After the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) an international public health emergency in January 2020, Taekwondo schools, which had been providing face-to-face training, were hit hard.
The crisis of the Taekwondo gym, which is the foundation of Taekwondo, could be said to be a crisis of the entire Taekwondo, and the management difficulties of the Taekwondo gym shook the Taekwondo industry.
Financial crisis was commonly mentioned as a case of crisis at Taekwondo studios, and specifically, cases of refunds due to loss of income due to Taekwondo gym closures and withdrawal of existing trainees continued to occur.
Accordingly, as a quick alternative to suspending Taekwondo classes, Taekwondo leaders implemented Taekwondo home training, provided on-site service, and introduced a reservation-based small-scale training system, and changed the training environment by implementing continuous disinfection and quarantine.
In addition, changes in training groups by age were prepared to secure new training groups.
At that time, many Taekwondo leaders did not give up Taekwondo even though they worked as delivery drivers to make a living.
Additionally, Taekwondo leaders each did their best in their respective fields.
In particular, in the field of Taekwondo demonstrations, he led the Taekwondo world by creating a new type of demonstration.
In terms of content, the change in Taekwondo demonstration culture has moved away from the existing orthodox demonstration to include performance artistic components such as music, lighting, costumes, stages, and makeup. In terms of form, Taekwondo demonstrations have been conducted in the form of performances, musicals, etc. By converting it into content, an attempt was made to change from a traditional demonstration to a performing art.
As a result, in June 2021, when the coronavirus infection-19 (COVID-19) was at its peak, the ‘golden buzzer’, meaning a direct advance to the quarterfinals, was rung in the preliminaries of America’s Got Talent, the origin of the world’s audition program.
For 3 minutes and 30 seconds, 22 young Taekwondo fighters from Korea and the United States took the American entertainment world by storm with a combination of straight and curved lines, harmonious attack and defense, and kicks ranging from acrobatic mid-air rotations to powerful breaking strikes.
The performance video exceeded 3 million views within two days of being broadcast.
Despite these favorable circumstances, front-line Taekwondo leaders realized that there were limits to their hard-fought efforts to revive Taekwondo and became dissatisfied and resentful towards Kukkiwon and the Korea Taekwondo Association, the representative Taekwondo organizations that they could feel closest to.
Taekwondo leaders raised the question, ‘What did the examination fee we paid do for us when we were having a hard time?’
Taekwondo leaders expressed regret, saying that if Kukkiwon targets world Taekwondo leaders, it should do its best for the domestic Taekwondo community at least as much as the Korea Taekwondo Association.
In fact, the Korea Taekwondo Association is an administrative system that provides convenience to the Taekwondo instructors who are members of the organization so that they do not have any inconvenience in all activities related to Taekwondo, and provides administrative and financial assistance.
However, Taekwondo leaders point out that the Korea Taekwondo Association, which is in charge of domestic Taekwondo, has not provided enough information on support projects suitable for Taekwondo gyms in its capacity as an institution.
Also, did you appeal for support measures with the Small Business Corporation or the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, which are domestic organizations that could be helpful to the Taekwondo gym, and did you emphasize the need for the government to change from a sports diplomacy-oriented form to a Korean wave-oriented form in the pilot project and suggest support measures? Issues are being raised about, etc.
In addition, there are growing voices calling for urgent institutional supplementary measures to be prepared in the future, citing the fact that there is no preventive measure within Korea’s sports legal system to prevent the phenomenon of organizational privatization, in which an organization is controlled by a specific minority.
Meanwhile, attention is focused on what choice will be made in the election for the president of the Korea Taekwondo Association to be held on December 15th.
In this election, along with the candidacy of current Chairman Yang Jin-bang, candidates Kim Se-hyuk and others also voted.
Candidate Kim Se-hyuk appealed for support as the right person to develop Taekwondo into a new industry based on the international network he built as a world-class Taekwondo instructor, 10 years of gym management experience, and the management skills he learned while working as an executive at Samsung.
Candidate Kim announced that he plans to use the network he has built at Samsung to attract sponsorship from global companies, and through this, he plans to hold a larger Taekwondo competition or raise the necessary funds for Taekwondo-related projects.
Deputy Director Jaejun Yang [email protected]
