for my feet
http://www.martialartsmart.net/10x110.html
http://www.martialartsmart.net/14x070.html

hands http://www.martialartsmart.net/10x300.html
(if u can use then in tkd, then id want to)

what do u guys reccomend or currently use
http://www.martialartsmart.net/korean-martial-arts-martial-arts-pants.html

I wasn't aware they allowed you to use shoes or gloves in Taekwondo competitions. I've only seen people use:

helmet
chest guard
lower arm guards
shin guards
cup

then again, I could be wrong.

i do a full contact tournament style.

the olympic style is very different.

we can wear whatever we want to in regards to body armour.

what we MUST have to compete:

head guard
mouth guard
gloves (closed fingers}
groin guard
closed boots

optional that i have are shin and wrist protection, but to be honest the more you wear the slower you'll be so only wear what you feel you need to and listen to your instructors advice

top tip for buy is the material

the shinyier and fancier the item the more likely it is that it will move or slip once you get a bit sweaty. so go for something that will let your hands breath and make sure evverything straps down well

i was virtually allowed to choose what i wanted as long as it met basic criteria set by my instructor

being in the UK products are few and far between in their variations so i shopped over in the states (where i'm guessing you are)

the site i used was www.karatedepot.com

hope thats of help to you, i wish someone had told me about the shiny equipment...i have really cool gloves...but as soon as i get hot the slip round when i backfist [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif[/IMG]

looks.....try to ignore them and get what you require...then worry what it looks like

[IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by J1MBO:
i do a full contact tournament style.

the olympic style is very different.

we can wear whatever we want to in regards to body armour.
[/QUOTE]

Oh, I see, my school was definitely Olympic style then, we weren't allowed to grapple, only strike.

I find a huge need to wear chest guard and shin guards, and maybe helmet, but that's about it. We often skipped the cup just because it was uncomfortable, but they're definitely needed for the unexpected...
http://www.karatedepot.com/pr-se-005.html
These look reeeally nice, I doubt the shiny helmet would slip much since it's just for your head.

It depends on your style of Tae Kwon Do.

I'm WTF, and the closed boots and the covered hands are NOT allowed in tournaments and most dojangs.

I own two sets of equipment, one for training in the dojang and the other for competition. The one for the dojang is just cloth, like the second option you showed for your feet.

My competition set is Adidas foam. I have a pair of forearm guards without the hand that use two straps to stay on your arm. Two shin guards with attached insteps, a more advanced laced chest guard, and just a simple head gear.

If you are WTF, your equipment must be white. Helmets cannot have anything covering the face or cheeks.

Ask your instructor for help!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Hannah:
It depends on your style of Tae Kwon Do.

I'm WTF, and the closed boots and the covered hands are NOT allowed in tournaments and most dojangs.

I own two sets of equipment, one for training in the dojang and the other for competition. The one for the dojang is just cloth, like the second option you showed for your feet.

My competition set is Adidas foam. I have a pair of forearm guards without the hand that use two straps to stay on your arm. Two shin guards with attached insteps, a more advanced laced chest guard, and just a simple head gear.

If you are WTF, your equipment must be white. Helmets cannot have anything covering the face or cheeks.

Ask your instructor for help![/QUOTE]

And I did the exact opposite. When I was fighting in tournaments I liked cloth. When I trained I did the Adidas.

One exception was during international level of play where the instep is optional then the adidas shin gaurd was the best.

Adidas also makes a great hogu.

Hannah, it sounds like we have the same equipment load out, but I think they were speaking of ITF style point sparring. That kind of sparring you have gloves, booties, helmet, mouth guard and cup. Extra equipment like shin guards, forearm guards, and chest protector (Not a hugo, rather a smaller chest protector that is worn under the uniform) are sometimes worn. The gloves are needed because unlike in WTF sparring you are allowed to use hand techniques to score (You can use hand techniques to score in WTF sparring, but you need to either knock down or double your opponent over to score from most judges) and those hand techniques are allowed to make contact with you opponents head. The sparring is stopped after every scoring contact, judges score and then sparring resumes. This is very different than WTF style Olympic sparring and require skills of a different (But no less useful) kind. If you check with a local Karate or Tang Soo Do (sorry if I mispelled it) school they might be able to give you some information about an open Tournament that allows people of many styles to compete, and then if you get you instructors permision, you could go to one of these tournaments and give ITF style sparring (You will not find many open tournaments that allow WTF style sparring) a shot. The things that you would have to watch out for would be that ITF style sparring can hurt a bit more than WTF style sparring, so you might want to go a few rounds without a chest protector at you own Dojang to get used to taking a hit just in case.

-Andrew

Very dangerous to think ITF hurts more than WTF.

WTF has to wear the body hogu for a reason. I had the opportunity to do a lot of competitions and train with a lot of people from different federations. As a black belt I have seen ITF wonder why WTF wears those chest protectors. Right up until they saw how hard we hit.

Point sparring is not full contact. A lot of controlled contact is involved. WTF is full contact.

your'e right, the better thing to say would have been, it is different to get hit without a chest protector on, and if you aren't used to it can be a bit distracting. As a student in an ITA school, we do mostly WTF style sparring with a little bit of ITF sparring.

-Andrew

[This message has been edited by Christiancadet (edited 07-18-2004).]

ITF only requires fingerless gloves, feet, mouth guard and groin guard (headgear is optional so no one wears it).

The controlled contact only really applies to the kiddies divisions. I have seen enough knock outs in ITF taekwon-do to know that they allow alot of contact. The only time abssesive contact is called is whn people start throwing haymakers (which are illegal) and when people strike an illegal target area very hard.

The main difference in the contact levels are that we throw alot of kicks off the front leg which obviously arn't as powerful.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kiwi:
ITF only requires fingerless gloves, feet, mouth guard and groin guard (headgear is optional so no one wears it).

The controlled contact only really applies to the kiddies divisions. I have seen enough knock outs in ITF taekwon-do to know that they allow alot of contact. The only time abssesive contact is called is whn people start throwing haymakers (which are illegal) and when people strike an illegal target area very hard.

The main difference in the contact levels are that we throw alot of kicks off the front leg which obviously arn't as powerful.[/QUOTE]
define "haymaker"

Hooks are illegal, but most often the people who are inclined to break this rule are throwing wild swinging hooks which I call haymakers.

How are most of the knockouts done in ITF?

Christiancadet, since Mike20CA didn't clarify which style of Tae Kwon Do he practices, I told him the equipment requirements for my style in case he too is WTF.

And if ITF hits just as hard, or harder than WTF (which I find hard to believe), then it would be stupid to not wear the equipment WTF TKDists wear. That's just my opinion. I spar full contact, and even with that equipment, you're feeling it.

Don't underestimate WTF. We have that equipment for a reason! Hah.

This is just from the ITF Rule book on sparring for adult level blackbelts.

"Article 36. DISQUALIFICATION
A. Misconduct against officials or ignoring instructions.
B. Heavy contact.
C. Committing 3 fouls.
D. Any competitor suspected of being under influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs."

Article 35. SCORING PROCEDURE
In competition a technique is valid when:
A. it is executed correctly,
B. it is dynamic, that is to say it is delivered with strength, purpose, rapidity and precision,
C. it is controlled on the target,
D. perfect block:
i.) defender must maintain complete balance,
ii.) an appropriate blocking tool must be used,
iii.) block must be powerful and accurate,
iv.) defence must be maintained at a proper distance,
v.) opponents balance must be broken.

Article 37. FOULS
One point will be deducted for the following offences:
A. Loss of temper,
B. insulting an opponent in any way,
C. biting/scratching/clawing,
D. attacking with the knee, elbow or forehead,
E. attacking a fallen opponent,
F. contact.
NB. The sum of 3 warnings automatically means deducting 1 point.

Article 39. INJURY
A. When a competitor is injured, the Centre Referee must stop the match and call the Doctor. The Doctor must diagnose, treat the wounds and decide about the match continuation.
B. When a contender cannot fight on because of Doctor's decision:
i.) he is the winner if his opponent is responsible;
ii.) he is the loser if his opponent is not responsible.
C. An injured competitor that is unfit to fight, according to the Doctor's decision, cannot fight again during the event.
D. A competitor that refuses to accept the Doctor's decision will be disqualified.
E. If two competitors injure themselves at the same time and both are unfit to fight, according to the Doctor's decision, the winner is the contender that has more scored points at that moment. If the competitors are even, the Jury President will decide about the bout."

So, According to ITF RULES, at senior black belt level...

A) Contact must be CONTROLLED
B) Points will be taken off for lack of control
C) If you injure/knockout a person and they cannot continue, YOU lose the match.

Of course, I am not saying what you saw at an ITF tournament with people being knocked out is wrong.

I am not saying I am 100% right.

I am just saying this is what I got from the ITF rule book and from what I saw in adult national level black belt tournaments.

The thing about tournements is, even when the rule book says something, it isn't always true [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

Not purely stupid, just a little odd (IMO), here is a sampling of what I have seen some people wear; http://karatedepot.com/pr-ch-42.html http://karatedepot.com/pr-ch-06.html http://karatedepot.com/pr-ch-10.html http://www.karatedepot.com/pr-hd-22.html

As you can tell, there is alot of protection going on here, and in some cases the only thing seperating the equipment shown with a hugo is the color and where it goes in relation to the uniform. In some cases, I have seen people go into ITF matches wearing more equipment than you most likely would were you olympic sparring. Such as helmets with face plates (as show above), and though this was at an open tournament, it was hosted by an ITF school, and they had on the most gear.
Now there are reaons why you would require protection in ITF style sparring (otherwise they wouldn't have people buying this stuff), but maybe less of a need because it is not completely continuous on a sidenote, if you wouldn't mind i could send you a picture that demonstrates just how hard some people kick in ITF style sparring even at low ranks.

-Andrew

PS-you seem to contradict a statement you made in the second paragraph with the closing word of your third.
PPS-I STRESS, THIS WAS AN OPEN TOURNAMENT HOSTED BY AN ITF SCHOOL. THE TOURNAMENT WAS NOT THE AAU, AND MAY HAVE EVEN BENT THE RULES TO ALLOW MORE CONTACT I HAVE ALSO BEEN TO AAU TOURNAMENTS BUT THEY WERE OF AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BREED

[This message has been edited by Christiancadet (edited 07-19-2004).]

After looking at the rules Uriel supplied, and looking them up myself, it appears that ITF sparring is not full contact. It's controlled point sparring.

If it is not full (or heavy) contact, you obviously wouldn't need the same amount of equipment full contact sparrers use. That just makes sense.

Now, if I'm mistaken and ITF competitiors are sparring full contact against the rulebook, and not wearing protective equipment, that's just stupid. Some people may find it macho, or tough, or whatever, but it's stupid. Those are your vital organs being subjected to very powerful blows. It's only common sense to wear some sort of protective shield, if you value your health.

I'm not doubting ITF TKDist's skill or the power behind their kicks. It just seems you flip flop on the issue of how hard you actually kick and what equipment is desired in an ITF sparring match. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG]

[This message has been edited by Hannah (edited 07-19-2004).]

I've showed kncok downs form the ITF world champs in video form. They are a far better indication of the contact level then a rule book.

The knock outs i've seen are mainly from back-kicks and the occasional side kick.

Kiwi,

That's why I said "By the rules"

I've seen too many tournaments to know rule books usually aren't used. Even at the international level.

I like Kix equipment. its the official equipment of my organization, the Philippine Taekwondo Association. For my dobok, I have the Kix Kool Fit, for my gear, I have the elite headgear and the evolution protective pads (shin, arm, body, groin), for my training stuff, I have a speed ball and a kicking pad. all from kix

Hi all,

The rules regarding ITF style sparring depends on the organisation and the tournament sparring rules.

Under my old ITF style organisations, AIMAA and GTI, we could compete in two different categories, depending on your grade.

9th - 3rd Kup Point Stop
4th - 1st Kup Light Continuous
Black Belts Light Continuous (though a lot heavier)

Both required the wearing of a groing guard, head guard, gum shield, gloves (closed finger), shin protection, foot protection (covering toes and heel).

However, in open tournaments, predominantly Kickboxing orientated/organised, there were four categories open to all grades.

Point Stop
Light Continuous
Semi Contact
Full Contact

The Point Stop category wore what I described above. The other categories required hand wraps and boxing gloves with a minimum weight of 12oz.

In my opinion you can't compare ITF to the Olympic style because there are too many variables.
Saying that, I feel ITF to be more in line with other contact MA's, ie, the use of hands to strike, rather than just hanging there.

As for safety equipment, I use the Bytomic stuff, here in the UK.

Take care,

Gaffer.