Taekwon-Do ITF Wettkampf- und Verbandsmanagement

The International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Korean martial art of taekwon-do.

The ITF's main functions include coordinating and approving tournaments and seminars, setting standards for teaching (patterns, sparring, destruction), collaborating with affiliated member organizations, and providing services members in regard to rank and certifications.

After Choi's death in 2002, there was controversy around the election of his successor that led to multiple organizations claiming the ITF mantle.

Patterns, or teul (틀) in Korean, originally called hyeong (형), form an important aspect of training in Taekwon-Do. They are equivalent to the kata in karate. The majority of the patterns starts with a defensive move, which emphasizes Taekwon-Do's defensive nature. All of the patterns start and end at the same location. This ensures that the practitioners' stances are the correct length, width, and in the proper direction. Additionally, students are taught to understand the purpose of each movement and recognize how each motion connects to theories of power.

There are 24 patterns in the official ITF syllabus; this is symbolic of the 24 hours in a day. One additional pattern, Ko-Dang (or Go-Dang), was retired/replaced by Juche in 1986 by General Choi Hong Hi. The names of these patterns typically refer either to events in Korean history or to important people in Korean history. Elements of the patterns may also be historical references, such as the number of moves, the diagram, the way the pattern ends, and so on.

Patterns (tul) are performed in accordance with "The Encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do" in 15 volumes written by General Choi Hong Hi, the latest edition being from 1999 (later editions have been published, but the 1999 editions were the last General Choi Hong Hi was directly involved with). This comprehensive work contains 15 volumes with volumes 8 to 15 dedicated to the 24 patterns and containing descriptions of the pattern movements as well as pictures showing possible applications of some of the movements. There is also the book entitled "The Korean Art of Self Defense" (the 1999 edition, the latest used by ITF under Chang Ung), also known as the Condensed Encyclopedia, written by General Choi Hong Hi. This is a single condensed encyclopedia of approximately 770 pages with a section dedicated to the 24 original patterns.

There are also three fundamental exercises, named Saju Jirugi (Four Direction Punch), Saju Makgi (Four Direction Block) and Saju Tulgi (Four Direction Thrust). Saju Jirugi and Saju Makgi are basic defence exercises taught to beginners of the martial art. Saju Tulgi is less well known and is generally taught to 2nd Kup students just prior to Hwa-Rang. Saju Tulgi is not presented in the Condensed Encyclopedia but is present in the 15 Volume Encyclopedia (see: Volume 10, page 122).

The International Taekwon-Do Federation's sparring rules are:

Hand attacks to the head are allowed.

The ITF scoring system is:

One (1) point will be awarded for:

Hand attack directed to the head or body.

Two (2) points will be awarded for:

Kick directed to the body.

Three (3) points will be awarded for:

Kick to the head.

The competition area is typically a 10×10 meter square in international championships.

Competitors do not wear the hogu (although they are required to wear approved foot and hand protection equipment, as well as head guards). This scoring system varies between the different ITF organizations.

A continuous point system is utilized in ITF competition, where the fighters are allowed to continue after scoring a technique. Full-force blows are not allowed, and knockouts result in a disqualification of the attacker; although these rules vary between ITF organizations. At the end of two minutes (or some other specified time) the competitor with the person with the most points wins.

Fouls in ITF sparring include heavy contact, attacking a fallen opponent, leg sweeping, holding/grabbing, intentional attack to a target other than allowed (for example below the belt, attacks to the back).

ITF competitions also feature performances of patterns, power breaking, and 'special techniques' (where competitors perform prescribed board breaks at great heights).

ITF competition sparring rounds are 2 minutes, and, in national and international levels of competition, they hold two rounds each 2 minutes with a one-minute rest in between. Certain rules are no strikes below the belt, no elbow strikes, brawling, no falling down, no going outside of the ring, hit to the groin and knee strike are not allowed. The ring is an 8x8 meter ring marked by square mats or tape instead of a traditional style kickboxing rings with ropes. It has no sides allowing the fighter to move out of bounds. Whenever a fighter creates an infraction of the rules the center referee will issue a warning to the fighter who created the infraction. 3 warnings equals a minus point. If a fighter uses excessive contact, he or she will be given a foul, which is an automatic minus point; three fouls in a bout results in disqualification. ITF Taekwon-Do is fought in continuous point sparring. Four corner referees score the fights in each of the corners in the square ring. After the fight, each corner referee votes for which ever fighter has the most points and a winner is declared. In the case of a draw the fighters go to a one-minute overtime round. If there is another draw the fighters go to a sudden death round where the fighter who scores first is declared the winner. In the sudden death round, there is no time limit. Some matches are quick with a few seconds, and some go on for 10 minutes!

The official rules for ITF sparring competition are available at the ITF website.

The ITF ranking system consists of six solid colour belts; white, y