New York University Sport Taekwondo Club
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New York University Sport Taekwondo Club |
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Modern sport Taekwondo can be differentiated from other martial art styles by its emphasis on kicking. There is no other martial art today whose kicking technique is more advanced than Taekwondo's. Outside the Olympic style sparring mat, Taekwondo also relies on a plethora of hand techniques that are demonstrated during forms competition.
The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is responsible for, among other things, the creation, maintenance, and evolution of standard competition rules for Taekwondo at the Olympic, World, National, and Regional levels. The national association that serves as our liason to the WTF is U.S.A. Taekwondo (USAT). Our collegiate league, the ECTC, uses current WTF and USAT rules with modifications such as the one to allow our unique team competition framework. These various sets of rules influence the techniques, style, and evolution of our art and are under constant revision and refinement.
For the most detailed information about rules and regulations, you can read the ECTC rules here, and the USA Taekwondo rules here (click on Competition Rules under Foundations of Refereeing).
Forms (also called patterns or, in Korean, poomsae or hyung, or in Japanese, kata) are choreographed sets of movements that include series of steps, and blocks and strikes by all four limbs. They showcase the depth and expressivity of traditional Taekwondo technique which is mostly highly illegal in modern sparring competition. To ensure a full experience of Taekwondo as a martial art, poomsae practice is a required part of our training.
Our club practices standard forms as prescribed by the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters). These standard forms include a series of eight forms called Taegeuks that correspond to various color belts up till black belt, as well as a series of nine additional forms called Yudanja that are intended for black belts from the rank of 1st Dan through 9th Dan.
Forms competition is judged by a combination of accuracy and presentation criteria. Included are subjective determinations like whether a technique has been performed with enough grace, power and spirit, and objective ones like whether the competitor has performed the proper stepping motions and aims techniques properly and consistently.
Sparring is arguably the purest form of martial art competition, and it is one of the most enjoyable experiences for our club members. Two people enter a ring and compete to see who has more heart and who has better technique, training, and talent. In modern Taekwondo competition, there exist rules, judges, referees, and protective gear to protect the competitors that are trying to score as many points as they can. Beginner competition is very safe, especially since beginning students compete against other beginners. But as you advance in rank and ability, so will your competition! We'll make sure you're ready so long as you come to class.
The ECTC uses a team competition format for sparring. Each collegiate team (and NYU has several of them) is composed of three players, a light-, middle-, and heavyweight. The best 2-out-of-3 gets to advance in a single-elimination bracket.