Since I live in Hayward again, I thought I’d go over to CSU East Bay and check out a taekwondo scrimmage they were having in the gym. I was on the TKD team when I was going to school here, but I’ve lost contact with most of my teammates in the years since then.
Luckily I’m still in enough contact to hear about events like this! Multi-team scrimmages are pretty cool, since you get to fight with and watch people you don’t know and who train a little differently. It can get too predictable and comfortable if you only fight your own teammates.
Taekwondo is the most common martial art in the US, and most schools teach the Olympic Style. Many of the better fighters started when they were little kids, so whenever I see kids fighting I wonder where they will be in ten or twenty years. Maybe they will have a stack of Olympic gold medals on a shelf somewhere.
That’s the spirit. The kihap or yell is a big part of TKD. Fighters use it to show they’re ready, to intimidate their opponent, to focus their energy when they strike, and to mask their pain when they get hit. Every fighter has a unique kihap.
The blue fighter is using his kihap to soften the blow of the red fighter’s back kick. The preemptive release of air can help you from getting the wind knocked out of you.
Sometimes a kihap won’t help you though. Head kicks are never fun. The two points the red fighter scored with his spin hook kick might even be worth the half point penalty he’s going to get as soon as he hits the ground. That’s right, falling will get you a penalty, even if you do it to yourself.
Seeing all the action made me want to go back and train again. Maybe I will!
.: Bohan
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