The Philippines’ taekwondo team produced another successful international campaign by winning 14 medals—nine in poomsae (forms) and five in kyorugi (free sparring)—in the recent Asian Junior and Cadet Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Carrying the colors of PLDT Home Ultera/MVP Sports Foundation, the Filipinos bagged two golds, one silver and six bronze medals in poomsae, while the Meralco/MVPSF fighters took home one silver and four bronzes in the kyorugi event.
The Filipinos’ golds were won by Ian Matthew Corton in the authorized individual male event and Paul Anthony Rodriguez and Maria Nicole Anne Labayne in the authorized poomsae pair tilt. Both competed in under 14 age division.
The other PH poomsae medalists were: Justin Kobe Macario, silver, free style individual, under 17; Justin Kobe Macario, James Oranza, Johann Abelard Concepcion, Alyssa Lou Llenes, Cindy Joy Diasnes, bronze, authorized male team, under 17; King Nash Alcairo, bronze, authorized individual male, under 17; Jamie Hannah Agaloos, bronze, authorized individual female, under 14; Ian Matthew Corton, Joaquin Miguel Cerillo, Paul Anthony Rodriguez, authorized male team, under 14; Jamie Hannah Agaloos, Maria Nicole Anne Labayne, Aesha Klara Oglayon, bronze, authorized team female, under 14; and Allysa Lou Llenes, Cindy Joy Diasnes, Laeia Simoune Soria, bronze, authorized female team, under 17.
The Filipino kyorugi medalists were Sharifa Vianca Dela Cruz, silver, and Justin Mark Agno, bronze, Leigh Andee Rodriguez, bronze, Renzo Macerick Gavilanes, bronze and Tachiana Keshia Mangin, bronze.
A week earlier, the PH team that saw action in the Korea Open in Chuncheon City brought home three golds, two silvers and six bronzes.
The Filipinos competed against athletes from 31 countries in the Asian championships. Their participation was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Meralco, Philippine Olympic Committee and MILO.
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques.
It was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate, Chinese martial arts, and indigenous Korean martial arts traditions such as Taekkyon, Subak, and Gwonbeop.
The oldest governing body for Taekwondo is the Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA), formed in 1959 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the nine original kwans, or martial arts schools, in Korea.
The main international organizational bodies for Taekwondo today are the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), founded by Choi Hong Hi in 1966, and the partnership of the Kukkiwon and World Taekwondo (WT, formerly WTF), founded in 1972 and 1973 respectively by the Korea Taekwondo Association.
This type of full-contact sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. The governing body for Taekwondo in the Olympics and Paralympics is World Taekwondo.
Taekwondo sparring competitions award additional points for strikes that incorporate spinning kicks, kicks to the head, or both. To facilitate fast, turning kicks, Taekwondo generally adopts stances that are narrower and taller than the broader, wide stances used by martial arts such as karate.
The tradeoff of decreased stability is believed to be worth the commensurate increase in agility, particularly in Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo.
The emphasis on speed and agility is a defining characteristic of Taekwondo and has its origins in analyses undertaken by Choi Hong Hi. The results of that analysis are known by ITF practitioners as Choi’s Theory of Power.
Choi based his understanding of power on biomechanics and Newtonian physics as well as Chinese martial arts.
