How to upgrade the game?

How to upgrade the game? This is the biggest question facing taekwondo for the long cycle of preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

How to upgarde the game?

Fortunately, the WTF has been introducing changes and innovations.

Following the 2008 Beijing Olympics – it was controversies over scoring and refereeing – the sport’s future on the Olympic program was in jeopardy. The WTF instituted a reform drive. The mission was improving the transparency and fairness of the game.

To realize this they invented the electronic protector and scoring system (PSS). The PSS makes all points scored immediately to the crowd, while reducing human error in judging. Referee training and education was massively upgraded and the Instant V.R.(Video Replay) system was introduced. Thanks to these developments, taekwondo was controversy-free in London 2012 and Rio 2016 and is now a firm fixture on the Summer Games program.

But there have been drawbacks -as everything invented by human- the PSS is imperfect. It has also altered the way the game is played: taekwondo has gone from knockout mode to point-scoring mode. This has resulted to schools the old one -the powerhouse contact sport of the past – and the new one – the modern, tactical game, which prioritizes front foot kicks and favors tall, skinny players.

Even many exponents prefer “old school” techniques and fighters, who tend to be head-hunters and spin-kickers. But “new school” dominates the medal tables. Even elite exponents of “old school” taekwondo – who include some of the most crowd-pleasing fighters in the game, such as Moldova’s Aaron Cook and Turkey’s Servet Tazegul – find it hard to win with traditional fighting style in the current rules and gear.

This is not to say that Rio was dull: In fact, there were some classic finals – such as the Jordan’s Ahmad Abughaush versus Russia’s Alexey Denisenko and Great Britain’s Jade Jones vs. Spain’s Eva Calvo Gomez – and incredible crowd support. But with the 2016 Games over, a four-year window of opportunity has opened for the WTF to make changes and re-inject spectacle back into the game.

If that happens, it will open the way for taekwondo to be not just the hugely successful participation sport which it is – the WTF has 80 million members globally – but also a global spectator sport. Once crowds increase, global media will get into the action and elite fighters and teams will benefit from enriched sponsorship opportunities.

From Oct. 17th-21st the first-ever WTF Coach Seminar will take place, with 30 top coaches invited from around the world. “The coaches can ask questions of the WTF.