Strength & conditioning for Taekwondo athletes

Taekwondo, meaning literally ‘the way of the foot and fist’, is a Korean martial art, which first became an Olympic sport at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. A Taekwondo match is 3 rounds of 2 minutes, with a minutes rest between rounds, and takes place on a 10m2 mat. In competition, kicks and punches score points. (When contact is made to the torso (with kicks and punches), or head (with kicks only), and is of sufficient enough force to produce displacement of the body segment). As in most martial arts, contestants are weight matched. In Taekwondo, and more than likely most martial arts, fitness appears to be gained through a traditional combination of running, pad work, technical drills and sparring. Most athletes are reluctant to undergo strength training due to fears of a loss in flexibility, speed and a gain in body mass. The latter point is especially important and provides for a significant barrier, as athletes will often aim to compete at their lowest possible weight in order to fight opponents of lower mass. The aim of this article therefore, is to rationalise the use of Strength and Conditioning (S&C) within Taekwondo, and dispel any myths that prevent this form of intervention. The article further aims to describe and rationalise “gym based” methods to further enhance athletic performance and finally, present the reader with an evidence-based S&C programme.

The attached document is the published version of an article published by The UK Strength & Conditioning Association (UKSCA) in the journal Professional Strength & Conditioning, Issue 15, Autumn 2009 © UKSCA. Permission was granted, on the 16/10/15, by UKSCA (http://www.uksca.org.uk) to make the full text available in this repository.