JadeDragon3
Black Belt
I do not practice TKD and I have a few questions. Is there any face/head contact allowed at TKD tournaments? If not, why? Does TKD teach any weapons?
head contact?
- Thread starter JadeDragon3
- Start date
Head and face contact varies depending on the organization you're in, and what their rules are. The ITF allows contact to all head targets (face, top, sides, and back of head) with all legal tools - or, at least it did, when I was in it. The association I currently belong allows contact to the head with all tools.
Taekwon-Do is an empty hand art, and does not teach weapons, although it does teach weapons defense.
Taekwon-Do is an empty hand art, and does not teach weapons, although it does teach weapons defense.
Our school focuses on the Olympic Sport of Competition TKD.
Black Belts 14 years and older are allowed full contact to the head/face with feet only. The back of the head, from the ears back is not allowed. Color Belts over 12 and Black Belts under 14 are light contact only to the head/face with foot techniques.
You've had your computer for a nearly a full month now, what took you so long to find the TKD board?
Black Belts 14 years and older are allowed full contact to the head/face with feet only. The back of the head, from the ears back is not allowed. Color Belts over 12 and Black Belts under 14 are light contact only to the head/face with foot techniques.
You've had your computer for a nearly a full month now, what took you so long to find the TKD board?
K31
Blue Belt
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My school allows contact only to the areas of the head "protected" by the sparring gear. I got in trouble because the training I had in the past it was no-contact but you stopped about an inch shy of the target so when we began sparring I threw a punch that stopped about an inch from one of the aides face. She was not happy about it and I didn't understand why at first.
jim777
Master Black Belt
My ITF affililiate school allows head contact at green belt and up, and starts sparring at orange belt. I don't know about competitions though.
We do all kinds of tournament where head shots are legal and other where face ad head nis legal with hands and feet. So it all depends on what you want.
Headgear isn't to protect your head from hand and foot techniques... it's to protect your head from the floor after you get swept; at least, that's why we require it. If you are relying on headgear to protect your head, you need to keep your hands up more; you're learning bad habits - it sounds like you have good habits, but the aide seems a little iffy to me. As far as the punch, 1 inch is plenty far away to demonstrate focus; I don't understand the aide's concern, as long as your technique was clearly under control.
A friend of mine was KO'd in a tournament (kicked in the jaw) - he hit the floor pretty hard, but because of his head gear he was unconscious for about 30 seconds and had a mild concussion. Without the headgear, he'd have had a significant traumatic brain injury. The bruises were mostly where he landed, not where he was hit - luckily for him, he landed on his headgear and not his face.
K31
Blue Belt
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2006
- Messages
- 295
- Reaction score
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Oh, I don't have any mis-conceptions about headgear protecting my head. (That's why I put "protected" in quotes.) Other than maybe preventing a bruise or scrape in a near miss or something. I know you are going to suffer a concussion with a good shot to the head regardless of headgear and I read one convincing argument that headgear might even exacerbate injuries.
The aide was apparently upset about me aiming for her face. I wasn't aware of the rules regarding what areas were legal to strike at the time, and like I said, in my previous training it was no contact. She apparently thought I was really contemplating hitting her in the face.
