Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art, and has developed to a sport loved by many people around the world. Taekwondo has been selected as the formal item in Olympic Games since 2000, and currently have 206 member countries. It has grown to rep...
Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art, and has developed to a sport loved by many people around the world. Taekwondo has been selected as the formal item in Olympic Games since 2000, and currently have 206 member countries. It has grown to representative brand of Korea. Starting with the first World Taekwondo Hanmadang in 2006, World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) introduced freestyle Poomsae, and by 2012, freestyle Poomsae was selected as a formal item at World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships. Many coaches and athletes started to show their interest in freestyle Poomsae. Freestyle Poomsae is created with all Taekwondo movements, skills, acrobatic moves, dance, and music unlike the traditional Poomsae, and the order of movements can be freely organized by the creator. In freestyle Poomsae, an athlete must direct and express combined Taekwondo movements within limited time of 60-70 seconds. Scoring standard consists of skill (6.0) and direction (4.0) unlike the official Poomsae. The skill part consists of the difficulty of kicks, accuracy of movements, and overall completeness. The direction part consists of creativity, harmony, expression of chi, music, and dance movements. Freestyle Poomsae could give both performer and the audience aesthetic pleasure and impression by showing martial art quality, skill, direction, and beauty of completeness of Taekwondo. Such freestyle Poomsae competitions provide the performer the self-fulfillment of self-realization like figure skating or gymnastics, and gives the audience expectation and attraction. Recent freestyle competitions have shown high-quality competitions. This elevates the aesthetic value of Taekwondo, fulfills excellence and new recognition of Taekwondo, and is expected to activate and expand Taekwondo training. Freestyle Poomsae is a great tool to fulfill one’s desire for aesthetic experience, physical activity, self-recognition, self-expression, and self-realization. However, freestyle Poomsae should not put more importance on elements from other fields beside Taekwondo. Moreover, in order for freestyle Poomsae to become international, concept of Poomsae must be changed. Current concept of Poomsae is limited to ‘self-training with imaginary opponent’. Hence, expanded concept of Poomsae is necessary to persuade and attract many Taekwondo trainees around the world.