SEOUL, Korea (Aug 9, 2023) - The first ever Gangwon·Chuncheon World Taekwondo Cultural Festival will be held on 18-24 August and is expected to feature 15,000 athletes, officials and tourists from around 60 nations across four premier events celebrating the best of Taekwondo.
The festival will include: the World Taekwondo Octagon Diamond Game, the 4th World Taekwondo Beach Games, the 1st World Taekwondo Demonstration Team Championships and the World Para Taekwondo Open Challenge.
It will be the second time the World Taekwondo Octagon Diamond Game has been held following last year’s inaugural edition in Gangwon-Goseong city. The World Taekwondo Octagon Diamond Game sees athletes compete inside an octagonal structure allowing them to utilise the boundaries in a way previously not possible. It also embraces new gamification effects for the broadcast viewers to provide a unique viewing experience.
This year’s competition will feature athletes across three categories: Individual (8 male and 8 female weight divisions), Pair (male and female), and Team (4 male, 4 female and 2/2 mixed). The Individual match format will be a best of 3 round system. The Pair and Team match formats will see the lighter athletes through to the heavier athletes matched against each other.
For the World Taekwondo Beach Games it will be the first time the event has taken place in Asia. Athletes will compete in Recognized Poomsae, Freestyle Poomsae, Technical Breaking and a Freestyle Dynamic Kicks and Breaking Challenge. Recognized Poomsae will see individuals (male/female), pairs (mixed gender) and male and female teams compete in under 17, under 30 and over 30 age categories. Freestyle Poomsae will comprise individual (male/female), pairs (mixed gender) and team (mixed gender) compete in under 17 and over 17 age categories. The Technical Breaking High Kick Performance is open to male and females over 14 year’s old while the Jumping Multiple Kick, Spinning Kick and Freestyle Breaking will just be open to males over 14. Lastly the Freestyle Dynamic Kicks and Breaking Challenge is male only over 14. Recognized Poomsae and Freestyle Dynamic Kicks and Breaking Challenge will use a single elimination tournament system with Freestyle Poomsae and Technical Breaking using a cut off system.
It will be the first time the World Taekwondo Demonstration Team Championships have been held. The Championships will be operated by technical guidelines based on World Taekwondo Poomsae Competition Rules & Interpretation. The Championships will feature two events: a Team performance and Freestyle performance. Each event will be split in two divisions, under 17 and over 17, with 7 teams in each division with a minimum of two males and two females in each team. Each team’s performance will be around five minutes and display self-defence and breaking techniques. The competition will be a cut-off format with teams being judged on synchronization, team composition, presentation, staging and difficulty.
Through the hosting of these four events, World Taekwondo is showcasing the sport’s diversity and inclusivity.
An Extraordinary World Taekwondo Council meeting will be held in a hybrid format on 18 August.
