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Taekwondo Is Sport for Everyone
By Moon Gwang-lip
Korea Times
Staff Reporter
The international
image of taekwondo, a new Olympic sport rooted in
Korea's traditional martial arts, was sullied after its introduction
at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games by the conviction of the sport's chief representative for corruption. The future of taekwondo
as an Olympic event was put in doubt.
Kim Un-yong, who headed the World Taekwondo Federation from 1973 to 2004, was
an Olympic committee vice president and a representative in the National Assembly in Korea. He was brought down in disgrace
and arrested in January 2004 on suspicion of embezzling 3.84 billion won ($4 million) from the organization. Prosecutors also
said he took 810 million won from sporting goods suppliers in an influence peddling deal.
He lost his positions and
was imprisoned.
Today the federation has a new leader, brought in to save the sport from toppling from its Olympic
position.
Choue Chung-won, the son of the founder of Kyunghee University, was picked in 2004 to salvage the mess Kim
made.
``As soon as I became the president of the WTF in June 2004, I told
reporters the Chinese saying, `When you
drink water in the well, you
should be thankful for the one who dug the well,''' Choue said.
``Kim Un-yong introduced
taekwondo as an international sport to the
IOC and to the world. So I am very grateful for what he did for taekwondo. But
from now on things will be different. The past is past.
Transparency is more important now. For the future, as taekwondo
is an Olympic sport, we should improve the WTF in line with global
standards.''
Choue, elected last year for another
four-year term, is now at the
forefront of efforts to see that sports in Korea are transparent and
fair.
At the
end of last month, Choue, 59, was nominated to become the first president of the Korea Fair Play Committee, a member of the
International Committee for Fair Play (ICFP). The ICEF, based in Paris, promotes fair play with all kinds of national and
international
sports organizations.
But it is his drive to see taekwondo - a sport that he defines as ``Korea's
gift to the world'' - that consumes his daily efforts. Beyond the tainted former leadership, competitors have criticized the
sport for a lack of adequate and fair judging methods.
``Fair play is a really important thing,'' Choue said in a recent
interview with The Korea Times at his office in southern Seoul. ``I think it is the most important part of the sports.''
Athletes
are eager for medals for their nations, he said, but without
fair play, it's meaningless. "So what I am going to do as
the (KFPC) president is to spread the fair play spirit to the sport. I am confident. Beginning next year, we are going to
search for the real fair play sportsmen in Korea not only for taekwondo, but also for other sports.''
Apparently, the
reaction against his predecessor was the chief reason Choue assumed the role of guardian of fair play.
``In taekwondo,
there were many problems. In taekwondo, one person dominated the sport, and the Koreans were the dominant group in the sport,''
Choue said.
A few months after Choue took the helm, the federation launched a
reform committee, led by a WTF vice
president and IOC member Nat Indrapana of Thailand. A thorough review was undertaken to see that the rules ensured clean competition.
In
a bid to improve the credibility of the judging system, the federation increased the number of judges from three to four last
year.
Last month, it opened the way for electronic sensors to help the
judges. ``It's not just where you hit someone, it's how
hard you hit
him,'' explained Choue. The electronic protectors, which the
federation says will help reduce refereeing
disputes, are expected to
debut in the World Taekowndo Championships in May 2007 in Beijing, China, at the earliest.
Early
next month, the federation will hold the first meeting of its Reform Evaluation Committee in Bangkok, to check the progress
of the programs.
Choue says he has thrown himself into the reform effort, expecting it
to help taekwondo remain
an Olympic sport indefinitely.
Taekwondo, approved for inclusion in the 2012 London Olympics, will make its fifth straight
appearance at the Olympics if the 2009 IOC
Congress in Copenhagen gives it the go-ahead for the 2016 Games.
``We
should complete our reforms. Then I think taekwondo will be safe,'' Choue said.
Choue has had a long history with taekwondo.
Before taking on his new job, Choue contributed to the martial art by establishing the
Department of Taekwondo at Kyung
Hee University in 1983 as a chief planning and management official. This was the first time a Korean university installed
the sport as a major. He also played a role in establishing the International Taekwondo Academy in 1995 and the International
Taekwondo Research Institute in 2002, while serving as an executive council member of the Korea Taekwondo Association. Choue
served as president of Kyung Hee University from 1997 to 2003.
He said taekwondo, which now has over 60 million practitioners
from 182 nations, is quickly expanding its horizons.
Choue crisscrosses the world to promote the sport. At the time
of the
interview, he had just returned from Macao, where he watched 12
Portuguese-speaking countries compete in taekwondo,
and he was just about to leave for Africa for another taekwondo competition.
In Johannesburg, South Africa, he was
going to see the inauguration of the South African Taekwondo Championship. Around 15 countries joined the competition.
The
soft-spoken president showed pride when he said taekwondo is
recognized in many countries as the second-most popular sport
after
football.
``I heard that many African countries are really fond of taekwondo.
Taekwondo has become the
second sport after football. This is really
amazing and surprising,'' he said, adding that the same phenomenon is evident
in the Middle East and Latin America.
``There are so many small islands in East African countries, and they are practicing
taekwondo, and they are doing very well.''
Choue said he remains positive that taekwondo will have 100 million
practitioners
soon. He expects 10 more countries to join the WTF by
next May, when the WTF general assembly will be held in Beijing.
His
optimism, sounding like a self-fulfilling mantra, is justified given the burgeoning popularity of the sport in countries
like Iran, which has 1.5 million practitioners, and even China, a country renowned for other well-known martial arts.
``China
has 1.7 million taekwondo practitioners. They have kungfu, wushu and many other martial arts sports. But taekwondo appeals
to
them because it is an Olympic sport,'' Choue said.
He said, however, that enthusiasm for the sport does not result
only
from its status as an Olympic sport. Though taekwondo is a martial
art, it also teaches athletes about Asian philosophy,
such as respect
for the elderly and living in harmony, he said.
A recent visit to China convinced Choue of the educational
benefits of the sport.
``A Beijing University professor said he is sending his children to a
taekwondo Dojang (gym).
I asked why he does even though they have other popular martial arts. He said after practicing taekwondo, his children really
changed. They became more respectful and more
enthusiastic about studies,'' Choue said.
To enhance taekwondo's global
appeal, Choue launched an annual
competition, or ``poomsae,'' a demonstration of a set of movements
comprising basic
taekwondo techniques. The WTF hosted the first World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships early last month in Seoul. The event
attracted 590 athletes and officials from 59 countries.
``Taekwondo has three aspects: an Olympic sport, a traditional
martial art and poomsae. Everybody can enjoy poomsae, and that will help taekwondo become a more global sport,'' he said.
The
hard-driving president has another plan in mind: introducing
taekwondo, specifically the poomsae discipline, to the Paralympic
Games.
From
Nov. 3 to 4, the WTF Paralympic Committee will hold its inaugural meeting and discuss ways to implement the plan.
``Taekwondo
is, as you know, a combat sport. But when it comes to
poomsae, it's possible for the disabled to practice and enjoy it,''
he
said.
``I believe that the discipline of poomsae will someday be an important sport of the International Paralympic
Committee and then
taekwondo will become a sport for everyone.''
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