History The oldest Korean martial art was an amalgamation of unarmed combat styles developed by the three rival Korean Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje, where young men were trained in unarmed combat techniques to develop strength, speed, and survival skills. Hwarang, the 7 TH warrior corporation from the Silla dynasty or kingdom, used the taekwon-do techniques to conquer the Kingdoms of Goguryeo, and Baekje. Since 2000, Taekwondo has been one of only two Asian martial arts that are included in the Olympic Games; it became a demonstration event starting with the 1988 games in Seoul, and became an official medal event starting with the 2000 games in Sydney. In 2010, Taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport.

Taekwondo competition typically involves sparring, breaking, patterns, and self-defense (hosinsul). In Olympic taekwondo competition, however, only sparring (using WTF competition rules) is contested. The object of the Olympic Taekwondo is to land kicks and punches on the opponent’s scoring zones: one point is awarded for a valid attack to the trunk protector, two points for a valid turning kick to the trunk protector, three points for a valid kick to the head, and four points for a valid turning kick to the head. Each contest is made up of three two-minute rounds. Over their standard white uniform, known as a dobok, competitors wear colored protective equipment. The competitor wearing blue is referred to as chung, while the competitor in red is hong. In each weight category, the competition consists of a single elimination tournament. The winners of each contest qualify for the next round, with the two finalists going head to head in the gold medal contest. All competitors who lose to one of the finalists at any stage of the competition enter in second chance tournament. The two semi-final losers meet the winners of the two play-off pools; these matches determine the winners of two bronze medals. Infringing the rules can see valuable points awarded to the opposition. Penalties range from Kyong-go (a warning penalty) for acts such as crossing the boundary line, hitting below the waist or using the knee to attack. Two Kyong-go warnings result in a point being awarded to the opponent. More seriously, a Gam-Jeom (deduction penalty) is given for actions such as attacking a fallen opponent, or intentionally attacking the face. A Gam-Jeom results in a one-point deduction. If an athlete receives four penalty deduction points, the contest is stopped and the opponent is declared the winner.