Taekwondo Podcast

Episode 8 - New Competition Rules

March 08, 2022 Taekwondo Podcast Season 1 Episode 8
Taekwondo Podcast
Episode 8 - New Competition Rules
Show Notes Transcript

    The World Taekwondo Federation approved amendments to the rules, with new formats and new categories in some age divisions.

  In this episode, Coaches César Valentim and Peter Nestler discuss the new rules and the impact these have in training and competitions.

  Is the new format of best of three an improvement or will it backfire?

  This podcast is supported by Hawkin Dynamics and Athlete Analyzer! 

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Speaker 1:

Have you been looking for a Teon do podcast with qualified people who know what they're talking about, who help you keep up with everything going on in the Teon do world? Well, you found it. This is the Teon do podcast. Teon do news competitions in a of the events training in sports science, keeping the fans, coaches and high performance athletes up to date with the latest news and trends on Olympic TaeKwonDo. Let's do this. This is the TaeKwonDo podcast. And now your host coach Caesar Valenti team and Peter Nestle.

Speaker 2:

Hello and welcome to the Teon do podcast. We're a podcast based out of Austria in English language for everyone out there like Teon. In this episode, we talk about the new competition rules that have been approved and what changes we can expect in the different way. Divisions. Welcome to our podcast. I'm coach Saar, Valenti team. I'm doing this coach, Peter Nestler. Hi Peter. How are you?

Speaker 3:

I'm fine. Thanks. I'm glad to be back on. And we have a very interesting topic today.

Speaker 2:

Yes. Uh, considering all the situations and all the topics of the previous episode, it's nice to speak about something that is actually, uh, affecting everyone around the world. In this case, the amendments to the WT competition rules and the interpretation that came into effect in February 16 to 2022. Yes, they came into effect, but effect is that we haven't had at the moment we were recording this podcast, any reference seminar and official position of the first tournaments, we'll use them. And pretty much what we're gonna talk is about the rules, uh, that have been published and what we've been talking to experts in the matter when we meet them in the competitions. So talking about, um, the big confusion out there, there is, uh, in the way category for the weight categories and there is several weight divisions. And now for the cadets, they added also an extra category called the height categories and people were confusing, uh, themselves with the adding the rules with replacing the, the old rules. And it's very important to clarify that the weight divisions still exist. What exists is also another competition format, where the instead of weight divisions, you will have high divisions that of course have some weight restrictions. What are your thoughts about that?

Speaker 3:

Um, well, the aim of that was that we had some, uh, some, the, the average player, uh, was maybe in a certain height and we had some very big gaps to the highest and, and, and the tallest and the smallest players. So they wanted to get, uh, a little more standardization into the, into the categories. So they are trying in the moment with this, uh, weight plus height division. I don't know. We, we have to try, we don't know what comes out

Speaker 2:

Well, there's, um, my opinion to things that have to be taken in consideration the first is of course, the development developmental age of the players, because the teenage players, some of them mature much faster than others. So based divisions based on maturation, uh, would make sense based on height. Um, I understand why they do it. It's mostly, uh, trying to restrict the huge weight cuts and, uh, very dangerous weight cut methods that some players use and some athletes use, and some parents push their kids to do. And of course, creating some guidelines and especially some rules that, uh, taking consideration the BMI, um, to avoid their athletes to be, uh, so, um, taking the procedures to make weight, it's a good situation. My opinion, using w H O criteria that is actually for the general population based on developing countries, taking those values to, uh, Western world, to the very well fed, very well treated, very well, rested, very well dressed and very well shoe, uh, players. It's, uh, I think taking these BMI took situation is a big mistake. Cuz when we look at the divisions, we do see that the maximum weight, uh, allowed to the height categories will make sure that the feet athletes will have to compete with athletes that are way heavier. And of course, uh, puts them in this advantage in terms of, uh, power in terms of, uh, impact in terms of, uh, technical and tactical approach to the game. And it's a situation that'll of course promote the little, uh, heavier kids. Um, but it'll not, uh, help them progress to the juniors when the, these categories disappear. And you'll go back to the single weight divisions. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 3:

If you change rules, there will be always a reaction from the, the field of play. So, uh, this, this one goes in a certain direction and you're fully right. Uh, it, it, it, uh, more prefers those who are not that slim and that tall, but, uh, well, as I said, we have to look what it, what it brings, what the developments will be.

Speaker 2:

Uh, it's important that these, um, that most coaches understand that most players, especially in this age, that they're of course very emotional, that they understand that this is a two years or three years, uh, athletes in this division. And that most of the times they will see in local tournaments, the little heavier and little smaller kid, but in the big competitions, that's not gonna be the case. It'll of course allow the kids that don't, um, mature and don't grow and don't have these, uh, height growth in the early cadet years to, to stay a little longer. But I don't think it's actually, uh, a good approach regarding a BMI for the safety of the players. I would suggest other, uh, measures for example, uh, maximum height for the weight division. The, that would, uh, allow them to, to have at least a little bit, um, better approach and not only a maximum weight, but also probably minimum weight for the, for the, for the height division. If you want to keep the height categories, um, it was the approach. They took BMI based on the world health organization standards. Again, it's general population is not athletic population. It's not Western world developed countries. So it's probably an event since the, these divisions are not, uh, the only ones existing, I don't think many countries will, uh, push for these kind of categories in their competitions. Do you think the world cadets championships will be on Heights or they will continue weight divisions?

Speaker 3:

I don't, I, I don't, I don't think that it will, uh, change that system very fast. I even don't think that it will stay for long because as you said, uh, the criteria, the basic criteria is drawn by general population, which makes no sense at all. So let's see if it stays that long.

Speaker 2:

Well, talking about the new, uh, introductions to the, to the competition format, the newest, uh, format is the duration of the contest. Now they wanna do this like a little nineties video game where the best, uh, the winner of most rounds wins and best of where the players compete round per round, not summing the points, um, from the previous rounds, allowing you for a different competition format. Of course, introducing some, uh, extra rules, for example, point cap per round will eliminate round. Do you think the, these will bring more excitement to the game or will it to the backfire and bring a much more boring competition system?

Speaker 3:

In some cases, it completely changed the changes, the setup for players. So you can't wait for all three rounds. You have to take into consideration the result from each round, from round to round. Uh, but it also may, we, we, we also may get rid of some games where it's very clear who is the winner that's positive.

Speaker 2:

We already have, uh, the point gap system on the two rounds. The fact that there is, uh, at least two rounds to win the best of three, the duration of the contest will, uh, yes, of course, uh, getting at 12 point gap in the second round will make the second round short or 10 waiting until it it's finished to decide upon cap, but in terms of training and especially one of the things that I like is, uh, training based on, uh, um, energetic approaches. You think that the players will cut on the endurance training, especially the trainers will adapt from an endurance, uh, based training to allow them to compete for three rounds with a little bit more stamina and allow them to, to be more, actually more explosive and focused on their short, uh, and uh, more defensive approach on the first two rounds.

Speaker 3:

Um, I think they will have to adapt their training systems a little bit. Um, explosiveness will be more important. You still have to have endurance, but on a different basis because each round is, is very important. So, um, the training systems will change a little bit, but also the psychological, um, um, structure should change. There are late starters in matches who will only win their matches in the last round. Um, they will have a problem.

Speaker 2:

We'll see, according to, to these rules, I've heard some coaches mentioning, uh, you work for 30 seconds on the first round, and then you go defensive for the rest of the match. Um, that will bring us a combination with the next rules that you have, uh, much more difficulty on scoring in the clinch. A lot of forbidden techniques when you are in the, uh, shorter distance will make the fights become a little more like what you've seen in Manchester that were so booed and, and people were so, uh, discussed with the, the fact of the strategy used, even though it was inside the rules. I think this kind of game, these new, uh, best of, uh, three where the rounds, uh, and especially the cl duration being increased and the limitation of techniques in the clinch will make sure that that was work more on a close combat push push in the clin instead of, uh, kicking in more dynamics. So actually backfiring the, the idea of creating an explosive, uh, competition system,

Speaker 3:

Um, with the new rules, maybe Instagram will, will be empty because some of the fun kicks we had in the last, uh, years or months or years, uh, we'll be gone, uh, no more scorpion, what a pity, it showed the big, uh, flexibility of some athletes. It's always fun to, to look at that, um, uh, kicks and to not forget. It's, uh, it's a great fun for, for the audience, not for us and that we are coaches and players. They just wanna hit somewhere and they will have to hit how it is allowed, but the audience might like those kicks.

Speaker 2:

I do understand that, um, they wanna get rid of some of the softer kids kicks on the CLE. You hit, uh, a lot of, uh, grabbing their own foot and touching the helmet and things like that. And some the, uh, kicking even on the vest that were not really, uh, combat sports, they were more, uh, like, uh, ball sports where the knees and the feet were touching something in the very strange position. It looks like a, a messy, or ONAL the way of kicking. Um, I understand they wanna go for a more combative approach to the match and reducing the, the soft touches on the short distances for the score. But then again, allowing the cling to be so long and allowing the limit, the kicks on the clings to be just base Quins. Um, I think the competition will go in my opinion, it'll backfire. I think, uh, I'm not, I don't wanna be a NA I don't wanna be a conservative, conservative, uh, coach. Um, usually I like the new technology. I like the new approaches and I've been, um, in favor of many of the approaches that WT did in this case. Um, I think some of the explanations are good. Some of the interpretation validation of techniques are good, allowing the kicks to be more real, not soft kicks on the, on the head. That is what, that was the point and the allowing to whoa, that was a kick. Um, that's okay. In the other hand, in the other hand, I think that some of the, the rules are just too specific, not the question, for example, of not suffering a Karon, if the other upon scores aha on you and you fall down, it's so specific and so rare that it don't understand why it's on the rules. And it'll also, of course, there's a reason to be there. It exists and the standard, the penalty, uh, doesn't need to be added to a four point kicking technique just because you fell down, but how is the audience gonna prepare for such consistency when there is no consistency? The rule is you fall down, you get a fall, you get a penalty and the opponent gets a point, but for this specific, almost never used situation, they will not get a penalty. I think it's, uh, um, bringing, uh, stuff into the rules that doesn't need to be there.

Speaker 3:

The TaeKwonDo has a specific rules problem. There is too many changes, uh, especially in CGI, but also in, in terms, um, that makes it unclear. The audience has for a long time lost the, the ability to, to guess, might that have been a point or not, or what was that? So it, it's a very, um, it's a very theoretical thing in the moment. And also not to forget that standards newly develop. So the new roles have to be spread to all the referees, all the coaches, all the athletes in the world. So this will take a little while till it's, uh, it's through. It's not easy to be honest,

Speaker 2:

The article 13 when it comes. So of course the 13.6, that was the one that was changing the rules. Uh, it says that in case there was a strong impact to the head, a, to the eyes, some bleeding or knock on brake to the head and the Rey begins scouting, but detect was not scored by the head, uh, per electronic system. The referee, uh, should request a must request a IVR, but now also the coach must request the IVR if the, if it was not awarded points after the count, but again, uh, only in case of, uh, uh, the referee starts counting. So it's not that I can ask ahead, uh, video review every time. Do you think it's, uh, it's a bad decision, a good decision. Uh, how do you take a look at his decision?

Speaker 3:

The coaches may like that. So they would even have, uh, liked to have it without counting. So for the coaches, they think it's positive, but, uh, when you take into consideration, the, the picture you get on the IVR, in many cases, the angle is not good. The video quality in my opinion is not the one we could have. So what will we really see on that? It's, it's more easy if it's, it's a kick to the body than the limited space, uh, uh, which is given by the head. So the coaches might like it, but the real outcome is unclear in the moment.

Speaker 2:

I agree that, uh, the coaches would like to have either without accounting. I think if the PSS is known for missing the scoring to the head, the helmets, uh, in some cases in one of the brands, you don't even need to touch the helmet. If you're close, I forget the point yet, the, the cases you hit the helmet and it doesn't come. Um, I think the video replay for the head score should be at least reintroduced, considering that the PSS does have these failures. But, uh, again, we know that, uh, it'll delay the game. It'll make a lot more Brexit. It will make the event organizers, uh, scream because the events are running, uh, uh, behind that. It also would have to be coupled with, uh, um, the, the good video replace system, not one single camera, fish, hike style on the corner, far away with a bad, uh, uh, quality and, uh, old laptops that everything needs to be improved, uh, for the video play to work. And of course, making the event faster, if there's acceptance of some, uh, technology mistakes. But again, technology is improving. We know that there is a new generation of, uh, data being developed by true core. Um, and hopefully those, uh, situations, uh, improve the same way that improved was the rules regarding the penalties regarding the penalties. The it's little more clear what's grabbing, even though it was always forbidden. Now there's a clear, uh, definition that, um, hooking your arm to, to lock the leg is it comes on, even though it was always before the same as lifting the leg to block or kicking the opponents leg. Those were always in the previous rules, but now they're a little more outlined. Um, if the kick, uh, um, was in year for more than three seconds, that's something that still needs to be clarified because three times in the year, it's not the same as three seconds. And the reference still, um, follow the interpretation, not what's written, but on the, on the other side, the interpretation that avoiding the match is just not three steps backward, but also three steps sideways. And that's something that it leaves a little, little bit to interpretation because me recovering the balance and recovering my tactical position in the field by doing three steps sideways, uh, should not be penalized running away side by walking sideways was already penalized before. So do you think the rules and interpretation, uh, are enough or is there, uh, um, other guidelines that will have to be added to

Speaker 3:

These rules? The more you specify the rules, the more you have to adapt them? That's a problem. So we have quite, uh, intensively specified rules in regard of avoiding the match. It's a whole catalog and the, that will be problem, bring problem problems, because the more you specify, the more problems you could, uh, you could, uh, you could see there, um, in my opinion, uh, three steps, backward, three steps, sideways, it's, uh, sometimes more in importation of the center referee. Um, it's not accounting, as you said, if it's, uh, trying to regain the balance, uh, that's different than just turning it back and, and, and running away. So it's, it's more the feeling of the referee of the center referee, but in my opinion, the quality of the referees, especially the centers has, uh, enormously risen in the last years. Uh, we could also see presidents cup this time, U them using the IVR their cart. So I'm pretty sure they will, uh, find a nice balance for the athletes.

Speaker 2:

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Speaker 1:

You're listening to the Techon do podcast. Now back to your hosts, coach Caesar, Valenti team, and Peter Nestle.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back on these episode, we're talking about changed to the rules that you approved amendments to the competition regulations in KGI. The thing that is probably affecting most of the players and the coaches later on in the game. It's, uh, and it involves direct of course training, uh, systems. It's the best of three system in case of a Thai core. Uh, the, of course, we'll count to the, the older points of through the three rounds, but there are other, uh, restrictions. There's a point gap of 12 per round. There's the fact that the rounds don't need to be too minister. It will be much shorter in some cases, um, or that the events will be, uh, the rounds will be a little more active for a few short bursts and then a lot of more defensive, uh, and the inactive, uh, situations. Uh, how do you think that, uh, um, countries will adapt to this? And how do you think the events will be changing? You think they will use these best three, most of the times, or they will stick to the whole rules? I think, uh,

Speaker 3:

They will like it. Uh, maybe Levit comes back as a fighter. I don't know. Um, it should, uh, it should give more at attractivity to, to the fights. Um, the teams will adapt. Uh, let's see which some will, will be there in the end,

Speaker 2:

From what I understand from the, what are the rumors and all the talk in the core, theres no more areas in the competitions. Um, WT really wants to push all events to be, um, best three. And then that includes probably shorter than the, the world championships. We'll probably start, are seeing it at the continental levels, but, uh, almost certain it'll come at the world championships. I think, uh, bringing it so late about being tested is not a good idea. So they will probably be testing in some events, definitely Korea will be start using them. And some of the countries that have a little more, um, inside connections that will understand is coming up in terms of the rules, the, the events being best of three in the making these rounds to the new format, you think it's gonna make the coaches adapt, or you think most of them will just keep up with the flow and understand that, uh, their players need to have different kind of training.

Speaker 3:

Uh, they have to adapt clearly. Um, I mean, if the format is like that, you have to adapt, uh, you have to do your mathematics during, during the match. So you have to, uh, count how many spending turning kicks you have. Uh, yeah, they will have to follow clearly

Speaker 2:

The, the system that I used training my athletes, each one of them has to, to work on their, um, energetic, uh, approach and on the thresholds, uh, that they use based on the video analysis from previous events and for previous matches, um, without having too many of these events, it's almost impossible to create a, a good solid analysis and therefore create an energy and active and rest profile for my players without having in those events. What is the role of the national federations in these kind of, uh, uh, situations?

Speaker 3:

Um, the, I mean, the federations have their, their, their structures, their system, they have, uh, national coaches and also regional coaches and all of them should use those, uh, those, um, I'm not sure if it is done by all the federations, we can clearly see there is, there is some big clubs in the world to bring their own, uh, athletes, uh, like GU or like Hankook. Uh, so yeah, I'm not sure if all the federated follow those modern approaches.

Speaker 2:

Well, we'll just hope that, uh, not at the world for the first time that we get a new competition format. Um, in the previous years, it was like that there was some countries would already knew what would come and what would happen before the world in terms of rules. I'm happy that the world's being in November, that the rules came out in February. Um, I do understand that there is a, an approach, uh, of learning procedure and a learning curve that needs to be, uh, implemented for the players and the coach just to adapt, especially the strengths and conditioning coaching has to change a lot. I think one of the fews that we're gonna talk about, uh, with some strengths and conditioning coaches, we have couple of them lined up for, for the next episodes. We'll have to discuss about, uh, the fact of the shorter or longer rounds, the different offensive or defensive postures and, uh, a analysis and all these things need to be well taken into consideration. Thank you, Peter. It was a pleasure being here with you again, and with everyone who is listening. This was the take to podcast. If you haven't already listen to our other episodes that are available wherever we listen to your podcast, we are releasing new episodes at every Tuesday. Stay tuned, subscribe to our podcast, give a positive review and chat with your friends. See you next time

Speaker 1:

You've been listening to the Teon do podcast, keeping the fans, coaches, and high performance athletes up to date with the latest news and trends on Olympic Teon do your host coach Caesar Valenti team has all almost 20 years of experience with high performance TaeKwonDo and has worked all around the world. As a TaeKwonDo trainer. Peter Nestler has been teaching TaeKwonDo for more than 20 years, and he's currently one of the top referees in Europe. We hope you enjoyed the show, make sure to like rate and review and we'll be back soon. But in the meantime, find us on instagram@teonedopodcastonfacebookattechonedocastandthewebsitetechonedopodcast.com. See you next time.