A few days ago, in the bronze medal taekwondo match at the Olympics, a disgruntled athlete attacked the referee. Upset about a penalty (taking too much time for an injury), Angel Matos is now banned for life from the sport for kicking the referee in the head and punching another official who came to hold him back.
What I find notable about this isn’t that some athlete lost his temper. I just want to point out the following:
1) The injury occurred because taekwondo teaches you to kick with the top of your foot. The top of your foot has all sorts of little, easily broken bones in it and is just a stupid thing to kick someone with. Sure enough, Matos’ injury came because he kicked his opponent in the knee and hurt his own foot. Styles that actually teach you to kick in a practical way strike with the shin.
2) Matos, an olympic caliber tae kwon do black belt, sucker-kicked a referee (not even another athlete) in the head and didn’t even knock him down. He punched an official in the gut and barely even slowed him down. Seriously, for someone who’s supposed to be an elite fighter, I would expect a lot more.
Anyone enrolling their kids in tae kwon do (or really any martial art without a heavy emphasis on sparring) thinking they’re learning self-defense should watch this video and think twice.
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Hey Niels,
I just started taekwando and am really enjoying it. One thing I would mention is that the purpose of taekwando is not to learn self defense, it is to develop your mind and body control. It is also something to do on a Tuesday night.
From what I have heard, he only intended to reprimand the referee and if he wanted to, could easily have knocked him out.
Cameron
All hail Krav Maga, though my gym didn’t really have kids.
ioc may will teekwondo out olympics
when took TKD as a kid we did a lot of sparring….and the master teachers were badasses, they could knock you over with a pinky finger. Not sure how much of this style you have studied but I don’t think your assessment is accurate for TKD as a whole. There are many other styles of kicks that don’t use the top of your foot….this dude was just not so lucky with his choice.
I agree – total dislike of taekwondo shared by many.
I was watching the whole thing unfold on tv thinking to myself “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if he struck one of the referees in a child like tantrum…”
Just goes to show that maybe his instructor should have taught him more than just how to kick people in a fruitlessly ineffective manner.