Taekwondo in competition

Taekwondo competitions happen regularly at all levels from local club and inter-club championships, right up to the Olympics, where it has been an official medal event since 2002. Right from the outset, Taekwondo practitioners are encouraged to compete. Competitions give a student a goal to work towards, they can focus on areas of their training that need work and steadily build their self confidence as they learn to deal with the stress and nerves of competing and performing in front of both a crowd and a panel of judges. Taekwondo competitors are organised into rank, weight class, age and gender.

Traditionally, Taekwondo competitions are organised into four main areas.

• Patterns (Poomsae)
• Breaking (Kyuko)
• Self-defense (Hosinsul)
• Sparring (Kyeorug)