Kyorugi

Kyorugi means sparring. In other words, it is a contest between two opponents that lets them test in practice the skills they have acquired in training and demonstrate attacking and defensive hand and foot techniques, footwork and fight tactics.

In a competition bout all athletes follow the official rules, including those on permitted and prohibited target areas and on the strikes allowed to each area. Winning takes good reflexes, determination, speed, common sense and a feel for distance.

Held between athletes of the same weight and age category. All championships and tournaments use the single-elimination (“Olympic”) system: the loser is eliminated and the winner advances to the next round. A round-robin system, in which every athlete fights every other and the one with the most wins takes the title, is used very rarely.

Held between teams of 5 athletes of the same age category but different weight categories. Bouts continue until one team has 3 wins; the losing team is eliminated and the winning team advances to the next round.

TK5 is contested by teams of 5 athletes. All members of a team take part in a single match, stepping onto the dojang one after another. The match runs without stopping, and the points won by every team member are added to one running score. In the first 5-minute round the athletes come out in strict order — 1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3, 4 v 4, 5 v 5 — five one-minute bouts. In the following two 5-minute rounds the coach may substitute an athlete at any moment. The team with more points wins.

In taekwondo, as in many sports, tournaments keep overall team standings. Points are awarded as follows:

• 1 point for each athlete entered;
• 3 points for each medallist;
• 4 points for each finalist;
• 7 points for each champion.

The team with the highest total is declared the strongest of the tournament.