WTF Taekwondo goes semi-contact for head kicks

[andyjeffries]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...thout-impact/2012/04/04/gIQA5pxluS_story.html

Shocked!

I predict this will completely change the game rather than just make it safer!

 

[andyjeffries]

A little more detail here - http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news/newsid=1230255.html

 

[Cyriacus]

Im not sure what to think of that.
On the one hand, its Sport Sparring. I wouldnt mind if They outlawed Head Kicks altogether.
On the other hand, a denizen other Systems allow it. Why stop it for this one?

 

[ATC]

May see more KO's. No one will go to the head slow and soft, they will just go to the head. If they touch great, but most likely they will hit it hard more now. Good rule I say. Plus no more gray area of was the kick to soft for a score. Hit the head and you score. I like it.

 

[ATC]

Im not sure what to think of that.
On the one hand, its Sport Sparring. I wouldnt mind if They outlawed Head Kicks altogether.
On the other hand, a denizen other Systems allow it. Why stop it for this one?

Taking away head kick takes away more than half of your offense. Knowing that you have to guard your head opens up a multitued of options. You have so may more setups. If you know what you are doing it is very difficult to hit the head, but you have more opportunities to open up the body shots becuase of head shots.

 

[andyjeffries]

May see more KO's. No one will go to the head slow and soft, they will just go to the head. If they touch great, but most likely they will hit it hard more now. Good rule I say. Plus no more gray area of was the kick to soft for a score. Hit the head and you score. I like it.

I don't dispute that it removes a grey area and FWIW I'm not saying it's a 100% bad thing (although personally I prefer it being full contact for adults), just that strategies will change I'm sure. No one will go soft and slow, but multiple flicky kicks may be the order of the day because each one connecting gets 3 points.

That said, if they want to change it, I think it's probably a good time to change it now. If they did it way before London 2012 then people would be part way implementing new strategies to work with those rules and we may have more weird results rather than less (where experimental strategies work although they may seem weird to those of us used to WTF rules). By changing it so close, maybe they will achieve their aim - same game, more simple.

 

[Gemini]

Most of the tournaments I was ever in, that was the rule anyway.

 

[RobinTKD]

I'm not sure what to think about this. Does this mean that headgear will become optional? I've always liked the idea of it being full contact.

 

[Manny]

When I got inside kenpo karate and sparr there I was shocked that even a little slap at the head/face was a point (point sparring), no matter how well or hard I kicked or punched if my oponnet trow me a lighting back fist for example that only touched my temple he won the point no matter I caught him with a well placed kick miliseconds latter.

Why not get rid of the electronic hogu, and the helmet and just do light contact or some kind of point sparring? If I am in heat of the moment in a fight (tournament or dojang) trying to nail my oponent cause he wants to do it to me too it's dificult to control for example a spining hook kick to the head, I can reach the target or not but trying to slow down the tech to only touch the helmet allowing my oponente to use a speed and powerfull roundhouse to the stomach is not fare.

I think olimpci TKD must set the rules again, do they want a full contact sport or a light contact sport, if a full contact sport it's what they want then use all the safety equipment and go for the knock out if not, then get rid of all the safety equipment and go light contact period, and forget the electronic score system.

Manny

 

[andyjeffries]

If I am in heat of the moment in a fight (tournament or dojang) trying to nail my oponent cause he wants to do it to me too it's dificult to control for example a spining hook kick to the head, I can reach the target or not but trying to slow down the tech to only touch the helmet allowing my oponente to use a speed and powerfull roundhouse to the stomach is not fare.

to be fair to the WTF though, they aren't saying you can't hit full power, just that you don't need to in order to score. If you want to wallop someone in the head and knock them out you still can. It's not like ITF rules where there are penalties for excessive contact.

I think they're pushing the safety aspect while in reality that's a red herring. This is to remove concerns over biased/inaccurate/incompetent scoring by human judges.

This may be an important step to keep Taekwondo in the Olympics, with all the previous criticism it's received on this point.

I am just concerned it's a short-sighted change and it hasn't been thought through in how it will affect techniques, strategy and the overall appearance of the sport...

 

[RobinTKD]

to be fair to the WTF though, they aren't saying you can't hit full power, just that you don't need to in order to score. If you want to wallop someone in the head and knock them out you still can. It's not like ITF rules where there are penalties for excessive contact.

Embarrassingly, I missed that point. It sounds like a good thing when put like that because there aren't that many head shots in modern WTF fights. Hopefully it will result in fairer scoring and more KO's.

 

[Markku P]

I like this "head kick" rule. Now it's more clear. The competition is a sport event and rules should be as clear as possible. I don't think that competition has so much to do with "martial art" but that's fine with me.​

 

[andyjeffries]

Embarrassingly, I missed that point. It sounds like a good thing when put like that because there aren't that many head shots in modern WTF fights. Hopefully it will result in fairer scoring and more KO's.

I think a lot of people missed it and my inflammatory thread title probably didn't help ;-) Nothing I like more than rattling people's cages though.

As I said, in the short term I think this is a good thing (remove a criticism for the Olympics just before Olympic Taekwondo's future is decided again).

My worry is that people play to the rules over time and develop strategies to maximize their chances of winning under those rules. Will this develop in to a flicky-kicking surfing style...? That is the vision I have in my head when I think of ITF sparring from the 80s/early 90s (rightly or wrongly).

 

[Markku P]

My worry is that people play to the rules over time and develop strategies to maximize their chances of winning under those rules. Will this develop in to a flicky-kicking surfing style...? That is the vision I have in my head when I think of ITF sparring from the 80s/early 90s (rightly or wrongly).

It's already happening

/Markku

 

[chrispillertkd]

My worry is that people play to the rules over time and develop strategies to maximize their chances of winning under those rules. Will this develop in to a flicky-kicking surfing style...? That is the vision I have in my head when I think of ITF sparring from the 80s/early 90s (rightly or wrongly).

Wrongly.

Official ITF rules state that in order for a point to be scored it must have A) correct execution in a proper distance, B) be dynamic with power, speed and accuracy, and C) the execution must be controlled and in the correct target area. That's the opposite of a "flicky-kicking surfing style."

Pax,

Chris

 

[Markku P]

Wrongly.

Official ITF rules state that in order for a point to be scored it must have A) correct execution in a proper distance, B) be dynamic with power, speed and accuracy, and C) the execution must be controlled and in the correct target area. That's the opposite of a "flicky-kicking surfing style."

Pax,

Chris

What I saw -80 doesn't really support this.

/Markku P.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Fantastic.

Pax,

Chris

 

[puunui]

May see more KO's. No one will go to the head slow and soft, they will just go to the head. If they touch great, but most likely they will hit it hard more now. Good rule I say. Plus no more gray area of was the kick to soft for a score. Hit the head and you score. I like it.

We knew this was coming for a couple of months now. IRs (including an Olympic IR) that I know are against it, saying that it will lead to more controversy, not less. It is easier to tell impact than simply touch. In my opinion, it's a bad rule.

 

[ATC]

We knew this was coming for a couple of months now. IRs (including an Olympic IR) that I know are against it, saying that it will lead to more controversy, not less. It is easier to tell impact than simply touch. In my opinion, it's a bad rule.

We will see.

 

[puunui]

We will see.

We have already seen, because touch only for head kicks was a policy of the present WTF Referee Committee chair previously, since the start of his chairship. This is not a new standard, but rather something that they moved away from briefly and have now brought back. The reason why they moved away from it before because it was unworkable.