Tournament Team Pre-Training

Guide and Requirements

Mandatory Team Participation

This guide provides key information for the upcoming tournament, including mandatory program participation, weight class policy, and specific competition rules for forms, breaking, and sparring.

All athletes competing in local, regional, and national tournaments are required to attend the Tournament Team Pre-Training Class. This class is mandatory to prepare athletes with specific knowledge of competition rules, operations, and technical skills. All participants must be registered as part of the team, not as individual competitors, regardless of whether they are competing in individual or team events.

Tournament Team Pre-Training Plan

The training plan for the tournament is as follows:

• Dates: September 6th to September 27th

• Time: Every Saturday at 9:00 AM

• Duration: 2 hours per session, for a total of 4 weeks

• Cost: $200 total

• Focus Areas: Forms, breaking, and sparring qualifications

Weight Class Policy and Competition Rules

Specific information regarding the weight class policy and detailed competition rules for forms, breaking, and sparring will be provided during the mandatory team pre-training class.

According to AAU and USA Taekwondo policies, an athlete may only qualify in a single World Class weight class at one State Championship. Competing in more than one weight class may lead to disqualification from the US Nationals. After qualifying from a State Championship, athletes are not permitted to switch weight classes. While you may still be on the team roster, you must compete in the same weight class at Nationals as the one in which you qualified.

Guide and Rules

Forms Competition

Traditional Individual Form
Athletes must wear the belt color that reflects the form they will be competing in.

Belt Color               Required Form
White                            Basic Form
Yellow                       Taegeuk 1 or 2 Jang
Green                       Taegeuk 2, 3, or 4 Jang
Blue                       Taegeuk 4, 5, or 6 Jang
Red                               Taegeuk 6, 7, or 8 Jang
1st Dan                       Koryo or Keumgang
2nd Dan                       Keumgang or Taebaek
3rd Dan                       Taebaek or Pyongwon
4th Dan and above    Taebaek, Pyongwon, or Shipjin

Team Form
• A team can have 2-5 athletes of any age.
• Color belts and black belts cannot be on the same team. Teams can be composed of different color belts or different black belts, but not a mix of both.
• The team must perform the form required for the lowest belt level on the team.
• For example: If a team has a green belt, a red belt, and a blue belt, they must perform Taegeuk 2 Jang or higher. This team cannot perform Taegeuk 1 Jang.

Breaking Competition

Power Skipping Side Kick & Power Back Kick
• Athletes must declare the number of boards they will attempt to break (maximum 10).
• Board sizes are determined by age:
• Ages 7 and under: 1/4 inch boards
• Ages 8-14: 1/2 inch boards
• Ages 14 and up: 1 inch boards
• Boards must be held at hip height or higher.
• Athletes get up to 3 attempts, but only the first attempt counts for scoring. If the first attempt is successful, no further attempts are allowed.
• The winner is the athlete who breaks the most boards on the first attempt.

Jump High Kick
• Athletes start approximately 7 meters from the board.
• Athletes get up to 3 attempts and can choose or adjust the board height for each attempt.
• The winner is the athlete who breaks the highest board.
• Height is determined by the board's height, not the athlete's. Ties are broken by comparing the second-highest successful break.
• Falling (any body part above the ankle touches the ground) disqualifies the attempt.

Speed Spin Kick
Athletes must break a set number of boards as quickly as possible using a spin kick.
• Ages 9 and under: 5 boards
• Ages 10 and up: 10 boards
• The maximum time limit is 30 seconds.
• Athletes must stay within the designated area.
• Boards must be held at hip height or higher.
• Hands and knees may not touch the ground.
• Board holders will be provided, but athletes can bring their own. Board holders will use a 2-hand hold for ages 9 and under and a 1-hand hold for black belts.

Individual Creative Breaking
Athletes earn points based on technique and presentation. They must perform three different breaking techniques, with one board broken per technique. Athletes get three tries for each technique.

Technique                       Attempt 1 Attempt 2 Attempt 3 No Break
Hand Technique               1.5                  0.8                  0.4                  0.2
Basic Standing Kick       2.0                  1.0                  0.5                  0.3
Advanced Standing Kick   2.5                  1.2                  0.6                  0.3
Basic Jump Kick               2.5                  1.2                  0.6                  0.3
Advanced Jump Kick       3.0                  1.5                  0.8                  0.5
High-Level Technique       3.5                  2.0                  1.2                 0.6

• Athletes may only choose from the listed techniques and cannot perform the same technique more than once.
• Board sizes are based on age:
• Ages 6 and under: 1/4 inch
• Ages 7-12: 1/2 inch
• Ages 13 and up: 1 inch
• For high-level techniques, the board size is 1/4 inch regardless of age.
• Athletes can earn an additional 0.3 points for presentation for each technique. This includes demonstrating height, power, speed, and distance, as well as performing a loud yell before and during the technique.
• The final score is the average total score from the judges (Technique + Presentation). The athlete with the highest final score wins.

Sparring Competition

Protective Equipment
Provided: Electric chest protector, head protector, and footgear (ICROSS/KPNP).


Mandatory for athletes to bring and wear:
• Groin guard (required for male athletes)
• Forearm protector
• Shin-instep protectors
• Mouthpiece (World Class only)
• All personal sparring gear must be worn inside the taekwondo uniform.

Personal Requirements
• Nails must be cut short.
• Long hair must be tied back securely, and ponytails must be tucked inside the headgear.
• No metallic or hard objects, such as rings, glasses, necklaces, watches, bracelets, or earrings, are allowed.
• Violations must be corrected within one minute, or the athlete will face disqualification.
• Athletes may only register for one sparring event (traditional or World Class).
• There will be no weigh-in for sparring.

Sparring Rules & Scoring
• The winner is determined by the athlete who wins 2 out of 3 rounds.
• Traditional Sparring: Rounds are 1 minute with a 20-second rest.
• World Class Sparring: Rounds are 1 minute and 30 seconds with a 30-second rest.
• No head kicks are allowed for traditional sparring color belt athletes ages 14 and under.
• For junior safety, a referee may declare a winner with a 12-point gap.

Placement of Kick Points Earned
Body Punch                 1.0
Body Kick                 2.0
Head Kick                 3.0
Turning Body Kick 4.0
Turning Head Kick 5.0

Demo Team Competition
This category has specific regulations for team performance.

Regulations
• Performance Time: Maximum of 6 minutes.
• Number of Participants: 10-30 members per team. All participants must be students from the same Dojang.
• Breaking Materials: Only wooden boards, board-holding tools, and tennis balls are allowed.
• 60 wooden boards will be provided and must be broken, with 5 additional boards available.
• Tools for special effects (e.g., apples, tiles, fireworks, confetti) are prohibited.
• Setup/Cleanup Time: 1 minute for each.

Mandatory Designated Items
All performances must include creative group movements, self-defense, and breaking.
Creative group movements must be performed by all team members. Taegeuk Forms and Dan Forms are not allowed.

Scoring Criteria
• The total possible score is 100 points.
• Basic & Creative Group Movements (20 points): Assesses uniformity, posture, strength, and accuracy.
• Breaking (30 points): Assesses difficulty, completion, and composition.
• Self-Defense (10 points): Free self-defense.
• Acting (10 points): Physical expression, actions, and facial expressions.
• Program and Composition (20 points): Creativity of the routine.
• Music (10 points): Harmony of music and taekwondo.