at the Canadian National Championships and subsequently compete to win 1 of 10 spots on Junior Team Canada which will enable them to represent the country at the Worlds and other International competitions such as the 2011 Pan Am Games
2. Senior Divisions: 15+ yrs old - 8 Divisions
Weight category Men Women Fin - 54kg - 47kg Fly 54kg - 58kg 47kg-51kg Bantam 58kg - 62kg 51kg - 55kg Feather 62kg - 67kg 55kg - 59kg Light 67kg - 72kg 59kg - 63kg Welter 72kg - 78kg 63kg - 67kg Middle 78kg - 84kg 67kg - 72kg Heavy +84kg +72kg
For a Senior to qualify for Team Canada, they must win 1st place at the annual Canadian National Championships. Only 1st place competitors will achieve this level where they will represent Canada at International competitions such as the Worlds and Pan American Games.
3. Olympic Divisions:15+yrs old - 4 Divisions
Men Women - 58kg (under 58kg) -49kg (under 49kg) - 68kg (under 68kg) - 57kg (under 57kg) - 80kg (under 80kg) - 67kg (under 67kg) + 80kg (over 80kg) + 67kg (over 67kg)
Senor divisions are combined to make up the 4 Olympic divisions. In order to compete for one of the spots in a division, the competitor must accumulate points throughout the year competing as a Senior, placing within their respective division and trying to achieve the highest rank in the country. The highest ranked athletes will then compete at the Olympic qualifier matches, the winner will represent the weight division at the Olympics.
There will be only 4 WTF Canada athletes that can compete at the Olympics, I am unsure if this will be changing as there are more spots made available, it would be nice to see this change over the coming years.
Ok so now lets shift back to WTF Taekwondo sparring. There are 3 rounds of sparring with one minute breaks in between each round. Both accuracy and power will determine if a point(s) are scored to either the chest protector or head gear.
There are three rounds with a referee and 3 corner judges. They use electronic scoring systems to register which opponent make the correct contact which warrants a point(s)
When you are using humans to referee, sometimes objectiveness goes out the window so with the introduction of electronic scoring, this is now a mandatory system in place at all National Competitions.
In WTF Sparring points are as follows;
* 1 point for a kick or punch to the chest protector * 2 points for a spinning kick to the chest protector * 3 points for a kick to the head * 4 points for a spinning kick to the head.
Please remember that there are no headshots allowed by punches in the WTF.
After the 3 sparring rounds, who ever has the most points will win the match moving through to the next competitor. When there is a tie at the end of the 3 rounds, they then move into Sudden Death. When competitors find themselves in Sudden Death, the 1st one to score a point in the alloted time frame wins the match. Hopefully there is no tie when this ends because they are leaving it up to the judges and referees to decide who was more aggressive and should win.
In 2010 the WTF brought back the gap point structure. Previously it was if one competitor gained a 7 point lead over the other, they would win however since this time, modification has occurred whereas there is now a 12 point gap rule. If there is a 12 point gap at the end of the 2nd round or if a 12 point gap is achieved in the 3rd round the match will be stopped and the winner declared.
When at competition, kicks and punches are anything but light. Competitors are trying their hardest and they are not holding anything back. You can KO your opponent with kicks to the head and when you do this, you win by default.
This overview was not written nor is approved by the WTF, it is of my own opinion and research, I hope that you enjoyed your read, feel free to tweet or like this article and I will keep working hard to provide you as much information on Martial Arts as I can!
Due to the many various organizations for Taekwondo, here we will focus on the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) - the official Taekwondo for the Olympics.
We need to first focus on the structure of sparring and how people different ages are grouped in combination with which rank or Taekwondo belt color or Dan they are. There are many divisions and groupings such as Junior C, B, A and Senior competitors. Each grouping is determined by age and weight. For simplicity lets focus on Junior A, Senior and Olympic Divisions:
1. Junior A Divisions: 14~17yrs old - 10 Divisions
Weight category Men Women Fin - 45kg - 42kg Fly 45kg - 48kg 42kg - 44kg Bantam 48kg - 51kg 4kg - 46kg Feather 51kg - 55kg 46kg - 49kg Light 55kg - 59kg 49kg - 52kg Welter 59kg - 63kg 52kg - 55kg Light Middle 63kg - 68kg 55kg - 59kg Middle 68kg - 73kg 59kg - 63kg Light Heavy 73kg - 78kg 63kg - 68kg Heavy +78kg +68kg
In order to quality for National Competition teams, you must be competing officially in all tournaments, collecting points for your wins. To quality for the Junior Canadian National Team, you need to medal at the Canadian National Championships and subsequently compete to win 1 of 10 spots on Junior Team Canada which will enable them to represent the country at the Worlds and other International competitions such as the 2011 Pan Am Games
2. Senior Divisions: 15+ yrs old - 8 Divisions
Weight category Men Women Fin - 54kg - 47kg Fly 54kg - 58kg 47kg-51kg Bantam 58kg - 62kg 51kg - 55kg Feather 62kg - 67kg 55kg - 59kg Light 67kg - 72kg 59kg - 63kg Welter 72kg - 78kg 63kg - 67kg Middle 78kg - 84kg 67kg - 72kg Heavy +84kg +72kg
For a Senior to qualify for Team Canada, they must win 1st place at the annual Canadian National Championships. Only 1st place competitors will achieve this level where they will represent Canada at International competitions such as the Worlds and Pan American Games.
3. Olympic Divisions:15+yrs old - 4 Divisions
Men Women - 58kg (under 58kg) -49kg (under 49kg) - 68kg (under 68kg) - 57kg (under 57kg) - 80kg (under 80kg) - 67kg (under 67kg) + 80kg (over 80kg) + 67kg (over 67kg)
Senor divisions are combined to make up the 4 Olympic divisions. In order to compete for one of the spots in a division, the competitor must accumulate points throughout the year competing as a Senior, placing within their respective division and trying to achieve the highest rank in the country. The highest ranked athletes will then compete at the Olympic qualifier matches, the winner will represent the weight division at the Olympics.
There will be only 4 WTF Canada athletes that can compete at the Olympics, I am unsure if this will be changing as there are more spots made available, it would be nice to see this change over the coming years.
Ok so now lets shift back to WTF Taekwondo sparring. There are 3 rounds of sparring with one minute breaks in between each round. Both accuracy and power will determine if a point(s) are scored to either the chest protector or head gear.
There are three rounds with a referee and 3 corner judges. They use electronic scoring systems to register which opponent make the correct contact which warrants a point(s)
When you are using humans to referee, sometimes objectiveness goes out the window so with the introduction of electronic scoring, this is now a mandatory system in place at all National Competitions.
In WTF Sparring points are as follows;
* 1 point for a kick or punch to the chest protector * 2 points for a spinning kick to the chest protector * 3 points for a kick to the head * 4 points for a spinning kick to the head.
Please remember that there are no headshots allowed by punches in the WTF.
After the 3 sparring rounds, who ever has the most points will win the match moving through to the next competitor. When there is a tie at the end of the 3 rounds, they then move into Sudden Death. When competitors find themselves in Sudden Death, the 1st one to score a point in the alloted time frame wins the match. Hopefully there is no tie when this ends because they are leaving it up to the judges and referees to decide who was more aggressive and should win.
In 2010 the WTF brought back the gap point structure. Previously it was if one competitor gained a 7 point lead over the other, they would win however since this time, modification has occurred whereas there is now a 12 point gap rule. If there is a 12 point gap at the end of the 2nd round or if a 12 point gap is achieved in the 3rd round the match will be stopped and the winner declared.
When at competition, kicks and punches are anything but light. Competitors are trying their hardest and they are not holding anything back. You can KO your opponent with kicks to the head and when you do this, you win by default.
This overview was not written nor is approved by the WTF, it is of my own opinion and research, I hope that you enjoyed your read, feel free to tweet or like this article and I will keep working hard to provide you as much information on Martial Arts as I can!
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