Tae-Kwon Doe

Taekwondo began at the end of World War II in 1945. Although not being identified and defines as taekwondo, the schools or ‘kawans’ opening around Korea encourage the practice of old martial arts known as ‘taekkyeon’. After integration of the combat sport into the Korean army, a singular system of taekkyeon began development in 1955 and by 1959 the name ‘taekwondo’ was connected to the sport and the first ever taekwondo association (the Korean taekwondo association) was established.15 years after the development of the association and the representative body. The creation and enactment of the ‘Kyorugi rules’ were implemented by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). This rule set was introduced into the Olympic games where a point sparring system was introduced for combat sports competition.

Taekwondo involves kicks and punches thrown to the head and body. It is karate like in the stance, where the darting back and forth motion is used to defend and to attack. These attacking entries are following by attempted strikes to the head and or body of the opponent. With punches landing to the body and head and kicks to the body earn 1 (one) point and kicks to the heads earn 2 (two) points. Additionally, another point is provided if the athlete achieves a knockdown. There is one referee and three judges observing the event, and if two of the three judges record a point it is officially given to the athlete. Taekwondo is a globally popular sport with participation rates shared with those in all martial arts. Currently there is an estimated 120 million adults and children participating in martial arts, with an estimated annual growth rate of 25%.¹ This increased popularity in taekwondo brings the sports participation risks into question, primarily in the form of injury.

An Australian cohort study conducted between 2010 and 2011 looked at the injury incidence per 1000 athlete exposures (Taekwondo matches) and 1000 athlete minute exposures (the athlete duration of each match in a ratio of 1000 minutes) of participating athletes at the New South Wales (NSW) state title.² The study identified injury incidence rates of 59.93 injuries per 1000 athlete exposures and 16.32 injuries per 1000 minutes exposure.² That is approximately 1 (one) injury per 10 matches and 1 (one) injury every 1 (one) hour. It is therefore desirable to ensure the body is strong and moving well to prevent injury occurrence to the athletes. Whilst the outcome of injury in combat sports in general is predominately due to direct athlete contact, the injury burden of non-contact and overuse injuries is substantial and can be mitigated with correct training loads and appropriate strengthening and mobility treatments.³ Here at CombatSportsChiro we pride ourselves with the highest standard of physical and exercise therapies to ensure your as injury resilient as possible. Shoot us a message/email or select the book now button to inquire further in person.