The board members unanimously approved the 2021 income-expenditure report and the 2022 budget and business plans. Board members attending the meeting in person were Dr. Chungwon Choue, president of GCS International; Mr. Seung Myung-ho, chairman of the Hankuk Ilbo and the Korea Times; Mr. Lee Kwang-kyun, and Mr. Lee Hyeong-taek, representative attorney of law firm Tong.

The board gave the green light to the 2022 GCS International Convention on October 13-16, 2022 at Chiang Mai, Thailand. The 2020 GCS International Convention was supposed to take place at the Thai resort city in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced to cancel the annual GCS event.

Other major GCS International events for 2022 include the 2022 DMZ Peace Festival in Paju, Korea together with the Kookmin Daily; the 2022 Taekwondo UCC Contest together with the Asia Development Foundation (ADF) and/or the Korea Culture Foundation; the Korean Language UCC Contest together with the Asia Development Foundation; and the 2022 Companion Animal UCC Contest together with the International Center for Korean Culture (ICKC).

GCS International also plans to organize the 1^st GCS President’s Cup International Hangung Event together with the World Hangung Association, while conducting voluntary GCS medical service abroad in cooperation with K-beauty and health organizations.

GCS International is to organize several GCS peace concerts jointly with local “gagok” organizations, and plans to promote an international event together with the Korea Saemaul Undong Center.

At the board meeting, GCS International Secretary General Dr. Seok-jae Kang reported that the number of GCS International increased to 80, up from 58 at the end of 2020.

At the board meeting, GCS International President Choue said, “GCS International successfully organized the World Taekwondo Peace Festival together with World Taekwondo on November 22, 2021 in Seoul, Korea to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Olympic Taekwondo and the 40th anniversary of the U.N. International Day of Peace.” “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, GCS International made much progress in 2021 and much more is expected in 2022 with the full support of GCS chapters worldwide,” Dr. Choue said.

El cargo 2022 GCS International Board Meeting Held at GCS HQs in Hybrid Format apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

It’s been said that Kyorugi competition lost dynamics. One of the biggest reasons for that is ‘fencing kick’. World Taekwondo (WT), which makes efforts in improving the competition.

Fencing kick was created when WT introduced PSS (Protector scoring system). Before PSS was introduced, it was not easy for players to get points with that kick from a referee. It was because the score was acquired when the hit was accurately and strongly made to the opponent with an accurate Taekwondo skill. On the other hand, fencing kick is one of the efficient attack skills when PSS is used. It is because if a player raises his foot and try to make a push kick, he can not only prevent the attack from opponent but also can score by fast pressing the opponent with his foot.

Besides, the diverse and beautiful skills which people is looking for at Kyorugi match are disappearing due to this fencing kick skill.

For this reason, WT has made a lot of efforts to prevent players from keeping their foot raised for attack during match. But there have been little effects. Players continued to use the skill of push kick if their skills do not reach the restriction levels so that, this action has more evolved.

After Tokyo Olympics, WT formed a Competition Rules Improvement Committee with the aim to come up with a measure to improve the matches. Finally, they came up with various rules improvement plans, one of which was a measure of reducing the push-kicks.

Improvement Committee’s measure is to separately distinguish the signal from each of the feet protection sensors located instep, foot sole and heel and give the score that comes from the foot sole, different from the attack made from other body parts. It means that the Committee is trying to recommend and push players to use the diverse attack skills by lowering the scores obtained by the ‘push-kick attack without turning’.

In November, last year, at the request of Competition Improvement Committee, an experiment was conducted where this improvement was used. This experiment was conducted by using KPNP PSS.

It has been often discussed in the Taekwondo community that for the development at Kyorugi competitions, the score from push kick shall be lowered. Accordingly, it is expected that this improvement will change Taekwondo to get better.

But this is still not known whether WT would adopt this system to the competition. It is because this improvement proposed by Competition Rule Improvement Committee, shall undergo the specified approval processes by the WT technical committee, Council and General Assembly before this change could be done to the competition rules.

El cargo Will ‘Fencing Kick’ get reduced on Kyorugi competitions? apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

It has been 14 years since the World Taekwondo (WT) adopted PSS (Protector scoring system). They have been improved their system and several defects since their introduction. After more than a decade thanks to PSS Taekwondo is in another level.

The biggest reason why PSS were adopted is the fairness in judging. Back in 2008, the Kyorugi scoring, was totally in charge of referees. Because of human errors sometimes, judgement was considered biased.

Therefore, WT decided to adopt the PSS to avoid this kind of mistakes. In 2009, they were used at the World Championships for first time ever. From that time, they have been used on main Taekwondo competitions including Olympics and World Championships. As of 2021, there are two WT certified companies in PSS, DAEDO and KPNP.

However, even with the limitation of human error other glitches have been found. These issues may be classified into three parts such as intensity detection, wireless communication, and system error.

First point, Intensity Detection is the main difficulty, which is about the system ability to distinguish players attacking properly and constantly. Technologies required here are related to the linearity in the Detection Intensity (expression in proportion to the intensity value which increases constantly.) if this keeps in proper values, and if all sensors respond in a consistent way. In the opinion of players, this issue has not been totally solved.

The second thing is the communication stability at Kyourgi competitions. In this situation, the wireless communication is used due to the characteristics of competition. But there have been several stops on matches due to interruptions in wireless communication.

The last bullet is “unknown system error”. This include cases called “Ghost Score” which is when a point is shown at the screen even when there is no attack by a player. Also, there is the case when system stops randomly so that result on a competition delay, sometimes for quite a time.

In addition, a device capable of testing the irregularity operation and failure of PSS is also required. So far, players have been trying to solve this under referee’s instructions on the court, but reliability on this method is still low.

El cargo After 14 years of PSS, technology needs to keep improving apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

The French Minister for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, today took part in the working group on the “Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation Project” led by the French Federation of Taekwondo and Associated Disciplines (FFTDA) in partnership with the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF).

Alongside Bintou, a high-level sportswoman at INSEP, five refugees, immigrants and former asylum seekers have been chosen to lead the project as social or sports workers, communication or research officers, in the Centres d’Accueil de Demandeurs d’Asile (CADA). Their names are Sarah, Zakia, Oumaïma, Azizjan and Kevin and they and have been using taekwondo, sometimes for several years, as a tool for social integration and citizenship. 

On Wednesday 12 January at INSEP, in the presence of the Minister Delegate for Sport, Roxana Maracineanu, the Humanitarian Taekwondo Foundation and the project’s partner organisations (Club Hanok, Jess Van Thuyne Gentilly, the Taekwondo League of Ile de France and the Francophone Mental Training Association) signed bilateral agreements to cover the future work contracts of the five professionals mentioned above.

The originality of the programme, which focuses on inclusion through the practice of taekwondo, lies in this double dimension of human support: supervising uprooted young people by people who have experienced the same situations and offering them prospects for social and professional integration.

After the first initiations, which will help restore confidence and self-esteem, the beneficiaries, asylum seekers or refugees in Ile de France, will begin a 12-session learning cycle. This second phase will offer them opportunities for socialisation, including learning the French language. The final stage of the project will involve their inclusion in a partner club. After passing their first grade, they will be able to join the partner structure free of charge. Membership will then be paid for in full within the framework of the project. Their immersion in the club will promote social links with other members, lead them to appropriate the rules of society and ensure the continuity of their integration within our Republic.

With this concept, the THF, in partnership with the FFTDA, joined a consortium of six partners in September 2021, including the NGOs Play International, Kabubu, Futbol Mas, Ovale Citoyen and Emmaüs Solidarité. They were selected in the framework of a call for projects by the Olympic Refuge Foundation and the Ministry of Sports, in order to design a unique programme to support displaced persons or refugees in the Ile de France region through sport. This project is mainly financed by the Ministry of Sports through a one million Euro grant to the Olympic Refuge Foundation created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Being social coaches is part of the DNA of the federations even if they are not always on the front line. The Federations have the skills and capacities to play a leading role alongside the major NGOs, to respond to this type of call for projects and thus act for a better society. In order to promote this societal role at the heart of federal projects, the Ministry of Sports will conclude republican commitment contracts with the federations in the coming weeks, based on our common foundation.

El cargo Taekwondo: an accelerator for social inclusion in Paris apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

The three main changes are the expansion of the President’s Office to include additional functions, thus are the Planning and Finance Department; and the Education Office becomes a full-fledged Department.

The Legal Office is also now part of the Development and Member Relations Department.

The other two departments remain unchanged, the Events and Sport Department and the Administration and Communications Department.

The Senior Directors in charge of these departments are as follows:

• Ms. Heesoo Noh: Administration and Communication (ANC)
• Mr. Jungseok Yoo: Education (EDU)
• Mr. Jeongkang Seo: Member Relations and Development (MRD)
• Mr. Jerry Ling: Planning and Finance (PNF)
• Mr. Jay Lee: Sport and Event Management (SEM)

Is important to highlight that, Jeongkang Seo will be the Director General, an appointment that automatically positions him as Acting Secretary General until a new Secretary General is appointed, after the exit of Hoss Rafaty from that position

El cargo World Taekwondo restructures office apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

Under President Terekhov’s leadership, Russia has hosted the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships in Chelyabinsk and the 2018 World Taekwondo Grand Prix and 2019 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Finals and Gala Awards in Moscow. The country’s athletes have also enjoyed great success internationally with all qualified Olympic athletes winning medals at Tokyo 2020 (two golds, one silver and one bronze) and three of their four Paralympic athletes winning medals in Tokyo (three bronze). They also won one gold, two silver and one bronze at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships in Manchester and one silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

World Taekwondo President Choue, who nominated the Russian Taekwondo Union for the commendation and presented the certificate virtually, said:

“It is my pleasure to present this certificate on behalf of the Korean Ministry of Sport and Tourism to my friend and colleague Anatoly K Terekhov. President Terekhov has made a huge contribution to the development of Taekwondo in Russia and led them to be one of the sport’s most successful countries. Their outstanding performance at Tokyo 2020 in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games reflects how far they have come under his leadership. Russia has also hosted many excellent and prestigious Taekwondo events. As a member of the World Taekwondo Council, President Terekhov continues to support in the global development of Taekwondo as well and he thoroughly deserves this commendation.”

(Left) RTU President Terekhov – (Right) WT President Choue.

Russian Taekwondo Union President Terekhov said:

“I am honoured to have received this commendation and would like to sincerely thank the Korean Ministry of Sport and Tourism and President Choue for his nomination. My team and I at the Russian Taekwondo Union have worked very hard over the last seven years to raise the standards of Taekwondo in Russia and this commendation is a tribute to our collective success.” 

During the call President Terekhov expressed his hope of meeting President Choue in person soon and President Choue proposed they meet during SportAccord this year.

El cargo Russia awarded by Korean Sport Ministry apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

With the aim of providing as many opportunities as possible to our athletes, the Pan American Taekwondo Union announced during December 2021 the calendar of activities for 2022, which started with the realization of the first camp dedicated to Poomsae with a completely innovative and attractive dynamic. It was planned to be held from February 10 to 13 in Dominican Republic.

In addition, the traditional US Open G-2, which was scheduled to take place the first weekend of March in Las Vegas, Nevada, has also been postponed.

New dates:

• PATU Poomsae Training Camp: Dominican Republic March 17-20.
• US Open: Las Vegas, Nevada April 29th to May 1st.

“At PATU we are concerned about our athletes getting as much points as possible and gaining the necessary experience on the road to the next Olympic Games Paris 2024, but first, we are convinced that to materialize all the planning dedicated to that end, we seek to safeguard the integrity and health of our Pan American Taekwondo community. It is undeniable that the pandemic has not ceased and this beginning of year has presented an upturn, that is why together with Mario Mandel, PATU Secretary General, Francisco Camacho leader in Dominican Republic and Steve McNally CEO of USA Taekwondo, we have sensibly raised the possibility of these new dates in order to preserve the good health of our participants, so we can carry out all the activities we have in mind for the rest of the year.

I am really pleased to have leaders in the region who share this thought and who are concerned about making PATU shine worldwide. Undoubtedly, we will have top level organizing committees, so I encourage all of you to take care of yourselves, try to keep yourselves in good health, so that in due time we can enjoy our beloved sport and see each other again in person”, Emphasized Juan Manuel Lopez, PATU president.

El cargo Poomsae Training Camp and US Open with new date apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

The voting was opened to the public on 4 January and was set to remain open for ten days but it took just two days for the maximum number of votes to be submitted. It was the first time that members of the public could vote for their favourite Paralympians after Para Taekwondo made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

Speaking following the announcement, World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said:

“There were so many wonderful Olympians, Paralympians, referees and coaches in 2021 that I do not know how the public decided who to vote for. Congratulations to all the winners of the Best of 2021 but also congratulations to all those who received votes and contributed to a hugely successful year for Taekwondo. 2021 was a year we will never forget. It was a year that showcased the very best of our sport not just in terms of medals and sporting excellence but also in terms of the power of Taekwondo to unite and celebrate the best of humanity.”

The Best of 2021 winners are:

Best Olympic Female Athlete

Milica Mandić (Serbia)

Made history at Tokyo 2020 as she became the first athlete from Serbia to win two individual Olympic gold medals having previously won the country’s first ever gold medal 9 years prior at London 2012.

Best Olympic Male Athlete

Vito Dell’Aquila (Italy)

Won gold at his Olympic debut in Tokyo in the men’s -58kg and caused an upset along the way as he overcame world number one JANG Jun in the semi-final.

Best Paralympic Female Athlete

Leonor Espinoza (Peru)

Won gold in the women’s -49kg event with a dominant display becoming the first Peruvian to win Paralympic gold in 21 years and to win the country’s first Paralympic medal of Tokyo 2020.

Best Paralympic Male Athlete

Nathan Torquato (Brazil)

Won gold in the men’s -61 kg event at Tokyo 2020 backing up his predictions before the Games began.

Best Olympic Female Referee: Jasna Golubic (Slovenia)

Best Olympic Male Referee: Andriy Starkov (Ukraine)

Best Paralympic Male Referee: Elizaveta Tarasevic (Russia)

Best Paralympic Female Referee: Belmir Berberovic (Bosnia)

Best Olympic Coach: Dragan Jovic (Serbia)

Best Paralympic Coach: Rodrigo Ferla (Brazil)

El cargo World Taekwondo announces winners of Best of 2021 apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

MASTKD contacted the World Taekwondo (WT) office in South Korea to talk about the term used by President Chungwon Choue in the Christmas and New Year speech.

Recently in the communication to the community, Choue referred to Taekwondo practitioners as Taekwondoin, a term used -until 2021- only in Mexico.

With the doubts generated, WT clarified that this is the correct way in which global Taekwondo practitioners should now be called.

“Taekwondoin, then, is: person or practitioner of Taekwondo, which is to refer to practitioners in general, but this does not limit us to continue using terms such as Taekwondo player or Taekwondo Athlete, Taekwondo coach or so…”, explained WT in a phone call.

For years there was a debate about the correct term to call Taekwondo practitioners since the noun was coined depending on the country or region in which the subject was discussed.

For example: in Colombia they are called Taekwondogas, in Spain Taekwondistas and in Mexico Taekwondoínes.

WT CLARIFIED THAT THE CORRECT WAY TO REFER TO A TAEKWONDO PRACTITIONER GLOBALLY IS NOW TAEKWONDOIN.

El cargo WT clarifies that ‘Taekwondoin’ is the correct way to refer to Taekwondo practitioners apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.

World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said, “We are very happy to continue our relationship with Simply Compete as the GMS platform provider and look forward to them continuing to develop and evolve the platform as time progresses. It is great to have such a reliable and innovative technology partner behind the GMS platform which has continued to become a critical part of our daily operations since February 2017.”

Simply Compete provides mission critical software to World Taekwondo that includes licensing, event management, competition results and rankings, online education (LMS), certification, and more.

CEO of Simply Compete, Sujay Karve said, “It is an honour and a privilege to be selected yet again as the GMS vendor for WT and its 211 Member National Associations (MNAs).” 

Through the GMS platform World Taekwondo has held over 524 global events, 250,000 event registrants and managed 52 onsite accreditation centres worldwide.  

Simply Compete has developed and enhanced the World Athlete Rankings to enable all the ranking rules and regulations to be calculated automatically to ensure accuracy of the ever important athlete rankings and a timely release of the rankings each month.  There are now over 8,500 World-ranked athletes including 6,860 Kyorugi athletes, 1,110 Para Kyorugi-ranked athletes and 530 Poomsae-ranked athletes from over 174 countries.

GMS Director Justin Tenbeth said, “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, World Taekwondo was able to move many of its educational programs completely online using the Learning Management System (LMS) provided by Simply Compete as part of its platform.”

Since May 2020 using the GMS platform, World Taekwondo has run over 116 online courses with 6,276 participants and 4,545 certified members from 138 countries. It enabled World Taekwondo to educate its stakeholders everyone from coaches, referees, Technical Delegates, Para National Classifiers and more.

Due to circumstances where MNAs are in a financially difficult situation under Covid-19 Pandemic, WT has decided not to enforce the GMS membership mandate placed on MNAs. Meanwhile, MNAs are allowed to work directly with Simply Compete for their National System Operations if they wish to do so.

Now more than ever online data management systems are a critical component in any organisation’s operation and therefore WT hopes to continue maximising the use of online platforms in close partnership with Simply Compete.

El cargo GMS platform from Simply Compete extends contract with WT apareció primero en PATU | Pan American Taekwondo Union.