Innovative Programs Advance WTF Vision
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
From the moment Dr. Choue Chungwon took the helm of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) in June 2004, he has ceaselessly worked to raise the operation of taekwondo's world governing body to a standard befitting the martial art's status as an Olympic sport.
After years of strenuous efforts, the WTF has made much progress in all sectors, and now it puts most of its energy and time into helping create a new image of taekwondo and the WTF.
In July 2005, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a series of evaluation reports on each Olympic sport. The report on taekwondo pointed to the need to make judging fairer, to raise the level of excitement and to heighten media exposure.
In late October 2004, the WTF launched an 11-member Reform Committee headed by WTF Vice President Nat Indrapana of Thailand, who is an IOC member.
In the months that followed, the committee held two back-to-back meetings in Seoul and in Bangkok.
Through the meetings, it drew up recommendations aimed at making taekwondo more action-packed and appealing to global audiences. Recommendations were issued for changes in 15 sectors, including competition format, referee selection, public relations, marketing, anti-doping, development and solidarity, WTF organizational structure, headquarters administration, ethics guidelines, finance, competition management, international relations and a reform fund.
The WTF Council approved the policy recommendations in March 2005 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Making Taekwondo Fairer
As part of its efforts to ensure the fairest judging and refereeing, the WTF organized a week-long WTF International Referee Training Camp for the selection of referees for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for the first time in late July and early August 2007. The WTF also organized a coach seminar and a referee refresher course in June and July 2008, respectively.
As for requests for installing video cameras at WTF-organized events, they have been put to use partially. However, it plans to introduce video cameras at all competitions starting in June 2009, along with the introduction of an instant video replay system, thus helping erase any possible controversy surrounding refereeing.
Making Taekwondo More Exciting
The WTF competition rules were amended in November 2008 and the WTF Council and the WTF General Assembly approved the proposed amendments in December 2008 and January 2009, respectively.
In order to make the sport more exciting and appealing to global audiences, the WTF point system was diversified: 1) one point for a valid punch or a kick to the trunk protector; 2) two points for a valid turning kick to the trunk protector; and 3) three points for a valid kick to the head. There is no additional point if a contestant knocks down his or her opponent.
A stepped-up 10-second rule is expected to result in taekwondo being more offensive, in that if a contestant or both contestants remain inactive after five seconds, the center referee would encourage them to engage, and the contestants who remain inactive, or move backward after the 10 seconds has elapsed, will be issued a Kyong-go, or a half-point penalty.
The taekwondo competition arena will become more compact, shrinking from the present 10 meters by 10 meters to 8 meters by 8 meters.
All those amendments are scheduled to be put in to practice at the WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships in June 2009.
In addition, the WTF has strived to introduce electronic protectors at competitions, and it introduced an athlete world ranking system in January 2009.
Making Taekwondo More Exposed to Media
The 2005 WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Madrid, Spain, was televised live in Europe as well as in Korea. The WTF started the publication of a bimonthly e-newsletter the same year, and a newly revamped WTF magazine came out in 2006.
The WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing in 2007 was also aired live in China, Korea and Europe.
As for marketing, the WTF signed its first global partnership agreement with Samsung Electronics in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2005, and added Macquarie Group of Companies, Korea, as its second global partner in March 2008.
In addition, the WTF inked several deals, including a taekwondo support contract with Germany's Schramm Sport in 2007.
The WTF approved the adoption of a WTF Code of Ethics at its Council meeting in December 2008 in Ankara, Turkey.
Taekwondo Peace Corps
The WTF launched the Taekwondo Peace Corps in July 2008 to provide disadvantaged youths in developing countries with more opportunities to learn the sport.
The federation selected 27 university students studying taekwondo and sent them to seven cities in five nations - Qingdao and Urumqi in China, Moscow, Islamabad, Mumbai and Goa in India, and Asuncion in Paraguay - for about one month that summer.
Then, from January and March this year, a second group of 32 Taekwondo Peace Corps volunteers were dispatched to Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China and Russia for more than a month.
Inspired by the program's success, WTF President Choue says he is working hard to establish a new entity known as the "Sports Peace Corps," which will involve all Olympic sports, in cooperation with international bodies such as the IOC and the United Nations.
The program will provide coaching and training opportunities to young athletes around the world, supply them with equipment and facilities, and help them compete in international sporting events.