World Taekwondo is preparing to host the
inaugural Online World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships which will be open to
all from 15 November as it welcomes elite athletes through to taekwondo
enthusiasts.
Poomsae is one of the world’s most accessible sports and does not require athletes to
be in the same location. As a result, World Taekwondo will host Online WT
Poomsae Championships with two competition methods. The elite, Online WT G2
Poomsae Championships is open only to individual athletes who are members of
their National Team and will have 14 different categories – 12 recognised poomsae
and 2 freestyle categories. Men and women will compete in age groups from under
30 through to over 65 in the recognised poomsae, while freestyle poomsae will have
men’s and women’s over 17 age groups only.

The Open Poomsae Championships is open to family members of all ages in pairs
and teams and has seven categories. Of these seven categories there will be family
pair, where the participants must be of the same family but of two different
generations; family teams A: Comprising three family members of two different
generations; and family teams B: Comprising three family members of three
different generations. There will also be male and female cadet and junior categories.


World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said:

“We first discussed the idea of hosting an official Online World Taekwondo
Poomsae Championships in May in order to continue providing opportunities for
athletes and fans to compete and practice taekwondo despite the COVID-19
pandemic. After months of preparation, we are delighted that next month we will
launch the first ever global online taekwondo event.

“We have always been committed to ensuring taekwondo is a sport for all and our
belief that taekwondo can be a force for good has only strengthened during the
pandemic. Therefore it was essential we developed an online event that was open to
male and female athletes of all ages; but was also open to family members. At a time
when some families are having to spend time apart, this event will bring
grandparents and grandchildren, and everyone in between, together. That is the
power of taekwondo and we cannot wait to enjoy the video submissions we receive
from around the world.”

Participants will have five days from 16 November to upload a video of their best
poomsae performance before it is judged by a team of 7 qualified referees, selected
from a pool of 60 referees from 37 countries. Submissions will be judged based on
the standard poomsae scoring system which takes into account the power,
technique, breath, gaze, and balance of the movement. The highest and lowest
referee score for each video will be discounted and an average from the remaining
five scores will be generated to produce the final score. The exact competition


schedule of the preliminary, semi-finals and finals will be determined based on the
number of participants.

The finals for the top eight participants of recognised poomsae in the WT G2
Championships will be live-streamed. The pre-recorded video of other categories for
WT G2 and Open Poomsae will be streamed according to the schedule.

World Taekwondo is considering hosting the Online Poomsae Championships every
year and so is working on maximising the fan experience by working on the
development of VR and AR in the mobile application.

President Choue added:
"We will deliver a high quality visual Poomsae Championships so the fans can feel
the same impression at home that they would get at the venue. The Online Poomsae
Championships will be a new standard during this COVID era."

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