2014 Wtf Magazine Small Fin

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATION2014 ISSUE NO.101

Championships Results!

Athlete Interviews!

Regional Training Centers!

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WORLD TAEKWONDO FEDERATIONISSUE NO.

101

Championships Results!

Athlete Interviews!

New Uniforms!

Our Next Big MissionPARA TAEKWONDO:

The Future of CompetitionTaekwondo Grand Prix:

Our Sports New Shangri-laTaekwondowon:

Federation in 2013 and participated in the IPC General Assembly with observer status.

The WTF will also put an equal emphasis on the successful stag-ing of the 2014 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix series and fi-nal, whose venues will be finalized in March. A growing number of countries are vying to host the Grand Prix events, which draw the best athletes and great interest from both the public and international media.

The WTF will continue to revise its Competition Rules and tae-kwondo uniforms to show the world a new taekwondo, more dynamic and more transparent and fairer, at the taekwondo competition at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The WTF will also make the 5-on-5 team competitions more appealing to the public and the international media.

The WTF has continued to be a loyal partner to the IOC. The election of the new IOC President, Dr. Thomas Bach, at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, marked the beginning of a new and exciting era for the Olympic movement. But it also highlights the need for constant change, renewal and recalibration of targets. While taekwondo is in a good position currently, we must not become complacent. We must strive to advance our global sport and continue to maintain good relationships with President Bach and the Olympic family to safeguard our position on the Olympic program.

I wish all members of the WTF family a successful and prosperous 2014.

Dear global taekwondo family of the World Taekwon-do Federation,

The year 2013 has been hugely successful for the WTF in terms of achieving our goals and objectives.

The highlight was of course the decision taken by the International Olympic Committee in September 2013 to name taekwondo one of the 25 core sports on the 2020 Olympic program. Taekwondos inclusion in the Olympic Games in 2020 remains perhaps the WTFs greatest achievement and our continued participa-tion is a huge honor for all of the WTF family. We are very proud of the IOC decision and we will all repay their faith in our beloved sport by working tireless-ly to ensure that taekwondo continues to develop worldwide.

In 2013 we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the WTF and we took the opportunity to commemorate the energy and devotion of all the athletes, volun-teers, officials and member national associations that have been involved in our sport over the past four de-cades. Our federation has come a long way but we are now entering an exciting new period in taekwondos evolution as we look to realize the sports hugely un-

Dr. Chungwon ChouePresident,

World Taekwondo Federation

tapped global potential over the coming years.

We have had the privilege of watching a number of excellent taekwondo events in 2013.

The World Taekwondo Championships in Puebla, Mexico in July were a huge success and credit must be given to the event orga-nizers and all the athletes, officials and volunteers that contrib-uted to making the championships such an excellent event. In October 2013, Bali, Indonesia, hosted the 8th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, while November 2013 saw the staging of the 2nd Asia-Europe Intercontinental Taekwondo Champion-ships in Shenzhen, China and the 2013 WTF World Cup Taekwon-do Team Championships in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire. All of these international competitions were brilliantly organized and helped to reinforce taekwondos position on the world stage.

Finally, we completed the year with the inaugural World Tae-kwondo Grand Prix final in Manchester, UK. The competition marked the first step of our next exciting journey. The World Taekwondo GP will not only give our best athletes the chance to compete against one another on a regular basis, but will also allow us to fulfil taekwondos huge commercial potential. On the opening day of the competitions, we announced our partnership with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, which will help us use taekwondo as a vehicle to promote the common goals of sport for all and peace.

The year 2014 will be crucial in our continued evolution for the betterment of taekwondo and the WTF.

In 2014 the WTF will do its utmost to put taekwondo on the of-ficial program of the 2020 Paralympic Games. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) makes its final decision in October 2014.

In this regard, the WTF signed partnership agreements in 2013 with four of the international para-sports organisations, includ-ing the International Committee of Sport for the Deaf. The WTF was officially granted the status of IPC-Recognized International

Presidents

Message

The global membership of the World Taekwondo Federation reached 206 as of March 2014, one of the largest International Sport Federations under the In-ternational Olympic Committee.

The latest addition to the WTF membership is Africas Maurita-nia, which became a provisional member of the WTF on Feb. 18, 2014.

Mauritania will become a full member of the WTF pending approval at the WTF Council meeting and General Assembly

in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei in March this year. Mauritania has the right to participate in all WTF events.

By continent, the African Tae-kwondo Union has the largest membership of 50 countries, to-gether with the European Tae-kwondo Union. The Pan Amer-ican Taekwondo Union follows with 44 countries, compared with the Asian Taekwondo Unions 43. The Oceania Tae-kwondo Union has 19 countries as regional members.

1.Antigua & Barbuda 2.Argentina 3.Aruba 4.Bahamas 5.Barbados 6.Belize 7.Bermuda 8.Bolivia 9.Brazil 10.British Virgin Islands 11.Canada 12.Cayman Is-lands 13.Chile 14.Colombia 15.Costa Rica 16.Dominican Republic 17.Cuba 18.Domi-nica 19.Ecuador 20.El Salvador 21.Grena-da 22.Guadeloupe 23.Guatemala 24.Guy-ana 25.Haiti 26.Honduras 27.Jamaica 28.Martinique 29.Mexico 30.Netherlands Antilles 31.Nicaragua 32.Panama 33.Par-aguay 34.Peru 35.Puerto Rico 36.St. Lucia 37.St. Kitts & Nevis 38.Surinam 39.St. Vin-cent & the Grenadines 40.Trinidad and Tobago 41.Uruguay 42.U.S.A. 43.Virgin Islands 44.Venezuela

AMERICA

44

WTF Global Membership Expands to

1. Albania 2.Andorra 3.Armenia 4.Austria 5.Azerbaijan 6.Belarus 7.Belgium 8.Bosnia & Herzegovina 9.Bulgaria 10.Croatia 11.Cyprus 12.Czech Republic 13.Denmark 14.Estonia 15.Finland 16.France 17.Georgia 18.Germany 19.Great Britain 20.Greece 21.Hungary 22.Iceland 23.Ireland 24.Isle of Man 25.Israel 26.Italy 27.Kosovo 28.Latvia 29.Lithuania 30.Luxembourg 31.Macedonia 32.Malta 33.Moldova 34.Monaco 35.Montenegro 36.The Netherlands 37.Norway 38.Poland 39.Portugal 40.Romania 41.Russia 42.San Marino 43.Serbia 44.Slo-vak Republic 45.Slovenia 46.Spain 47.Sweden 48.Swit-zerland 49.Turkey 50.Ukraine

EuROPE

1.Algeria 2.Angola 3.Benin 4.Botswana 5.Burkina Faso 6.Burundi 7.Cameroon 8.Cape Verde 9.Central African Republic 10.Comoros 11.Cote dIvoire 12.Congo 13.D.R. of the Congo 14.Egypt 15.Equa-torial Guinea 16.Ethiopia 17.Gabon 18.Gambia 19.Ghana 20.Guinea 21.Kenya 22.Lesotho 23.Li-beria 24.Libya 25.Madagascar 26.Malawi 27.Mali 28.Mauritania 29.Mauritius 30.Morocco 31.Mo-zambique 32.Niger 33.Nigeria 34.Ruanda 35.Sao Tome & Principe 36.Senegal 37.Seychelles 38.Sierra Leone 39.So-malia 40.South Africa 41.Sudan 42.South Sudan 43.Swaziland 44.Chad 45.Tanzania 46.Togo 47.Tuni-sia 48.Uganda 49.Zimbabwe 50.Zambia

AfRICA

1.American Samoa 2.Australia 3.Cook Islands 4.Fiji 5.French Polynesia 6.Guam 7.Kiribati 8.Marshall Islands 9.Micronesia 10.Tuvalu 11.New Caledonia 12.New Zealand 13.Palau 14.Papua New Guinea 15.Samoa 16.Solomon Islands 17.Tonga 18.Tuvalu 19.Vanuatu

OCEANIA

1.Afghanistan 2.Bahrain 3.Bangladesh 4.Bhutan 5.Brunei 6.Cambodia 7.China 8.Chinese Taipei 9.Hong Kong 10.India 11.Indonesia 12.Iran 13.Iraq 14.Japan 15.Jordan 16.Kazakhstan 17.Korea 18.Ku-wait 19.Kyrgyzstan 20.Laos 21.Lebanon 22.Macao 23.Malaysia 24.Mongolia 25.Myanmar 26.Nepal 27.Oman 28.Pakistan 29.Palestine 30.Philippines 31.Qatar 32.Saudi Arabia 33.Singapore 34.Sri Lan-ka 35.Syria 36.Tajikistan 37.Thailand 38.Timor-Leste 39.Turkmenistan 40.United Arab Emirates 41.Uz-bekistan 42.Vietnam 43.Yemen

AsIA

43

19

50

50

More WTF members are expected in 2014

1973 1988 2005 2011 2014

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CONTENTS2014

The Next Big Mission: All out for Para-Taekwondo

The Decision: Taekwondo in 2020 Olympics!

Here Come the Champions (Grand Prix)

Paralympic Taekwondo: The Way Ahead18

GB Taekwondo: scouting the Elite 30

Interviews with Athletes40

Mahama Cho

Lutalo Muhammad

Carlo Molfetta

2013 WTf World Para-Taekwondo Championships20

1246

26

Part 1.

IN FOCUS

Part 2.

2013 REVIEW

WTf Head Calls for sport Peace Corps

WTf, u.N. Body to Promote Peace and sport for All

Taekwondo Peace Corps: A Report from the front Line 56

Taste of Taekwondo Adds spice to u.N. Youth Program62

5260

Going to school with the WTf

2013 MAJOR EVENTs

2013 World Taekwondo Championships96

2013 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships106

2013 World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships112

2nd Asia-Europe Intercontinental Taekwondo Championships116

WTF 40th Anniver-sary : Party Night in Bali110

5th World Youth Taekwondo Camp66

Taekwondos future Gathers in suwon68

64 962013 World Combat Games120

Part 3.

AROUND THE WTF

WTf Council Members (2013-2017)126

Married to Taekwondo166

Technical Committee Convenes in New Tae-kwondo Complex158

International Referee Interviews152

Anthony FergusonPimol SrivikornSarah Stevenson

Julie DibChristopher Codling Neydis Tavarez

Council Member Interviews128

Election Time

Taekwondos Latest Honorary Black Belts

Taekwondo Evangelist steps Down

124

160

134

Country Reports136

New Regional Training Centers Coming On-Line178

New uniformity for Poomsae uniforms180

Events Calendar188

Continental unions 168

Welcome to Taekwondos New shangri-la

182

In Focus


TAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF12 13


The WTF is putting all its resources into getting taekwondo into the 2020 Paralympic Program

T aekwondo has secured its 2020 Olympic berth, but as a sport for all, more can be done - and nobody knows this better than the head of the WTF, who laid out the federations next big mission in his New Years message.

In 2014 the WTF will do its utmost to put taekwondo on the official program of the 2020 Paralympic Games, said WTF Presi-dent Chungwon Choue.

In Focus



Steps are already underway. The WTF, with its global membership of 206 mem-ber national associations, signed a memo-randum of understanding (MOU) in 2013 with three international para-sports or-ganizations: INAS, the international sport federation for para-athletes with an in-tellectual disability; the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation As-sociation (CPISRA); and the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). The WTF also inked an MOU with the International Committee of Sport for the Deaf (ICSD) for the further development of taekwon-

do for deaf athletes.

Under these MOUs, taekwondo will be included in almost all multi-sport games for the disabled. Taekwondo has already been confirmed as a demonstration sport at the 2015 INAS Global Games and the 2015 CPISRA World Games. The WTF is also working hard to fulfill the require-ments for inclusion in the 2015 IBSA World Championships and Games.

As taekwondo has been included in the Deaflympics since 2009, the WTF plans to create an annual World Deaf-Taekwondo Championships. Since 2013, both kyorugi

and poomsae have been included in the Deaflympic Games. The first WTF World Deaf-Taekwondo Championships will be held in 2014 with the recognition of the ICSD. Taekwondo will also be included in the 2016 World Deaf Martial Arts Cham-pionships.

In October 2013, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) granted the WTF IPC-recognized International Feder-ation status. One month later, the WTF participated in the IPC General Assembly in Athens, Greece as an observer for the first time.

The IPC, the global governing body of the Paralympic movement, is scheduled to make its final decision on the official program of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic

Games in October this year, according to an IPC press release.

The IPC was founded in 1989 as an inter-national non-profit organization formed and run by 174 National Paralympic Com-mittees (NPCs) from five regions and four disability specific international sports fed-erations.

The IPC said that six sports and three dis-ciplines are now competing to be on the official program of the 2020 Paralympic Games. They are para-taekwondo, pa-ra-badminton, powerchair football, 3-on-3 intellectually impaired basketball, elec-tric wheelchair hockey, amputee football, one-person multi-hull sailing, blind match racing sailing, and 3-on-3 wheelchair bas-ketball.

Currently there are 22 sports on the sum-mer Paralympic Games program - ath-letics, archery, boccia, canoe, cycling, equestrian, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, rowing, sailing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, triath-lon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheel-

chair tennis. The two latest additions are para-canoe and para-triathlon, and both will make their debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Since the first Games in Rome, Italy in 1960, the Paralympic Games have con-tinued to grow in size and stature. The first Games featured 400 athletes from 23 countries competing in eight sports - ar-chery, athletics, dartchery, snooker, swim-ming, table tennis, wheelchair fencing

and wheelchair basketball.

At the 2012 London Paralympic Games, a record 4,237 athletes from 164 countries took part in 503 medal events across 20 sports. A global audience of 3.8 billion watched the Games, while 2.78 million tickets were sold, making the Paralym-pics the third-largest sporting event in the world behind the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.

In 2010, para-taekwondo, para-badmin-ton, intellectually impaired basketball, para-golf, and powerchair football all ap-plied to be part of the Rio 2016 Paralym-pic sports program, but were unsuccess-ful, with the IPC Governing Board instead choosing applications from para-canoe and para-triathlon.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be held from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6, 2020.

The IPC is constantly researching and amending their classification system for the fairest classification possible.

In line with the IPC Classification Code, the WTF has, in recent months, conduct-

ed a series of research programs into ev-idence-based, sport-specific classification systems and competition rules. These are the WTFs latest steps for taekwondos in-clusion in the 2020 Paralympic Games.

The first stage of WTF research was con-ducted on 18 able-bodied athletes on Dec. 21-23, 2013 at Yong In University in Korea. During the initial stage, elite able-bodied athletes were tested to pro-vide a baseline measure for comparison to para-taekwondo athletes.

The second stage of research was con-ducted on 16 para-taekwondo athletes from Russia, France and Turkey in Mos-cow, Russia on Jan. 21-24, 2014. The sec-ond research period marked the first time that the WTF has conducted a sport analysis on para-taekwondo athletes. The research was supported by the Europe-an Para-Taekwondo Union, the Russian Paralympic Committee and the Russian Taekwondo Union.

Athletes and coaches involved in the test-ing were also invited to give their feed-back on the classification and competi-tion system. Among the suggestions put forward to maximize the promotion of the sport were the creation of more pa-ra-taekwondo competitions, a ranking system and an increased national quota.

Based on this research, the WTF has de-veloped a para-taekwondo classification rules and regulations, para-taekwondo competition rules, and a standing pro-cedure for the World Para-Taekwondo Championships, all of which are subject to approval by the WTF Council and General Assembly this March in Chinese Taipei.

The WTFs ceaseless efforts for the Paralympics date back to June 2006, when WTF President Choue sent a letter to IPC President Sir Philip Craven, expressing the WTFs high interest in the Paralympic Games.

In July 2006, the WTF General Assembly unanimously approved the establishment of the WTF Paralympic Committee. The WTF Paralympic Committee was name-changed to the WTF Para-Taekwondo Committee in 2013 to better reflect the tasks of the committee. The WTF Pa-ra-Taekwondo Committee is chaired by Mr. Jacobus Engelbrecht, president of the CPISRA.

Just as this magazine was going to print, we learned that para-taekwondo kyorugi had been shortlisted by the International Paralympic Committee for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

This means we have passed Phase 1. The final decision will be made by the IPC on Oct. 6-7, 2014.

Fingers crossed for October!

Stop Press!

In Focus



The WTF organized a para-taekwondo demonstration during the opening cer-emony of the inaugural WTF World Tae-kwondo Poomsae Championships in Sep-tember 2006 in Seoul, Korea. Two months later, the WTF held its first WTF Paralym-pic Committee meeting in Seoul.

Another para-taekwondo demonstration was held at the welcoming reception of the Seoul IPC General Assembly in No-vember 2007.

The WTF held its first WTF World Pa-ra-Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 10, 2009, drawing a total of 38 athletes from 19 countries. The championships were only for limb-defi-cient athletes.

The 2nd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in St. Peters-burg, Russia on May 11, 2010, attracting

66 athletes from 21 countries.

In July 2010, the WTF sent its application to the IPC for the 2016 Paralympic Games.

The 3rd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships took place on Nov. 22, 2012 in Santa Cruz, Aruba, drawing 53 athletes from 14 countries. The 4th World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held on June 8, 2013 in Lausanne, Swit-zerland, attracting 86 athletes from 25 countries.

On June 6, 2013, the WTF para-taekwon-do development task force held a meet-ing in Lausanne, in which they suggested the development of world-class para-tae-kwondo competitions of both kyorugi and poomsae for athletes of all disabili-ties.

The 5th WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships are likely to be held in June this year in Russia.

The WTF is actively urging its continental unions and member national associations to hold regional and national para-tae-kwondo championships.

We plan to further develop the WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships into a genuinely world-class para-sport event, WTF President Choue said. In this regard, I strongly ask WTF Conti-nental Unions and member national as-sociations to initiate and expand their

para-taekwondo events and produce pa-ra-taekwondo development programs.

I believe that our efforts will further help promote the Paralympic movement, Choue added. We are committed to cre-ating a world stage for our para-taekwon-do athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to provide sporting opportunities for those with a disability.

In line with the WTF policy, the Pan Amer-ican Taekwondo Union held its first Pan American Para-Taekwondo Champion-ships on Dec. 9, 2010 in Monterrey, Mexico on the occasion of the 2010 Pan American Taekwondo Championships. The second Pan American Taekwondo Championships took place in Sucre, Bolivia on Sept. 26, 2011.

The European Taekwondo Union held its inaugural Para-Taekwondo Champion-ships on Sept. 26, 2011 in Moscow, Russia, drawing 53 athletes from nine European countries. The second European Para-Tae-kwondo Championships were held in Chisinau, Moldova in April 2013.

In Focus



The Way AheadThe WTf has appointed Jacobus Adriaan Engelbrecht, president of the Cerebral Palsy Internation-al sports and Recreation Associ-ation (CPIsRA), to head the WTf Para-Taekwondo Committee. How will the WTf Para-Taekwondo Committee work and what will the future cooperation between CPIsRA and the WTf look like? Read on

How do you feel about being ap-pointed as chairman of the WTf Pa-ra-Taekwondo Committee? I really feel honored, and at the same time excited, because this appointment will help, alongside other committee members, to create opportunities for ath-letes of all disabilities to compete in the sport of taekwondo. Its an opportunity that they would not have had in the past.

Your term of office is over the next two years. What is your plan?I can tell you that there is a definite goal and that is to work toward creating a sys-tem where para-athletes can compete in taekwondo. They have also a goal to reach, and that is to compete at the high-est level; for many of them, it is to com-pete at the Paralympics and I hope that we can create a system that is fair, and

Paralympic Taekwondo:

that all the member national associations will support this aim. So this is part of the plan.

so for this year of 2014, what can be the main target?I do believe that the main target this year is definitely to get everything in place so that the IPC approves 2020 as the first Paralympics where para-taekwondo ath-letes can compete. Along with that it is competition - international or world championships - and then to create a platform where all member associations will support developing para-taekwondo from the lowest level to the highest.

What is your overall evaluation of the WTfs para-taekwondo policies?I am very impressed with all the policies that are already in place. My experience

working with the WTF is that it is an or-ganization that has got their policies in place already, and it is easy to work along-side individuals to ensure that we can con-tinue in this way.

What do you think the WTf should fo-cus on to make taekwondo an official sport of the Paralympics?Certainly, it is to build a relationship with the IPC (International Paralympic Commit-tee) and I hope through my involvement we can just achieve that.

As president of the CPIsRA what kind of support can you offer the WTf for taekwondo to be included in the of-ficial program of the 2020 Paralympic Games - whose decision is scheduled for October this year?I think as president of CPISRA, it is my knowledge of the sports world and the network that I have and the contacts to bring all people and all relevant stake-holders together, to work toward this goal, so when the decision is made in Oc-tober this year, it will have the support of the IPC.

What is your prospect for taekwondo to be included in the 2020 Paralym-pics?Well, there is only one goal and we will work for 2020.

As head of CPIsRA, you signed a memorandum of understanding with the WTf last year. What kind of coop-eration do you expect from the WTf this year?At the moment we are already in a nego-tiation about the CPISRA World Games for next year. So I really appreciate the support that CPISRA is getting and that we can cooperate to make it possible to present taekwondo in the CPISRA World Games next year.

finally, do you have anything else you want to add?I am very pleased to be involved. So thank you for the opportunity!

Jacobus Adriaan Engelbrecht

In Focus

2013 WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships


Russia won four gold medals, four silver medals and one bronze medal for a total 68 points for the overall mens title at the 4th WTF World Para-Taekwondo Champi-onships in Lausanne, Switzerland on June 8, 2013.

According to the team ranking by points, Azerbaijan came next with one gold, five silvers and four bronze medals for 52 points, followed by Turkey with three golds and one bronze for 38 points, and Iran with three golds for 33 points. Spain finished fifth with one gold, one silver and one bronze for 33 points.

In the womens division, Turkey clinched the overall womens title with one gold, one silver and one bronze, followed by Russia with three silvers and one bronze. Azerbaijan came next with one gold and one silver, followed by Denmark and Can-ada with one gold each.

The Good Fighting Spirit Award went to Nepal, while Mongolia took the Active Participation Award.

Ukraines Viktoriia Marchuk was selected as the female MVP of the championships, while Azerbaijans Jahangir Bayramov as the male MVP. Russias Alexander Efre-mov was chosen as the male teams best coach, and Turkeys Muammer Canbaz as the female teams best coach.

A total of 82 athletes from 25 countries participated in the one-day para-tae-kwondo event, which was held at the Cen-tre Sportiv de Grande-Vennes in north-eastern Lausanne. Twenty-six countries submitted their entries, but Iraq failed to send its athletes at the last moment.

At the inaugural WTF World Para-Tae-kwondo Championships in June 2009 in Baku, Azerbaijan, 36 athletes from 16 countries competed, compared with 65 athletes from 21 countries at the 2nd World Para-Taekwondo Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia in May 2010. The 3rd World Para-Taekwondo Champion-ships held in Santa Cruz, Aruba in Novem-ber 2012 attracted 53 athletes from 14 countries.

Russia, Turkey take overall mens, womens titles in Lausanne, Switzerland


Lausanne, Switzerland June 8, 2013

In Focus



Russia sent the largest contingent of 16 athletes, including 12 males, to the 4th World Para-Taekwondo Championships, followed by Azerbaijan with 15 athletes. Turkey came next with 11 athletes. Spain dispatched six para-athletes, while Mon-golia sent five.

Iran, France, Ukraine and Brazil each sent three athletes to the Lausanne event, while Poland sent two. A total of 15 coun-tries dispatched one athlete. They are Ne-pal, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Sweden, Aus-tralia, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, Guatemala and Mexico.

Prior to the final matches of the 4th World Para-Taekwondo Championships, there was an opening ceremony. At the cere-

mony, WTF President Chungwon Choue said, It is with great pride and pleasure that I welcome you all here to the Olympic capital.

I would like to offer my heartfelt con-gratulations and appreciation to the Swiss Taekwondo Association for their hard work and collaboration in hosting both of these inspiring events, Choue said.

He continued, I am proud to announce that yesterday the WTF signed MOUs with the International Sport Federation for Para-Athletes with Intellectual Disabil-ity and the Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation Association to work together to include new competitors and disciplines into taekwondo.

In Focus



WTF Para-Taekwondo Chronology

June 2006 WTF President sent letter to IPC President expressing high interest in Paralympic Games

July 2006 WTF GA approved establishment of WTF Paralympic Committee (renamed to WTF Para-Taekwondo Committee)

September 2006 A para-taekwondo demonstration was held at opening ceremony of 1st World Taekwondo Poomsae Championship

November 2007 A para-taekwondo demonstration was held at the welcoming reception of Seoul IPC General Assembly

June 10, 2009 1st WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in Baku, Azerbaijan

May 11, 2010 2nd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in St. Petersburg, Russia

July 2010 WTF applied for 2016 Paralympic Program

Nov. 22, 2012 3rd WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in Santa Cruz, Aruba

June 6, 2013 WTF para-taekwondo development task force met in Lausanne, Switzer-land

June 7, 2013 WTF signed MOU with INAS in Lausanne, Switzerland

June 7, 2013 WTF signed MOU with CPISRA (the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association) in Lausanne, Switzerland

June 8, 2013 4th WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships were held in Lausanne, Switzerland

Oct. 16, 2013 IPC granted WTF IPC-recognized IF status

Oct. 25, 2013 WTF signed MOU with ICSD (International Committee of Sports for the Deaf) in St. Petersburg, Russia

November 2013 WTF signed MOU with IBSA (International Blind Sports Federa-tion) in Athens, Greece

Dec. 21-22, 2013 WTFs first stage of research was conducted in Yong In University in Korea for the development of sport-specific classification systems

Jan. 21-24, 2014 WTFs second stage of research was conducted in Moscow, Russia

June 2014 5th WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships are likely to be held in Russia

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

World Para-Taekwondo Championships

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

27TAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF26

Here Come the

Seoul-based correspondent Andrew Salmon reports on how the 1st WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Manchester, GB, provid-ed a winning benchmark for the sports spectacular new fixture

The first ever World Taekwondo Grand Prix a series of interna-tionally hosted events designed to showcase the excitement of top-level taekwondo in a high-profile, media-friendly for-mat, while filling in holes in the sports competitive calendar kicked off at the Manchester Cen-tral Convention Complex in Great Britain. Competitions ran over three days, from Dec. 13-15, 2013.

Manchester, famed equally for its football teams, pop groups and nightlife, was an appropriate venue. Great Britain wanted to host the first Grand Prix event, said event organizer Gary Hall, performance director of GB Tae-kwondo. With Great Britains taekwondo bodies keen to fol-low up the sports smash success at the 2012 London Olympics, the event was generously fund-ed by the governmental bodies UK Sport and Manchester City Council.

London 2012 really opened our eyes to taekwondos poten-tial. We saw some of the best and most exciting action that the sport has ever seen, and we saw huge enthusiasm from specta-

tors and TV audiences, said WTF President Chungwon Choue. We want to make sure we con-tinue to build on this.

The Manchester Grand Prix was just the first in this new series, which is branded Here Come the Champions. It is a non-man-datory, invitational event. Invita-tions are based on WTF rankings. There will be at least two Grand Prix series and one Grand Prix fi-nal every year.

Manchester welcomed 231 athletes from 59 countries. Among them were three London 2012 Olympic gold medalists, and two Beijing 2008 Olympic gold holders. Matches in eight weight categories mens -58kg, mens -68kg, mens -80kg, mens

Dec. 13-15, 2013

+80kg, womens -49kg, womens -57kg, womens -67kg, and wom-ens +67kg - were officiated by 56 international referees. The scor-ing and judging systems used in London protector and scoring system (PSS) and an instant video replay system were also used at the Grand Prix.

CHAMPIONS

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Among the innovations seen in Manchester was a black compe-tition mat. Previously, matches had taken place on blue and red mats, but the WTF had discov-ered, after testing various colors, that black could be most telege-

nic. And so it proved. The spin-ning, leaping, kicking athletes in their white uniforms, contrasted with a black field, provided TV cameras with strikingly dramatic footage. More innovations are to come: At the next Grand Prix in July, octagonal mats will be showcased.

While taekwondo is one of the worlds most popular partic-ipation sports, it has never quite captured the attention of main-

stream spectators. If the Grand Prix is any indication, this state of affairs may be changing, for me-dia exposure in Manchester was exceptional. Some 100 channels from around the world broad-cast the Grand Prix, including the BBC, which ran live coverage throughout the three-day event.

A strong incentive for the host-ing city is the possibility of lever-aging the commercial potential of what is at last - being recog-nized as a spectacular sport for viewers.

We want to make sure we continue to build on this

The World Grand Prix will help realize taekwondos huge untapped commercial poten-tial and give sponsors a chance to have a meaningful role in the global development of the sport, said WTF Secretary Gen-

eral Jean-Marie Ayer. The divi-sion of television rights between the WTF and the host cities will ensure that the entire global tae-kwondo community is connect-ed to the event, whether they are watching from the comfort of their own homes on the TV or the internet, or first-hand.

Indeed, tickets for the three-day event in Manchester were sold out, providing a solid mar-keting benchmark for future host cities to follow. The World Taekwondo Grand Prix shows the world the best of the best of

taekwondo, said WTF PR head Seok-jae Kang. We are granting the Grand Prix-hosting rights to cities which are able to generate maximum marketing and me-dia exposure. Kang noted that there has already been consid-erable competition from coun-tries around the world to host

upcoming Grand Prix series and final events. Strong contenders at time of writing include cities in China, Great Britain, Kazakhstan and Mexico.

There is another incentive for hosting member national asso-ciations. They can improve their athletes seedings. The top 31 athletes in the eight Olympic weight categories were invited to this first Grand Prix final; one extra spot in each weight cate-gory was, and will be, reserved for the home team. There is a maximum quota of two athletes

per nation in any one category. The first Grand Prix delivered a

widespread medal distribution. Russia came first, followed by host GB in second place, Spain in third place, Chinese Taipei in fourth and Sweden fifth.

One surprising arguably, his-toric - result was Koreas showing; the traditional taekwondo pow-erhouse only managed a sixth place, and did not take home a single gold medal. This is the first time the sports home team has not won gold at a major WTF in-ternational competition.

A Korean observer noted that while this was not exactly cause for celebration, it shows that the sport in the form of its first-ev-er Grand Prix had passed a milestone: Taekwondo is now truly global.

The events organizer was de-lighted by it all.

We could give a unique event that was different, Hall of GB Taekwondo summed up. We believe that the quality delivery of the event was world class.

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H aving won its first tae-kwondo Olympic med-al a bronze in Beijing in 2008, Great Britain is now putting its best foot forward. It seized a gold and a bronze on home turf in London 2012, and took overall second place in the landmark 1st Grand Prix final held in Manchester in December 2013.

What is behind the high-kicking sports sudden success in a king-dom better known for football, cricket, rugby and boxing?

The best person to answer that question may be Gary Hall, performance director of GB Tae-kwondo. In the UK, we have British Taekwondo, which is the national governing body for WTF taekwondo in the UK, Hall said in a recent interview during a vis-it to Korea. We are a separate, limited company, which works on behalf of British Taekwondo.

While British Taekwondo de-velops and administers the sport overall, GB Taekwondo, estab-lished in 2001, is a company

closely affiliated with the nation-al governing body. It has a spe-cialized mission: Seeking out ath-letes from all martial arts across the UK including, of course, taekwondo who have a chance of medaling at European, world and Olympic events.

After being scouted, the fight-ers are put through a battery of tests that check their personal, physical and tactical characteris-tics. The lucky few chosen GB Taekwondo can handle up to 32 athletes, four for each Olympic weight category are enrolled in a full-time training program at the companys academy in Man-chester, a city with a solid sport-

ing pedigree. It is home to two premier league sides, Manches-ter City and Manchester United, as well as being the epicenter of UK cycling. At the academy, the athletes undergo 20-28 hours of training a week, under the eyes of four British and two Korean coaches; doctors, nutritionists and physiotherapists are all close at hand.

GB Taekwondo also incubates the sports up-and-comers. We have a development program for the best junior and cadet ath-letes, said Hall. They work on a basis of weekend camps and competitions, and work toward being in the academy, full time.

He added, This creates a really good athlete pathway from ca-det to senior level.

GB Taekwondo kicked off in 2001 with a national lottery fund-ing of GBP40,000 (US$66,500). Today, it has a four-year budget of GBP7.5 million (US$12.5 mil-lion), provided largely by gov-ernment body, UK Sport. Sport England provides funding for the youth programs.

Hall puts the sudden avalanche of funding down to Olympic suc-cess, which massively raised the sports visibility nationwide, and hopes that Team GB will take home even more medals from Rio in 2016.

GB Taekwondo was also a key player in bringing the first Grand Prix to Manchester and in operat-ing the widely praised event. GB is bidding to hold other events in the series in 2014, 2015 and/or 2016. Where might it take place?

We want to establish it in Manchester because it is getting a big following here, we want to keep it here as a central loca-tion, Hall mused. But we might host it in London.

Hall himself is not simply a fund-raiser or administrator. He holds a fifth-dan in taekwondo. He started the sport 38 years ago after being inspired by Bruce Lee movies, and gave up a career

GB Taekwondo: Scouting the EliteBritish taekwondo has seen a surge in success in recent years. How did they achieve it?

working for global retailers like Next and Marks and Spencer to take on the position of perfor-mance director.

I want to carry on building GBs success and contribute to the success of taekwondo in the world, he said. That is what I enjoy, and that is what I do for a full-time living; I hope to keep giving back to the sport and help inspire the next generation of future athletes.

Gary Hall (UK)

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Host Great Britain, Spain and Russia took one gold medal each on the opening day of the inau-gural 2013 WTF World Taekwon-do Grand Prix Final in Manchester on Dec. 13, 2013.

Great Britains Mahama Cho required a fourth golden-point round to earn his country the gold medal in the mens +80kg division against Brazils Guil-herme Cezario Felix.

After three rounds of competi-tion, Cho and Felix were tied at 2-2 and his right-hand punch in the fourth sudden-death round gave him the victory, exciting the

home fans.In the category, the bronze

went to Gabons Anthony My-lann Obame and Koreas Dong-min Cha.

I did my best and my biggest dream has come true, said the 24-year-old Cho shortly after the final match. My next dream is the 2016 Rio Olympics and I am confident that I will make it.

Cho, who started taekwondo at the age of 8, said he previous-ly won a final against Felix at the 2012 French Open.

In the womens -49kg final match, Spains Brigida Yague En-

rique easily defeated Koreas So-hui Kim 9-1 to earn her country the gold medal.

Yague Enrique, the silver med-alist at the 2012 London Olym-pic Games and four-time world champion, needed a fourth gold-en-point round to reach the final match against Chinese Zhao Yi Li.

In the category, the bronze went to Chinas Zhao and Frances Yasmina Aziez.

In the womens +67kg catego-ry, Russias Olga Ivanova beat Ko-reas In-jong Lee 2-1 in the final match to take the gold medal.

Mexicos Briseida Acosta Bala-

rezo and the Netherlands Resh-mie Shari Oogink shared the bronze medal in the division.

Russian Ivanova, the gold med-alist in the womens +73kg di-vision at the 2013 Puebla World Taekwondo Championships, advanced to the final match by crushing the Netherlandss Oo-gink 12-3. Koreas Lee reached the final match as she outpointed Mexican Maria del Espinoza 9-6.

A total of 231 athletes, includ-ing 115 males, from 59 countries were competing for top honors at the Manchester Central Exhi-bition Complex.

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Host Great Britain, Spain, Rus-sia Clinch 1 Gold Medal each on 1st Day of 2013 WTF Grand Prix Final in Manchester 1Dec. 13, 2013 For the first time ever in WTF

history, all semifinal and final matches were conducted on a black-mat court, and tele-vised live in about 100 countries around the world.

The Grand Prix final featured four male and four female Olym-pic weight categories. The max-imum number of athletes per Olympic weight division was 32.

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Host Great Britain, Sweden and Chinese Taipei clinched one gold medal each on the second day of the inaugural 2013 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Manchester, Great Britain on Dec. 14, 2013.

Great Britains Lutalo Mustafa Muhammad, the bronze medal-ist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, needed a fourth gold-en-point round to grab the gold medal in the mens -80kg catego-ry against Russias Albert Gaun.

After three rounds of compe-tition at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, Muham-

mad and Gaun were drawn to a 2-2 score and his left-foot attack to the body of Gaun in the fourth sudden-death round earned him the top honors, thrilling the home fans.

In the division, Turkeys Yunus Sari and the Isle of Mans Aaron Cook shared the bronze medal.

It was a really close match and it was a fantastic fight. I am hap-py to be the golden-point win-ner at the 1st Grand Prix event, Muhammad said after the victory ceremony.

Muhammad, who started tae-kwondo at the age of 3, said, I

wanted to come out today at the home ground and I proved that I can do it. The 22-year-old Mu-hammad said he would compete at the 2016 Rio and the 2020 To-kyo Olympic Games and beyond.

In the mens -58kg final match, Chinese Taipeis Chen-Yang Wei brushed aside a stiff challenge from Koreas Tae-hun Kim to beat Kim 6-5 for the gold medal.

Wei, the bronze medalist in the mens -58kg division at the 2013 Puebla World Championships and the bronze medalist in the mens -63kg at the 2011 Gyeongju World Championships, advanced

to the final match by defeating Mexicos Damian Alejandro Villa Valadez 2-0 in a semifinal match.

In the division, the bronze went to Mexicos Villa Valadez and Irans Hadi Mostean Loron.

In the womens -67kg division, Swedens Elin Maria Katarina Johansson easily beat Chinese Taipeis Chia Chia Chuang 9-2 to earn her country the first gold medal at the inaugural Grand Prix event.

Johansson, the US Open cham-pion, reached the final match as she beat Russias Anastasiia Baryshnikova 2-0 in a semifinal

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Great Britain, Sweden, Chinese Taipei Grab 1 Gold Medal each on 2nd Day of 2013 WTF Grand Prix Final in Manchester 2Dec. 14, 2013 match.

Frances Haby Niare and Rus-sias Baryshnikova shared the bronze medal in the same cate-gory.

Besides final matches, the quar-terfinal match between the Isle of Mans Aaron Cook and Steven Lopez of the United States drew special interest from both the public and international media. Cook fought an exicting match against Lopez to win the match 17-14 to advance to the semifinal round.

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Spain and Russia grabbed one gold medal each on the third and final day of the 2013 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Manchester, the United Kingdom on Dec. 15, 2013.

After three days of competi-tions at the inaugural 2013 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final, Russia topped other coun-tries in the overall medal tally as it took home two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal.

Host Great Britain came next with two golds and one silver, fol-lowed by Spain with two golds,

Chinese Taipei with one gold and one silver, and Sweden with one gold. Korea came next with three silvers and one bronze, while Bra-zil and Canada clinched one silver each.

A total of 231 athletes from 59 countries competed for top hon-ors at the 2013 World Taekwon-do Grand Prix final, which took place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

In the womens -57kg category, Jade Jones, the gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games and the silver medalist at the 2011 Gyeongju World Champion-

ships, came from behind to beat Chinas Yuzhuo Hou in a semifi-nal match to advance to the fi-nal match. But Spains Eva Calvo Gomez brushed aside a stiff chal-lenge from Jones to win the final match 4-3 for the gold medal.

Calvo Gomez, the bronze med-alist at the 2013 Puebla World Championships and the 2010 Spanish Open gold medal win-ner, reached the final match by edging down Frances Floriane Liborio in a fourth golden-point round.

In the mens -68kg final match, Russias Alexey Denisenko, the

bronze medal winner at the 2012 London Olympic Games and the gold medalist at the 2013 Russia Open, earned his country the gold medal as he managed to de-feat Canadas Maxime Potvin 1-0.

Denisenko made it to the final match by beating Irans Behnam Asbaghikhanghah 5-4, while Potvin, the silver medalist at the 2009 World Championships and the gold medalist at the 2012 Pan American Champion-ships, reached the final match as he outpointed Irans Bagheri Motamed 3-0.

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Spain, Russia Take Home 1 Gold Medal each on Final Day of 2013 WTF Grand Prix Final in Manchester 3Dec. 15, 2013

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Grand Prix 41TAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF40

What is your impression of winning the gold medal at the 2013 WTf World Taekwon-do Grand Prix final?I was satisfied with my perfor-mance and happy to end the season with my first major title. I know I made a couple of mis-takes but that is what I have been working on since the Grand Prix. Hopefully this year I can be even better as a result of being a Grand Prix champion.

What is your overall evalua-tion of the inaugural Grand Prix event in Manchester, uK?The event organization in Man-chester was fantastic and it was a really good show, both live at the event and on TV. As an ath-lete it was a great stage on which to perform and Manchester re-ally set the standard for what top-class taekwondo events can be like in future. The athletes couldnt ask for anything more and it was a really great experi-ence.

Mahama Cho

Discipline, Respect and HonorTaekwondo kept Mahama Cho off the streets; now the first Grand Prix has granted him his first major title

What is your opinion of us-ing a protector and scoring system at the WTFs major events?The scoring system is good, it has changed the way taekwondo is and it is fairer. People are now coming into taekwondo with different styles so there are now the original taekwondo fight-ers and more unorthodox ones which makes the sport really in-teresting.

The WTf celebrated its 40th anniversary of founding in 2013. What is your overall evaluation of the WTfs activ-ities?Taekwondo has come a long way and the WTF always tries to de-velop the sport; the introduction of the scoring system and the way taekwondo is showcased are two examples. The WTF has put a lot of energy and support into how to be fair but also unique and to allow athletes to fight to the best of their abilities. With the improvement to scoring, the new ranking system and the abil-ity to qualify through the rank-ings for the Olympics, it shows the progress that the WTF is making. Hopefully, they can con-tinue to develop taekwondo in this way.

Do you have any suggestions for the further development of taekwondo and the World Taekwondo federation?With the systems changing and the sport constantly evolving we

need to remember the tradition of the sport and its sacred histo-ry. We mustnt forget the core of taekwondo and the respect everyone has for one another. I hope that athletes will continue to perform the way they have done in the last Olympic cycle.

Taekwondo was voted to be on the 25 core sports of the 2020 Olympic Games. How do

you feel about that?It is fantastic news. Thanks to London and the way the sport was showcased it has left a great impression on many people. Great Britain as a nation know how to put on a good show and to promote the sport in a really positive light. Having the BBC broadcast the Grand Prix live on TV and online provided tae-kwondo with great exposure and this is important as the sport secures its Olympic future. Hope-

fully this can continue and the legacy of taekwondo will only grow.

What are the strong points of taekwondo, compared with other sports?I think the majority of people who watch taekwondo fall in love with it because it is such a dynamic, fast, technical and acrobatic sport. Trying to de-scribe the sport to people is not enough, it has something spe-cial which needs to be seen and more publicity can only help this.

How popular is taekwondo in your country?Taekwondo is becoming quite popular in this country thanks to our Olympic medalists; Luta-lo Muhammad, Jade Jones and Sarah Stevenson. Sarah has been an ambassador for taekwondo in Britain and her historic achieve-ments in the sport really built a foundation for taekwondo in the UK. All the youngsters will look up to both her, and now our 2012 Olympians, and the positive exposure they provide.

When did you start practicing taekwondo?I started taekwondo when I was eight and my father taught me. I joined the national team when I was 17 and now, at 24, Im a Grand Prix winner. It is the only major I have won so I hope to take a European title in 2014, and eventually qualify for Rio 2016.

What were the reasons for practicing taekwondo?Discipline, respect and honor are three of the core reasons. Also I like to rely on myself, rather than as a team. If I dont give 110 percent it is my fault, and know-ing that you can fail by yourself pushes me.

How important is taekwondo to you and your career?Taekwondo is massively valuable to me, in fact it saved me. It kept me off the streets as a child and stopped me hanging around with the wrong people. It taught me to have respect for my par-ents and elders and is part of the reason I left football for tae-kwondo. The respect you learn in taekwondo is something you will have for life and a legacy to future generations as it proved with my father to me.

What is your taekwondo phi-losophy?My philosophy is on my twitter account @chotimetkd Come In Peace But Not In the Ring - The Ring Is My Kingdom and I Am Not Going In For Second Best

What are your plans for 2014?The 2014 European Champion-ships is my main goal. I hope I can perform well there, qualify for the future Grand Prixs and be in the top six by the end of the year. Then I will continue to push on into 2015 and Rio qualification.

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What is your impression of winning the gold medal at the 2013 WTf World Taekwon-do Grand Prix final?It was a great honor to win the gold medal at the Grand Prix and I was really happy. It being the inaugural event made the victory all the more special.

What is your overall evalua-tion of the inaugural Grand Prix event in Manchester, uK?I thought it was very profession-ally run. Even though the UK has a great reputation for taekwon-do events, I was really surprised at just how good it was. The crowd, the presentation, the re-plays and the BBC coverage was fantastic for the sport. If that can continue and is the future of tae-kwondo, then Im really looking forward to being a part of it.

What is your opinion of us-ing a protector and scoring system at the WTFs major events?Personally Im a massive fan of the electronic scoring system in place. It makes the sport more transparent, fairer and easier for the viewing audience. Its also great for athletes, because if it scores, it scores; if not, then it doesnt. Theres no human error involved. Sometimes there can be inconsistencies but with tech-nology improving all the time it can only get better and better.

The WTf celebrated its 40th anniversary of founding in 2013. What is your overall

evaluation of the WTfs activ-ities?I think the WTF is a really profes-sionally run organization and has overseen a lot of changes in the last two years. Since the Olym-pics, the sport has now got a big-ger profile and they are continu-ing to maintain the rich history while allowing it to progress. I

think its great for our sport and Im privileged to be an athlete in modern taekwondo. And happy 40th birthday!

Do you have any suggestions for the further development of taekwondo and the World Taekwondo federation?Im very interested to see how the trials of electronic head guards progress, and from an athletes perspective, how the octagon rings will make an impact in the run up to the Rio Olympics.

Taekwondo was voted to be on the 25 core sports of the 2020 Olympic Games. How do you feel about that?I was absolutely over the moon

when I heard it would be includ-ed. We had such a great Olym-pics in London and the sport was really showcased to the best of its abilities, with packed crowds and exciting matches. Im sure that contributed to the decision and while I may no longer be in the sport by then it will be great for its legacy and the continued growth of the sport.

What are the strong points of taekwondo, compared with other sports?Taekwondo is a growing sport, one which is a very exciting with the new rules. The flashy high kicks are what were famous for and now that were rewarded for it, it comes through more. It is now very viewer friendly as was demonstrated by the Grand Prix and Im often told by people that they were surprised how much they enjoyed watching it on the BBC. We do kicks no other sport can do which really sets us apart and its generally a very exciting sport.

How popular is taekwondo in your country?Following the home Olympics where we took home gold and bronze medals, it has really grown. So many people are look-ing to participate in the sport and are now watching it. I feel really privileged to be fighting now and hopefully by the time I leave the sport, it will be even bigger.

When did you start practicing

taekwondo?I started when I was three years old under my dads tuition. He is responsible for teaching me ev-erything I know and has been a big inspiration. I owe him every-thing.

What were the reasons for practicing taekwondo?My dad started teaching me so I didnt have much choice! He wanted to teach me discipline and teach all his sons about mar-tial arts.

How important is taekwondo to you and your career?Taekwondo is extremely import-ant to me as I stated previously. Its been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I love the spirit of martial arts and it has given me a great focus in my life. Now being a professional athlete, training, competing and representing my country means a great deal.

What is your taekwondo phi-losophy?My philosophy is to be respect-ful, be good to others and enjoy the sport as much as you can.

What are your plans for 2014?In 2014 I am aiming to defend my European title in Azerbaijan and emulate my success at Decem-bers Grand Prix later this year.

Lutalo Muhammad

Gold on Home Turf Briton Lutalo Muhammad took the second Grand Prix gold on home turf in Man-chester. Here is how he sees the sport

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Belatedly,congratulations on winning the gold medal in the mens +80kg weight category at the 2012 London Olympic Games! How do you feel now?Thank you very much. How do I feel? Good question, so differ-ent and totally equal. It is the re-sult that I pursued for a lifetime, what I was missing and now I fi-nally managed to get there, so I would say that I feel elated and proud of me!

What is your evaluation of the 2012 London Olympic Games?When you get the best possible result, you see things in a differ-ent way, Im definitely biased, so for me it was the London Olym-pics the most beautiful of all.

What is the current status of taekwondo in your country? Do you think your gold med-al has affected taekwondos popularity somehow in your country? Taekwondo in Italy is definitely on the rise, until a few years ago not all people knew taekwondo but now it is very famous! Every-one knows this sport. My final was the most watched of all in my country so it definitely served for the growth and reputation of this wonderful sport.

You went to Manchester, uK for the 2013 World Taekwon-do Grand Prix final, but failed to compete because of your injury. Are you fully recov-ered? Absolutely, I train without prob-lems from early January now I am ready to face this 2014 in full strength.

What is your overall evalua-tion of the Grand Prix final event?It was a great idea, and this Grand Prix final will be more and more important, really compli-ments to the WTF staff for this choice and idea. In Manchester I saw nice fights and the best ath-letes in each weight category.

What is your plan as an ath-lete this year? Win more championships to feel comfortable with the ranking. But I think its everyones goal. Hahahaha!

Tell us about your personal taekwondo story. When did you start taekwondo and on what motivation?I started taekwondo at 5 years because I always wanted to be with my father and he did it also. So I started for him. Then, I grew more and more and I realized how much I love this sport even trying in the meantime almost all sports.

Do you have any recommen-dations for the betterment of taekwondo as an Olympic sport?The WTF is doing what I think is enough for this sport, with the entry of electronic helmets will be much better. Perhaps the only matter that we should think about is changing the dobok, not because I do not like it, but simply to try to have a uniform more marketable from a spon-sors point of view.

What is your view on the in-troduction of the protector and scoring system (Pss) and the instant video replay sys-tem?Of course there is always some-thing to improve in everything, but we are definitely on the right track, regarding the PSS and the replay system I am very proud of both items.

The WTf celebrated its 40th anniversary of founding last year. What is your overall evaluation of the WTf and taekwondo?I am proud of this World Tae-kwondo Federation and its rep-resentatives. I think theyre do-ing so much for the growth of taekwondo in the world.

The IOC voted to include taekwondo on the official program of the 2020 Olym-pic Games at its session last september. Do you think taekwondo will maintain its Olympic status after the 2024 Olympic Games? If you think so, on what grounds?The basics are the same ones that made us come into Olym-pic sports: clean, anti-doping, respect for opponents and the spectacular kicks. I think all this is a perfect mix to remain in the Olympic program. Taekwondo is a wonderful sport and I could not imagine the Olympics with-out.

Do you have anything else to mention?Good luck to all the athletes for a 2014 full of good results! Thank you.

Carlo Molfetta

Livingthe DreamItalys Olympic golden boy Car-lo Molfetta was sidelined by injury at the Grand Prix, but is looking forward to coming back strong

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In FocusTAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF46 47

The Decision: Taekwondo in 2020 Olympics!WTF president hails IOC decision, but urges taekwondo family not to be complacent at good news

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to put taekwondo on the of-ficial program of the 2020 Olympic Games as one of the 25 core sports during its 125th Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sept. 8, 2013.

I was delighted that the IOC decided to keep 25 core sports, including taekwon-do, in the 2020 Olympic program, said WTF President Chungwon Choue. We at the WTF are very grateful for the con-tinued guidance and support we receive from the Olympic family.

Choue also thanked former IOC President Jacques Rogge and all the members for the decision, and his colleagues for all their continued collective efforts to main-tain our Olympic standards.

In my fourth term as WTF president, I will ensure that we are always doing our best to ensure the sport of taekwondo contin-ues to engage sports fans of all genera-tions, and continues to add value to the Olympic movement, Choue continued.

The WTFs main objective is to grow au-diences at every competition, while keep-ing taekwondo a universal sport with extensive and diverse participation. It offers universal opportunities, regardless of race, gender and social status and the sport is evolving technologically to be-come more dynamic.

The WTF president noted that taekwon-dos inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games remains perhaps the WTFs greatest achievement. Our continued participa-tion is a huge honor for all of the WTF family, he said. We are very proud of the IOC decision and we will all repay their faith in our beloved sport by work-ing tirelessly to ensure that taekwondo continues to develop worldwide.

Over the last 10 years, the WTF, which cel-ebrated the 40th anniversary of its found-ing last year and boasts a global mem-bership of 206 countries and territories around the world, has ceaselessly strived to maintain its Olympic status.

That status was never assured, though.

Shortly after taking helm of the WTF in 2004, WTF President Choue launched a Reform Committee, which produced a 200-page Reform Report after months of hard work. The WTF unanimously ap-proved the WTF Reform Report at its ex-traordinary Council meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland in March 2005.

Since then, the WTF has carried out its recommendations, focusing on making refereeing and judging as fair as possible; making competitions more dynamic and action-packed; and making taekwondo media friendly, especially for television.

These efforts resulted in huge success at the 2012 London Olympic Games, which proved to be the best Olympics yet for taekwondo, and a golden moment for this young, but hugely popular sport. International media, surprised by the sports new look, new rules, new gear and new heroes at the London Olympics, were full of praise.

In FocusTAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF48 49

The WTF could wish for no better way of promoting its sport for generations to come, said Rogge in a congratulatory message after the London Games. Tae-kwondo has shown that it is a sport which can, and does, contribute to the values and ideals of Olympism, pursuing excel-lence, ensuring fair play and promoting friendship.

From medal distribution to technology to rules to safety, the WTF was delighted by how everything came together. Eight gold medals at the London Olympic tae-kwondo competitions were given to eight

different countries. Out of 32 medals up for grabs at the taekwondo competition in the London Olympic Games, a total of 21 countries took at least one medal, showing a good medal distribution.

The WTF will, WTF President Choue said, continue to revise its competition rules and uniforms to show the world a new taekwondo - more dynamic, more trans-parent and fairer than ever at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The WTF will also make 5-on-5 team competitions more appealing to the pub-lic and the international media, Choue stated.

We are very proud of the IOC decision and we will all repay their faith in our beloved sport by working tirelessly to ensure that taekwondo continues to develop worldwide

He added that the WTF continues to be a loyal partner to the IOC. The election of the new IOC President, Dr. Thomas Bach, marks the beginning of a new and exciting era for the Olympic movement, but also highlights the need for constant change, renewal and recalibration of targets.

While taekwondo is in a good position currently, we must not become compla-cent. Choue warned. We must strive to advance our global sport and continue to maintain good relationships with the Olympic family to safeguard our position on the Olympic program.

TAEKWONDO Official Publication of the WTF52 532013 Review

WTF Head Calls for Sport Peace Corps

W TF President Chungwon Choue has urged international sports leaders attending the 2013 SportAccord World Combat Games to join his envisioned Sport Peace Corps project.

Encouraged by the popularity of the Taekwondo Peace Corps program, the WTF, in cooperation with the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee, plans to launch a Sport Peace Corps, WTF President Choue said.

To this end, the WTF is in close dis-cussions with the United Nations and we expect to see tangible results in the near future, he added.

Dr. Choue said he wants to start the Sport Peace Corps program with the world governing bodies of the 15 mar-tial art and combat sports which attend-ed the 2013 SportAcord World Combat Games.

Under the session topic Using Combat Sport to Create Social Change: Moving from Vision to Action, Dr. Choue made the remarks in his speech as a panelist at the international forum Martial Arts and Combat Sports in Society at the Constan-

tine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Oct. 23, 2013.

The forum, which drew about 300 governmental, academic and sports rep-resentatives as well as athletes, was a prestigious event organized within the framework of the cultural program of the 2013 SportAccord World Combat Games, which kicked off on Oct. 18 for a nine-day run.

Mr. Joel Bouzou, founder and president of Peace and Sport, moderated the session.

We launched the Taekwondo Peace Corps to instill positive values and disci-pline in youth - two factors that are key to living a life of virtue and honor, Dr. Choue said in his speech.

The Corps also creates a platform where young athletes can not only im-prove their taekwondo skills, but open their minds through cultural exchange, and in the process broaden and deepen their knowledge of the world so that they can be a force to promote peaceful coex-istence among the worlds nations and peoples.

We launched the Taekwondo Peace Corps to instill positive values and discipline in youth - two factors that are key to liv-ing a life of virtue and honor

WTF president makes strong case at 2013 SportAccord in St. Petersburg

Oct. 23, 2013


Dr. Choue unveiled the Taekwondo Peace Corps at an international workshop in Bel-gium in 2007 and again, later that year, at a Peace and Sport forum in Monaco.

On May 22, 2010, he proposed the Sport Peace Corps at the 1st UN-IOC Fo-rum at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, suggesting it should involve all Olympic sports on a global scale.

Each Taekwondo Peace Corps team is made up of four competent taekwondo teachers: three taekwondo masters, each of whom is a qualified taekwondo educa-tor, and one person with language skills,

who serves as an interpreter.Since its first dispatch of Taekwondo

Peace Corps members in the summer of 2008, the WTF has sent a total of 1,046 members to 99 different countries on 12 occasions.

Prior to WTF President Choues speech, Mr. Wilfried Lemke, special advisor to UN Secretary General Ki-Moon Ban on sport for development and peace, made a key-note speech, in which he spoke well of the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps activities.

In another session on Investing in So-cial Programs: Strategies and Modus Ope-

randi, Prof. Jin-bang Yang of Yong In University in Korea made a presentation on taekwondo and the WTF.

Ms. Sarah Stevenson of the United Kingdom, who serves as the taekwon-do ambassador of the 2013 SportAccord World Combat Games, also made a pre-sentation as a panelist in a third session on Activating the Athlete as a Role Mod-el, an Educator and an Influencer.


Taekwondo Peace Corps: A Report from the Front Line

At the age of seven, I started practicing taekwondo in my hometown Bremen, Germany and since July 2013, have had an instructors license.

After graduating from high school in May 2013, I got the opportunity to take part in a voluntary service, organized by the Taekwondo Peace Corps, as well as an internship with the WTF in Seoul. Things started on July 7 in Papua New Guinea with a seven-week mission for the TPC.

Love, Purity and Diligence is the mot-to of the Caritas Technical Secondary School (CTSS) in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. Even though it is very dangerous, incredibly poor and one of the worlds least explored countries, you feel safe and extremely welcome when entering the girls school because those values are taken very seriously among students and teachers.

Nele Lemke reports on her recent mission to Papua New Guinea

The team consisted of five members: four Korean volunteers (two girls, two boys) and me. We were taken care of and the sisters of Caritas always made sure we were healthy and well.

The TPC has been sending Korean coaches for two years and there is a Kore-an coach working permanently with the students on taekwondo. A demonstration team has been created among the best students. We trained them every day, al-ways trying to keep the training interest-ing and varied. Taekwon dance, kyorugi and kyokpa were the most frequent.

The first difficulty was communication between the Koreans and me. Their En-glish skills were rather poor and I was al-ways afraid of missing out on important information. All the heads of the school and sisters were Koreans as well. As the program went on, the communication

got a little better as their English im-proved due to their English classes. My Korean did, too.

On the first weekend in Papua New Guinea the sisters and some teachers pre-pared a trip to a resort on the beach. We made friends with a lot of people during the PNG-style barbecue and swimming. They tried everything to let us experience their country and make us feel welcome.

After a week of resting and experienc-ing the new culture, we were facing our first week of taekwondo. Tuesday to Fri-day we would teach all the students of grades 9 to 11; about 16 classes per week. On Mondays all the coaches went to the learning center to teach basic motions to the kids of elementary school age. Be-cause of their young age and limited con-centration span, the class lasted just 20 minutes.

The periods at Caritas went on for ei-ther 40 or 80 minutes. Unfortunately a lot of students were not so fond of taekwon-do so sometimes up to one third would sit down telling us they were sick. I am pos-itive that this occurs due to the fact that the CTSS only offers taekwondo classes as sport. Nevertheless, some students were extremely motivated.

Due to the fact that the Koreans all majored in kyorugi and I have always practiced poomsae we decided to teach poomsae for the first two weeks and car-ry on with kyorugi afterwards. I discov-ered that the students as well as the Ko-reans really enjoyed my way of warming up. Using fun running and coordination games to get ready for taekwondo was a new experience for all.

While the Koreans learned new ways of practicing taekwondo from me, I ex-perienced many new forms of training from them. During the following weeks


Countries for Winter 2013 Taekwondo Peace Corps Taekowndo Peace Corps Short-Term Projects

8th Jan.-Feb.2012

102 members, 26 teams in 22 countries

9th

11th

July-Aug.

2012

July-Aug.

2013


94 members, 25 teams in 21 countries(Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, China, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Senegal, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania, Russia, Poland, Brazil, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Fiji)

10th

12th

Jan.-Feb.

2013

Jan.-Feb.

2014


122 members, 34 teams in 26 countries(Nepal, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Singapore, India, China, Cambodia, Turkmenistan, Gabon, Lesotho, South Africa, Senegal, Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Sweden, Poland, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji)

Total 1,046 members, 269 teams in 99 different countries

TermPeriod ofDispatch

No. ofDispatched Members, Teams & Countries

1st July-Aug.2008

27 members, 7 teams in 5 countries (China, Russia, Pakistan, India, Paraguay)

2nd Jan.-Feb.2009

32 members, 8 teams in 8 countries (Greece, Russia, Morocco, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Egypt, China, Kyrgyzstan)

3rd July-Aug.2009

48 members, 12 teams in 12 countries (El Salvador, India, Isle of Man, Bhutan, Samoa, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Angola, Philippines, Azerbaijan)

4th Jan.-Feb. 2010

98 members, 27 teams in 24 countries (Angola, D.R . Congo, Egypt , Cambodia, I ran, Laos, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Greece, Poland, Russia, New Zealand, Samoa, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Surinam)

5th July-Aug.2010


6th Jan.-Feb.2011


7th July-Aug.2011

106 members, 27 teams, 19 countries

Continent

Asia(12)

Africa(7)

Oceania(3)

Total 26 122

Europe(2)

Pan America

(2)

CountriesPeriod ofDispatch

No. ofMembers

Nepal

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Bangladesh

Brunei

Sri Lanka

Singapore-1

Singapore-1

India 1

India 2

China

Turkmenistan

Gabon

South Africa

Lesotho

Senegal

Sudan

Zambia

Tonga

Fiji

Cameroon

Sweden

Poland

Nicaragua

Venezuela

Cambodia

Papua NewGuinea

2014.1.5 - 2.24

2014.1.6 - 2.21

2014.1.6 - 2.15

2014.1.6 - 2.6

2014.1.7 - 2.23

2014.1.21 - 3.27

2014.1.7 - 2.7

2014.1.11 - 2.21

2014.1.6 - 2.15

2014.1.20 - 2.21

2014.1.16 - 2.26

2014.1.8 - 2.16

2014.1.14- 2.24

2014.1.6 - 2.16

2014.1.8 - 2.26

2014.1.29- 2.21

2014.1.25 - 2.27

2014.1.15 - 2.23

4

4

4

4

4

4

8

4

2

5

9

5

8

4

4

1

4

4

4

4

4

6

4

4

2

4

4

4

2014.1.6 - 2.14

2014.1.6 - 2.14

2014.1.14 - 2.25

2014.1.6 - 2.15

2014.1.15 - 2.24

2014.1.6 - 2.25

2014.1.10 - 2.18

2014.1.6 - 2.21

2014.1.6 - 2.21

2014.2.4 - 2.26

World Taekwondo Peace Corpsthe students improved their taekwondo skills, and we also learned how to deal with space, attitudes and motivation.

Everyone really appreciated our work so on weekends they would always take us somewhere to learn more about PNG. On the second weekend, we went trek-king down the Kokoda Trail, a path down which, during World War II, PNG helpers used to carry wounded Austra-lian or American soldiers. They would also take us to crafts markets and resorts where we could go snorkeling and kayak-ing, and even to very poor villages where the demonstration team performed. We also attended a great traditional show.

I felt the program was very well orga-nized by the TPC. However, I have some suggestions. The WTF has 206 member nations, and I think it would be great to work with them all. Until now, only Kore-an volunteers have been given this oppor-tunity. My suggestion would be to send two Koreans with either one or two inter-nationals to each country. I would be glad to use my contacts in Germany to try this.

I would also suggest that the volunteers offer a crash course for future instructors to make sure that students progress in taekwondo continues after the volun-teers leave. Another possibility is to quali-fy locals to be able to instruct a group and offer them a visit to Korea each year.

I also suggest working with internation-al sports federations apart from taekwon-do. In PNG, taekwondo was the only sport on the program. I think it would be great to urge different sports federations to es-tablish their own Peace Corps and work together with the TPC. Another alterna-tive would be offering different sports in the afternoons to balance taekwondo. Sports like soccer, basketball and volley-ball do not require a lot of materials.

Going to Papua New Guinea has in-spired me. I was very lucky to have this opportunity to work with such amazing, loving people. I will stay in contact with all the friends I made and am proud and thankful for my WTF internship.


WTF, U.N. Body to Promote Peace and Sport for All In another landmark, the WTF and UNOSDP agree to cooperate

T he World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and the United Nations Of-fice on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) on Dec. 13, 2013 signed a partnership agreement which aims to use taekwondo as a vehicle to promote the organizations common objectives of promoting sport for all and peace.

The agreement was signed by Mr. Wil-fried Lemke, the U.N. Secretary Generals Special Adviser on Sport for Develop-ment and Peace, and WTF President Dr. Chungwon Choue on the opening day of the inaugural World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Speaking after the signing, WTF Presi-dent Choue said:

The WTF has a very special relation-ship with the UNOSDP. We share many of the same values and we fully support the UNOSDP in their mission to support peo-ple around the world by providing them with opportunities to engage in sport.

Taekwondo is more than a sport its a philosophy. Taekwondo teaches young people discipline, fair play and sportsman-ship. Young athletes learn the importance of respecting one another whatever their nationality, race or gender. These values will not only help them to be a success in taekwondo but help them to contribute to society outside of the sport.

The partnership aims to use taekwon-do as a tool to promote peace-building objectives, social inclusion and the rights of persons with disabilities. The WTF Peace Corps for Para-Taekwondo will be largely responsible for carrying out the work of the partnership but will also be supported through the WTFs involve-ment in the UNOSDPs Youth Leadership Programme (YLP).

Wilfried Lemke added:Taekwondo is an excellent partner

for the UNOSDP. We look forward to col-laborating with them in the future as we look to achieve the UNs Millennium De-velopment Goals.

The partnership between the WTF and UNOSDP is the latest joint effort in a history of valued cooperation between the two organizations. The WTF previous-ly worked with the UNOSDP to contribute to the successes of the YLP in Gwangju, Korea, in August 2013. The WTF sent their facilitators to instruct youth leaders on how to teach taekwondo in a way that is socially inclusive and replicable in their community. In addition, Special Adviser Lemke and the UNOSDP have agreed to offer the WTF the opportunity to send participants to the next YLP, while also of-fering to assist the WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps with promoting para-taekwondo.

Taekwondo is an excellent partner for the UNOSDP. We look forward to collaborating with them in the fu-ture as we look to achieve the UNs Millennium Development Goals


The taekwondo session of the 7th UNOS-DP Youth Leadership Program, which was held on Sept. 1, 2013 at Honam Universi-ty in Gwangju, Korea, was a resounding success.

The taekwondo event was part of the 13-day United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) Youth Leadership Program (YLP), which started on Aug. 22 and lasted until Sept. 3.

The Gwangju Youth Leadership Pro-gram, which was co-hosted by the 2015 Gwangju Universiade Organizing Com-mittee and the UNOSDP, drew a total of 34 people, aged between 18 and 25, from 19 countries.

Among the participants in the program were four North Koreans - two boys and two girls. There were also two people with disabilities: one male participant from Tonga in a wheelchair and one fe-male participant from Vanuatu with slight cerebral palsy.

Taste of Taekwondo Adds Spice to U.N. Youth ProgramThe taekwondo element of the 7th UNOSDP Youth Leadership Program in Gwangju, Korea concluded successfully

Under the theme Taekwondo as a Sport for All: Taste of Taekwondo, the participants in the taekwondo program received both theoretical and practical training.

The taekwondo program was a great success as it drew a special interest from the participants., said Prof. Jung-heon Kim of Yong In University in Korea, who facilitated the program. The highlight was a board-breaking event, in which the participants wrote their bad habits or their wishes on their respective board and broke it after explaining them to the oth-er participants.

The concept of the UNOSDP Youth Leadership Program was to provide youths from around the world with op-portunities to become acquainted with and use various sports to develop society.

The 2015 Gwangju Universiade Orga-nizing Committee plans to host the same program in 2014 and 2015.


Participation in uNOsDP Youth Leadership CampA taekwondo session was first included in the Youth Leadership Camp promoted by the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace held in Gwangju, Korea in coop-eration with the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee in the summer of 2013. The purpose of the camp is to bring youth who have the potential to be community leaders in the field of sport for personal development. The camp is both theoretical and practical in nature and provides participants with a tool-kit on how sport can be best used to improve social conditions in the participants home communities. The UNOSDP selects about 30 participants aged between 18 and 25, with a 50 percent female participation. In 2013, the UNOSDP and the WTF signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on the Youth Leadership Camps held under the UNOSDP Youth Leadership Program. The camps, which will be held in Ger-many, the United States and Korea in 2014, will also include taekwondo sessions. The WTF cooperates with the UNOSDP on dispatching instructors, and on the program of taekwondo sessions.

International Referee seminars and Refresher Courses & International Coach Training Courses.Since 1974, the WTF has conducted international referee seminars to foster internation-al referees for kyorugi (sparring) and poomsae (forms) to officiate at WTF-promoted international taekwondo championships. It has also conducted International Referee Refresher Courses.

Going to School with the

Since its foundation in 1973, the WTF has been vigorously conducting various educational programs and activities

WTf-Kyung Hee university Partnership Taekwondo Training ProgramIn 2005, the WTF partnered with Koreas Kyung Hee University to undertake tae-kwondo training programs for athletes and coaches. Under this program, athletes and coaches from underdeveloped countries train taekwondo kyorugi and poomsae and are educated on related subjects at the International Taekwondo Academy of Kyung Hee University. In 2013, a para-taekwondo athlete from Ukraine participated in the program, opening the program to athletes with disabilities.

World Youth Taekwondo CampBesides seminars and courses in relation to taekwondo competitions, the WTF has been conducting the World Youth Taekwondo Camp jointly with the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation (TPF) in Korea. The World Youth Taekwondo Camp was inaugurated in 2009 and has been held annually with the participation of taekwondo athletes aged 14 to 20 around the world. At this camp, participants practice kyorugi and poomsae under instruction of world and Olympic champions and are also educated in the importance of friendship, leadership, the tenets of taekwondo and Olympic values. Reports on the World Youth Taekwondo Camp have been sent to the IOC.

Asian Youth Taekwondo Camp in Joint Organization with the OCAThe WTF jointly organized the Asian Youth Taekwondo Camp with the Olympic Coun-cil of Asia (OCA) in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of Thailand and the Thailand Taekwondo Association in 2013, with participation of athletes aged 15 to 17 years old and accompanying coaches from Asian NOCs. The WTF dispatched instructors and Olympic medalists as champion ambassadors and role models for par-ticipants. The OCA has conducted this camp jointly with International Sports Federa-tions every year.

WTf Taekwondo Demonstration TeamThe WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team has undertaken performances in many cities around the world as well as on the occasions of various international taekwondo competitions, including WTF-promoted championships and multi-sport games. Since its creation in 2008, the demonstration team has not only shown various components of taekwondo to spectators at international events, but has conducted city tours and given presentations to specific target groups such as children as part of its cultural and educational programs.

Taekwondo Peace CorpsThe WTF Taekwondo Peace Corps (TPC) was created in 2008 and has dispatched Taekwondo Peace Corps members to less-developed countries to help people in those countries develop and serve their community through sports. Since its inauguration, the TPC has sent members to many countries twice a year, for a period of about one to two months per cou

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