I hope to start a collective voice on the frustration of TKD practitioners after watching 2024 Paris Olympics Taekwondo finals. I say this not just as an spectator, but as someone who dedicated countless hours to Taekwondo, representing my country in international arenas.

I am deeply disheartened by the current state of Olympic Taekwondo. Once a proud spectacle of human potential for incredible athleticism and intense excitement, Olympic Taekwondo in its present form, is dismayingly underwhelming to watch.

The stems from problematic scoring rules, which emphasize point-based hits rather than the speed and explosiveness intrinsic to Taekwondo. The consequence? Athletes are changing their fighting style to swipe points, resulting in an unpleasing ”leg fencing” (I’m sorry if fencing fans are dismayed by the comparison) that detracts from the sport's true essence.

This is not about insisting on the true demonstration of martial arts, as the Olympics is targeting sports events. If you look at table tennis - the rules are easy to follow, it’s mesmerizing to watch contestants play at world class standards. Events don’t have to be injurious to be exciting. 

This is of course not a new debate, and I’m aware of the history - the furor around 2008 Olympics - that led to the change in rules (prior rules had inherent subjective bias, lack of clarity on scoring system for the layman spectator, concern over injury, etc). There has been a lot of feedback, which World Taekwondo Federation has admittedly been receptive to, that has led to repeated changes to the rules. For e.g. Leg fencing was supposedly banned after 2020 Olympics - so what did I just watch?

The fact is we haven’t fixed the fundamental issue - the sport today is boring to watch. The problem isn’t with the fighters, it’s with the rules. It shouldn’t be that complicated with all the brains around the world behind World Taekwondo Federation.

Some examples: 

• Make throws legal for scoring - no one will be raising their leg in an unbalanced position
• Reduce the sensitivity of the trunk / head protector - the “leg fencing” goes away because it’s useless for scoring anyways
• (Do I dare say this) Allow punches to the face - just add a hard plastic shield over the head protector to minimize injury - this (together with throws) will auto-correct the disastrous forms (eg hugging after kicking)

Anyone with a deep affection for Taekwondo, whether as practitioners or spectators, should be concerned about this degradation of our beloved martial art.

As someone who (still) loves the art - I urge you with heartfelt despair to join me in convincing the International Olympic Committee and the World Taekwondo Federation to reconsider and reform the scoring rules.

Let's work together to make Taekwondo exciting again.