Chapter 26: New Techniques

Because of these developments, Taekwondo has evolved into two distinct versions, sport Taekwondo (popularized by the World Taekwondo Federation [WTF] and their connections with Olympic Taekwondo) using continuous sparring, and traditional Taekwondo (popularized by the International Taekwondo Federation [ITF]) using point sparring. Each side has its reasons for supporting its viewpoints and, as usual, each side rejects the viewpoints of the other.

Points of consideration

The hard contact of continuous sparring means that if you spar regularly, your chances of immediate injury increases, as does the risk of a cumulative injury due to continuous hard blows to the head (even with protective headgear). As one ages, the risk of injury increases. As is seen in boxers, hits that seemed uneventful at a younger age may come back to haunt you at an older age. If you want to spar daily and have fun, even in later years, point sparring or light-contact continuous sparring is the better choice.

Continuous sparring is not as realistic as its proponents proclaim. If you have witnessed real fights, you have seen that no matter how they start, with punches, kicks, or both, they quickly progress to grabbing and groundwork. Point sparring techniques are also not very realistic. In a fight, even an untrained, ordinary person will grab, hold, and thrash around without letting go.