New Techniques

As continuous sparring developed, it became clear that some of the older ways of executing techniques were not useful or efficient, just as Kano had discovered while studying Jujitsu. The traditional snapping roundhouse kick was relatively weak, but sport Taekwondo used the turning of the hips and full body rotation to make it a very powerful kick. The traditional way of blocking the kick to close distance for a final punch or kick was not effective against the new powerful roundhouse kick. The difference in mass and power between the kicking leg and the blocking arm simply became too great. It was found it was better to evade in response to a kick, rather than intercepting the kick with a block.

The development of the axe kick emphasized this even more. In Taekwondo textbooks published prior to about 1970, you cannot find mention of the axe kick; it is a recent development. It is difficult, if not impossible, to block the kick, so you must evade it or risk either a broken arm or a concussion.

Sport roundhouse kicking techniques also dictate which portion of the foot makes contact with its target. Instead of striking with the ball of the foot as do traditionalists, sport practitioners kick with the instep since it has greater range. However, it has less penetration reach and cannot strike as powerfully as the ball without injury. Other kicks, such as the spin side kick, have also changed regarding striking surface. The traditional kicker's heel mades first contact, but sport fighters prefer to strike with the bottom or ball of the foot.

In traditional front and side kicks, the body is upright and the knee rises before the foot is thrust or snapped outward. Sport kicks incorporate moving footwork and the kicks start from the knee. The knee is held close-in to protect against an opponent's kick and the body does not move much during a kick. The idea is to kick quickly and powerfully without telegraphing intentions. With the knee held in close and turned slightly to cover the groin, more speed is available. In fact, the kicking leg may be used offensively and defensively at the same time. For instance, a practitioner might deflect an oncoming front kick with an upraised leg, which immediately turns into an offensive kicking leg, enabling him or her to defend and attack with the same action.

Traditional front kicks are wide open so kickers are exposed to a quick counterattack. In the sport front kick, the knee is instantly brought up and turned slightly inward to protect the body.

Traditional side kicks require the knee to be cocked into kicking position and the fighter leans forward toward the target as he or she kicks, leaving an opening for a counterstrike. In sport side kicks, the knee comes up at an angle that is directed away from the target as the kicker turns his or her body toward his opponent for protection. This allows the kicker to put all of his or her body's power and momentum into the kick.

In traditional back kicks, the fighter first cocks the kicking leg, leaving him or herself open to a kick from the opponent. The sport version does not open the leg as widely and keeps the knee in closer to prevent any counter kicks and to facilitate a speedy back kick.

Traditional roundhouse kickers cock the knee of the kicking leg, then snap the leg out, while leaning forward. This invites a quick counterattack to the open and defenseless body. The sport version keeps the knee turned toward the inside for a powerful close-in roundhouse kick. This allows the kicker to kick inside of the opponent's roundhouse attempt.

The traditions spin side kick is too wide, unbalanced, and leaves the fighter unprotected. In the sport version, the fighter brings the knee in close and snaps the kick out in a whip-like fashion, while lowering the body so balance is easier to maintain. If the fighter is combating a roundhouse kick, there is no need to block since the body is already lower than the opponent's roundhouse.

Development of these kicks meant that new sparring strategies had to be devised. Blocking these kicks is ineffective and retreating serves no purpose except allow the attacker another opportunity to attack. The only effective defense was to evade in a way that permits an immediate counterattack. This led to the development of lateral movements with a kicking component. In response to the axe kick, an extremely close-in kicking technique, using a punch as a counterattack as traditional Taekwondo used was not effective and even dangerous. Because of the axe kick, longer kicking distances started being used. Fancy footwork, which positioned the defender for executing a counter kick, became a hallmark of Taekwondo sparring. The development of a whole class of "receiving" kicks ensued.

The development of the more powerful roundhouse kick and axe kick caused an explosion of new movement strategies. Punching and blocking almost disappeared from the repertoire of effective techniques in continuous Olympic style sparring. Fast, dynamic footwork and body movement, as foundations for powerful kicking, replaced traditional techniques. Using an attacker's movements to generate powerful counters, rather than intercepting the attack directly, as tradition Taekwondo does, places sport Taekwondo perhaps more philosophically with Judo and Aikido in terms of utilizing body movement, than it does with traditional Taekwondo. Perhaps the most revolutionary development of sport Taekwondo is the development of stances and footwork.

The sport Taekwondo walking stance is a more natural way of moving. It is a relatively short, upright stance that allows the practitioner to move quickly in any direction. Traditional low, wide stances force the practitioner to first raise his or her body before performing any technique, which is too slow for competition.

Sport footwork is broken down into steps rather than stances, similar to the way boxers move. For instance, the walking stance is executed by stepping 15 degrees to the side, with the front of the leading foot and the heel of the back foot in a straight line with each other. From this close, natural stance, any kind of step or footwork easily follows. Steps are broken down in basic numbers and directions. For example, the double step is a sideways movement. Besides being evasive, the side step is also a hop that propels the practitioner into a jump kick aimed at the opponent's unprotected side. Fighters may now quickly move forward and backward in short steps as a boxer does. A fighter may change his or her forward foot with a hop, which allows him or her to instantly angle his or her body away from the opponent's blows. If a fighter wants to confuse opponents, he or she can change his forward foot two or three times in rapid succession so the opponent does not know which foot will do the kicking. Perhaps most confusing to an opponent is the triangle step where the practitioner does a side-step hop to completely change direction while both feet are in the air.

Another revolutionary kicking technique is the running kick combination. It is not a kick where the fighter runs and jumps into a kick, such as a flying side kick, rather, it is a series of forward steps with a kick in between each step. Running kicks are always done with as much speed as possible, but still maintaining maximum power. They can be executed by kicking with the same foot or by alternating feet between steps. Running kicks are continuous kicking techniques that leave no room for counterattacks, unless the opponent stays stationary and counters with powerful hand techniques.

Although basic hand movements between traditional and sport Taekwondo are similar, the difference lies in the speed, angle, and distance of the techniques. For instance, a traditional low block travels to the outside of the knee. However, the sport block only moves far enough to deflect the blow and stays close to the body's centerline. This is a much faster and more efficient defense and permits a quick counterattack.

In the sport guard position, hands are loosely held and are positioned about the same distance away from the body as in American boxing. If they are held too far away from the body, the fighter is too open to attack. If held in too close, the fighter cannot defend and strike easily. A good fighting position is with the chin is tucked, the eyes looking up at about a 15-degree angle, and the fists held just below eye level. In sport Taekwondo, the defender will block a kick with one hand and simultaneously counterpunch with the other.

Because of these developments, Taekwondo has evolved into two distinct versions, sport Taekwondo (popularized by the World Taekwondo Federation [WTF] and their connections with Olympic Taekwondo) using continuous sparring, and traditional Taekwondo (popularized by the International Taekwondo Federation [ITF]) using point sparring. Each side has its reasons for supporting its viewpoints and, as usual, each side rejects the viewpoints of the other.