Taekwondo ITF tournaments – competitions and fight rules

In Taekwondo ITF, we actually have a few competitions. They are:

• Individual and team patterns
• Individual and team special techniques
• Individual and team power test
• Individual and team sparring
• Pre-arranged sparring

Depending on the organiser, their order may change. It is also worth mentioning that in case of children, there was also introduced a fight with special sponges. Team competitions and power tests are carried out only in adult categories.

Individual sparring in Taekwondo ITF

Particular emphasis is placed on individual sparrings in light-contact and semi-contact formulas (you can read more about the formulas and differences between Taekwondo WTF by clicking the link below).

The judging method is specific. Semi-contact fights are carried out by two side judges, secretary judge and main referee who stops the fight, awards the points and announces the final result. In light-contact formula, there are four judges responsible for counting points. The main referee just announces the winner of the fight by raising his hand up.

Individual patterns in ITF

There are also 24 patterns in Taekwondo ITF that symbolize the 24 hours of the day. General Choi Hong-hi said:

“Even the longest life is like one day in face of eternity”.

A correctly made pattern should start and end in the same place and every move should be made as real as possible. Each practitioner should also know the names of techniques he performs and the symbolism of the entire pattern. There are 9 patterns for student degrees/color belts (cup) and 15 patterns for master degrees/black belts (dan). More information about the degrees and symbols you can find there.