Competition

The SUNY Cortland Taekwondo Club competes in several tournaments a year, primarily in the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC). The competitions are hosted in several states across the east coast as locally as Cornell or as far as Brown University. The primary events at each competition are Olympic-style Taekwondo Sparring and Competitive Traditional Forms.

Sparring

In Taekwondo Sparring, you are testing your martial arts skills in a controlled environment against another person. Differing from other martial arts, taekwondo sparring is vastly composed of kicks, both to the body and to the head while minimal punches are thrown only to the body.

In competition, there is a referee and judges to enforce rules. The club supplies required protection such as a headgear, forearm and shin guards, gloves, and a chest protector. Practicing sparring is a great way to learn how to distance your attacks and defenses, as well as your blocks and kicking techniques.

Forms

The ECTC uses a unique team-based approach to competitive forms. Teams may have a maximum of three members and compete head-to-head against an opposing team. Each victor acquires a point for their team, and the team that scores 2 out of 3 points wins.

The league utilizes the current World Taekwondo scoring rules for judging forms: 4 points for accuracy, 6 points for presentation.