Taekwondo Wiki
Advertisement

There are a lot of rumours circulating the internet these days about the introduction of new competition forms. The last was a series of ten new poomsae for various age categories. The latest information comes from the WT General Assembly of June 23rd 2017[1] and it states the removal of lower taegeuk, addition of higher poomsae and introduction of poomsae Bee-gak 1-3 plus the consolidation of the U60, U65 and 65+ divisions into one 50+ division.

Overview of the changes[2][]

These changes are scheduled to be used at the 2018 Asian Games and the 2020 World Poomsae, Freestyle and Para Championships.

Further more 2 new poomsae events will added to the tournament list, the Beach Poomsae Championships which were first held in Rhodos, Greece this year and the World Open Poomsae Championships.

2016 ATU / Kukkiwon Poomsae[]

KKW Competition Poomsae
KKW Competition Poomsae English

In September 2016 the Kukkiwon and the Asian Taekwondo Union announced the development of ten new poomsae to be used in taekwondo competitions. The ten new forms are:

  • Himchari (힘차리) the "Powerful Challenge", for tournament competitors under age 18
  • Yamang (야망), for tournament competitors under age 18
  • Saebyeol (새별) the "New Star", for tournament competitors ages 18-30
  • Nareusya (나르샤) "Flying Upward", for tournament competitors ages 18-30; also known as Bee-Gak Sam Jang by World Taekwondo
  • Bigak (비각) the "Flying Kick", for tournament competitors ages 18-30; also known as Bee-Gak Ee Jang by World Taekwondo (note that this is distinct from the 2007 form often romanized as Bikkak)
  • Eoullim (어울림), for tournament competitors in their 30s and 40s
  • Saeara (새아라), for tournament competitors in their 30s and 40s
  • Hansol (한솔), for tournament competitors in their 50s and 60s
  • Narae (나래), for tournament competitors in their 50s and 60s
  • Onnuri (온누리), for tournament competitors in their 50s and 60s

The idea is that during the initial rounds of tournament poomsae competitions, athletes will compete using the conventional Kukkiwon curriculum poomsae; but then for the final rounds, athletes will compete using these more difficult poomsae. The added difficulty will make it easier for judges to distinguish between the performances of top-rank competitors.

Note that a similar effort was previously undertaken in 2007 with the development of the forms Hanryu and Bikkak; those forms were never officially rolled-out however.

In June of 2017, World Taekwondo in conjunction with Kukkiwon unveiled and demonstrated the new competition form sets at the 2017 Muju World Taekwondo Championships held between June 24 to June 30, 2017. Currently there are plans to conduct some seminars to formally present the forms and applications, most noteably in October 2017 just prior to the World Taekwondo Presidents Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. "WTF General Assembly", Muju, Korea, June 23, 2017
  2. "New poomsae rules", Muju, Korea, June 23, 2017
  3. "Poomsae Competition Rules and Interpretation pages 14-15", Seoul, Korea, June 24, 2017
  4. "Poomsae Competition Rules and Interpretation", Seoul, Korea, June 24, 2017.

Additional references[]

Advertisement