THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Taekwondo officials are changing the rules to protect fighters from the impact of head kicks.
At the London Olympics, fighters will score points for head kicks as soon as any part of their foot touches their opponent’s head — without regard for impact, as was previously the case.
The changes will make taekwondo scoring more uniform and should also encourage athletes to try for more head kicks without demanding extreme force, World Taekwondo Federation sports director Jeongkang Seo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
"We believe these changes will preserve the nature of taekwondo while keeping it safe," Seo said. "It’s still not very easy to kick your opponent in the head."
The WTF changed the rules in 2010 to give fighters three to four points for a head kick, depending on if a spinning technique was involved. Points for those kicks were awarded based on the assessment of referees and judges, often requiring the kick to have significant force.
Officials said that resulted in some inconsistency among scoring, since points for head kicks involved a subjective decision. Athletes also complained some of their kicks weren’t counted and some made unorthodox modifications to taekwondo kicks in an attempt to land their head shots.
"We saw some unusual kicks," Seo said in a telephone interview from Seoul. "Some looked more like ballet."
The new change will likely have little effect on head kicks that most often result in knockouts, since those usually involve a spinning technique that are almost always delivered with significant power.
"If athletes think they need impact, they will train with harder kicks," Seo said. "This should make taekwondo safer."
He said the changes might benefit particularly flexible athletes who can attack from a close distance, giving their opponents little chance to counter attack.