A Change To The Rules

As most of us know some of the best and entertaining sparring is done in lessons and not competitions. This is due to fighters being over concerned with gaining or giving away every point.

In my opinion the worst change ever made in competition rules was to display the scores. Before this change was made fighters did not know who was winning so kept fighting to the very end.

I think it is unlikely that this rule will ever be changed back, however, the WTF have recently revised the rules again to encourage fighters to display a greater range of techniques. (Fighters take note)

I think these changes will suit Chung Yong fighters and I am pleased to see that the WTF are working hard to move away from the tip tap one point at a time style of fighting that has made modern Taekwondo boring to watch.

I have listed some of the more important changes below. They make me smile and I look forwards to seeing Chung Yong’s fighters in action soon.

• a smaller 8m by 8m contest area – this will reduce the competition area and the rationale is so that players will have to commit to more fighting rather than use space to move around,

• 3-points for a legal scoring head kick – this will encourage the use of more difficult kicks and more spectacular actions from the players to chase the points and score more points, and enhancing spectator viewing and enjoyment value and at the same time also increasing taekwondo’s values by showcasing its spectacular techniques,

• 2-points for "body turning(rotating)" kicks, eg back kicks, spinning turning kicks, jumping back kicks – as above this will increase spectator viewing and enjoyment value and also increasing taekwondo skills presentation,

• penalizing the use of the leg to block an attacking kick by lifting the knee – this will reduce the incidence of injury and encourage fairer match play rather than impeding good attacking technique,

• abolishing the 7 point gap or 12 point ceiling for winning matches – there are views that support and also not support this. While it allows matches to continue irrespective of point scores, it does not give allowance to stop matches early for any miss-matches or if a player is being outclassed,

• introducing the 5 second rule to commence the count down clock before warning a player/s for not engaging in technical exchange – this will quicken the pace and ensures there is more constant fight engagement, and this will give more spectator value for viewing fighting action,

• the use of a video replay system to rule on a challenge to a point or points scored or not scored (just like in tennis) or any rule infringement whether given or not given by the officiating referee or judges – this however will be limited to events that have the video capture or video reviews systems,

• the competition supervisory board can now over-rule the match decision if there are proven grounds of incorrect factual judgment.