With so much movement in our sport, looking to innovate and continue the successful path in the Olympics, with technological advances in London 2012, new Ranking system, the Grand Prix and a satisfactory World Championship, make the eyes of the experts and general public identify  Taekwondo through the its most popular discipline:  Kyorugi or the combat.

Parallel, or perhaps not as parallel, but from a particular point of view, in an increasing development, it is the other Taekwondo discipline, much more related to Martial Arts, considered by many as the most intimate essence and foundation of Taekwondo:  Poomsae.

Poomsae in Europe and Asia is increasingly booming, with lots of competitions and becoming more attractive to practitioners who like this discipline more.  Let´s not forget that, unlike Kyorugi or Combat, Poomsae does not give athletes any financial reward and support by sports institutions, as this discipline does not belong to the Olympic program, something that turns into a lack of financial support from the part of government agencies in each country, which places Poomsae in disadvantage compared with Combat.

The WTF, through different actions and initiatives such as promotion of Poomsae World Championships, new clothes, the inclusion of Free Style and the constant rule changes, has tried to balance this undeniable fact.

However, from our point of view, although the WTF makes countless efforts to develop Poomsae, we consider that the dream of getting an Olympic medal through this discipline is unrealistic, as Poomsae is far from getting an Olympic status.

However, Taekwondo family is growing thanks to Poomsae and thanks to the athletes that chose this discipline.  After seven editions and the eighth just around the corner, the World Poomsae Championships will be held in the beautiful city of Bali in Indonesia, with the expectative to exceed the amount of participants that attended the last edition held in Tunja, Colombia.  During the World Poomsae Championships, the new WTF Executive Council will hold its first meeting after the July elections.

Without straying from the main issue and focusing on the sports competition itself, it is noteworthy to mention that despite the rules modifications and the  apparent training of judges, Korea continues to maintain the hegemony in Poomsae, and with this statement we do not want to take credit away from the Asian country, as their dedication and technical performance make them highly outstanding, but many times we fall again into something that in combat has been improved in the last years and it is the subjectivity at the time of scoring the athletes’ performance.  We consider that the facts of being from Korea, or from the host country or other particular issues favor subjectivity and this is the main reason why this discipline does not get the attention of the International Olympic Committee as to include it in the Olympic program.

Of course, it is the Korean team who sets the trends and parameters under which a World Championships is competed, taking into account rhythm issues, certain ways of executing specific movements.  Therefore, the concerns and worries of other countries where the technical development is not as developed and refined as the Korean´s and although the differences are slight they will have an effect on the final scores.

Despite the clear Articles stated in the Competitions Rules, sometimes, in meetings or technical conferences, the “the big and powerful teams” present some claims or we can name them “recommendations”  and it  is there when one gets to understand how some deductions, that can make a difference in the final score, will be applied.  So, if someone is not part of those meetings, and even if he knows the rules perfectly, he will surely get a bad score due to the changes agreed on those “meetings”.

As Taekwondo and Poomsae lovers, we hope Poomsae will continue to grow and develop based on the principles and values that the Martial Art instills and that soon this discipline will get to the dreamed status.

MasTaekwondo.com will continue to inform you about Poomse and specifically of the next World Poomsae Championship that will be held very soon.

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