TaeGeuk Taekwondo was the scene for the first episode of The 100 Dollar Bet, a show by Big 2 Films that rewards participants for winning bizarre and challenging bets.

The challenger must take three shots to win the $100 — first by 11 year old Santiago, then by competitor Michelle Ge, and finally by Olympian Ivett Gonda. For a bonus $100, he takes a kick by Stefan Bozalo, Bronze Medalist at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

Warning: this video was shot under controlled circumstances and with expert supervision. Don’t kick untrained people for fun, with or without body protection.

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Some minor changes were made to competition rules at the WTF General Assembly in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 2, 2010.

According to a WTF news release,

The new rules stipulate that coaches shall not leave the 1 meter by 1 meter marked coach’s zone that indicates the position of the coach.

On the duration of the contest, the new rules stipulate that the duration of each round may be adjusted to 1 minute or 1 minute 30 seconds upon the decision of the technical delegate for the pertinent championships.

The revised rules will be posted on WTF.org and TKDrules.com when they become available.

The last major…

"Own the Podium" (OTP) is a Canadian sport program with the goal of improving the Canadian medal count at the Olympic Games. It recommends sports funding for appropriate usage based on which Canadian sports have high medal potential.

The vast majority of summer Olympic sports have not qualified for OTP funding. However, since 2008 Taekwondo has been qualified to receive substantial funding of nearly a half-million dollars annually. Taekwondo’s inclusion was based on the excellent performance of our athletes at the 2008 Olympics, and Taekwondo Canada’s 2008 High Performance Plan which outlined a strategy for achieving sustained excellence in Taekwondo sport.

All…

As a student of taekwondo, I often enjoy watching videos that feature different forms of fighting styles. This seems to be common to many martial arts students and a recent poll on Combat Canada shows that many of you enjoyed Ong Bak, featuring Muay Thai artist Tony Jaa.

Ong Bak 2 has been recently released to DVD to much anticipation. The story is not a sequel to Ong Bak, and takes place in ancient Thailand as we follow young Tien, the son of a murdered nobleman. After witnessing his family’s massacre, Tien eventually finds himself under the care of a group…

2009 Junior Canadian Pan Am Team. Photo courtesy Alff Henry / Exposure Net

In November 2009, the top Taekwondo players in the Americas convened in El Salvador for the biennial Junior Pan Am Championships. The Canadian team performed with excellence and earned two special awards:

• Best Male Athlete: Charles Bedard Desilets
• Best Referee: Master Eric Wah

See more photos in the Junior Pan Am photo gallery

Jeffrey Trieu: Gold medal, welterweight. Photo courtesy Alff Henry / Exposure Net

» 2009 Junior Pan Am…

Visit our Taekwondo Video page to see popular new Taekwondo videos from Canada and around the world. Thanks to those who’ve suggested videos, and to Dartfish for preparing the 2009 World Championship videos (coming soon). Check back later as new videos are automatically added!

Monkey makes 3-point kick on trainer

A man who trains animals in the art of Taekwondo was viciously beaten by his own monkeys during a demonstration.

Lo Wung was entertaining crowds with his monkeys in Eastern China. When he slipped during the show, one quick-thinking money delivered a devastating jumping roundhouse to the trainer’s head.

A bystander reported “I saw one punch him in the eye – he grabbed another by the ear and it responded by grabbing his nose. They were leaping and jumping all over the place. It was better than a Bruce Lee film.”

When the trainer finally got his footing…

Over the last few weeks the city of Copenhagen was witness to a historic Taekwondo event: the 2009 World Championships. The Canadian Team’s impressive performance resulted in three medals:

• Maxime Potvin (lightweight): Silver
• Yvette Yong (finweight): Bronze
• Sébastien Michaud (welterweight): Bronze

Canada’s Taekwondo team earned one silver and two bronze medals at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

2009 Canadian World Championship Results
	Maxime Potvin (light)	Silver
	Sébastien Michaud (Welter)	Bronze
	Yvette Yong (fin)	Bronze

Canada placed 6^th in total medal count, an improvement from 2007 when Canada’s Karine Sergerie placed frist, and Sébastien Michaud placed third.

More World Championship details will be posted as they become available.

» Official World Championship website

» Full results (Wikipedia)

The world’s top players have prepared nearly two years for this week. The World Championships have already officially begun, with competition running from October 14 to October 18 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Canadian dream-team of 16 Taekwondo athletes was qualified nearly three months ago in Kingston Ontario. This Championships is notable as being the first using the new WTF sparring rules, which include a smaller ring, three-point headshots, two-point spinning kicks, and a video instant-replay system. Electronic scoring will also be used, which is now standard at international and some national events.

The Korean team has always dominated the World Championships, winning more than double the total number of medals (and eight times the number of gold medals) than the second-place country, Spain. However Korea’s team roster is weaker this year, with several players lacking significant international experience.