Electronic Hogu Hurting Taekwondo by GM Young In CHEON
- Thread starter puunui
- Start date
miguksaram
Master of Arts
Hey...just because I sip my Earl Grey tea with my pinky up doesn't make me a snob...Just better than most.
ha.ha.ha.I understand doboks wasnt the best argument but then lets look at competition kit, you NEED approved kit and kit in total can cost well in excess of Ā£200 when bought new, and these are items you are required, whereas in football they dont say approved kit is required so you can choose a Ā£5 pair boots or Ā£200 branded pair.
ralphmcpherson
Senior Master
I agree. My son does soccer and tkd and my daughter does ice skating and tkd and tkd is significantly cheaper than either of those other sports. Soccer costs $400 to sign up (for a 5 month season), then costs $3 a week for the game plus you have to buy soccer boots (a real good pair will cost $150 easily), jersey, shorts, club t-shirt and on top of all that the parents are placed on a roster to help out at the club. Ice skating is even worse, it makes soccer seem cheap. Tkd, on the other hand costs us $200 a month for me, my wife and both my kids to train (up to 4 classes a week). I can understand that if my kids started to become ultra competitive at tkd and wanted to compete at major events it would cost more, but that can be said for any sport. If my daughter wants to compete in ice skating, for instance, the price is astronomical. All up, I wouldnt say that tkd is a sport for the rich just because of costs associated with electronic hogus, I mean really, what percentage of all people doing tkd will ever compete somewhere where all this fancy gear is necessary?
The US government does not provide support, financial or otherwise, to its athletes. The USOC is funded by private sponsors as well as its share of IOC television monies. The US government regulates the Olympic movement in the US through the Amateur and Olympic Sports Acts, but funding is not part of that. The US government did donate some land for its Olympic Training Centers (OTC in Colorado Springs is a former Air Force base for example) but that is about it.
TaekwondoDad
Yellow Belt
While I have had limited exposure to the electronic system, it seems to be a solution in search of a problem and one that is not very well thought out.
Please understand that my perspective is that of a parent watching my 6 yo daughter compete (competing as a 7 y.o. under USAT rules). She used the LaJust hogu in Columbus for the Ohio State tournament.
We were lucky in that we did not have to pay a rental fee and hogus were provided. First they placed size 1 protectors on each girl. They both swam in them. My daughter typically wears a 00 hogu. Lajust lists Size 1 as their smallest size on their website. Someone took pity on the girls and came up with two size 0 hogus. They were still big and bulky but the girls managed. Luckily enough they were not required to wear the socks.
Next the officials adjusted the sensors in both hogus according to the girls' age and weight class. I am not sure if this was comical or sad. The official had both girls kick each other to show them how hard they would need to kick in order to score a point. Both girls had to kick each other repeatedly over and over again to the point where they almost knocked each other over. Finally, if the official held one girl up while the other kicked, a point would register. Needless to say this completely changed the nature of the competition.
In other tournaments, without the electronic vests, ring officials can make intelligent decisions and concessions with to help younger athletes compete and grow. Points can be scored based on the skill of the athletes involved rather than on whether one of them can kick harder than the other.
Next, I have read in some "official" USAT postings that all athletes would be required to purchase and bring their own electronic hogus to tournaments in order to compete. While this is of course a huge financial issue (especially for growing children) there is also the problem that while in non-electronic scoring matches USAT rules allow each competitor to wear a hogu that fits them, USAT rules require that each competitor wear the same size hogu when a the electronic hogus are worn. So, thank goodness for the rentals available, but this also brings up the possibility of having your own electronic hogu, showing up at a tournament and being required to use a rental in order to have the same size as your competitor.
I really despise the idea of rental equipment for athletes. There are days my daughter doesn't want to wear a piece of her sparring gear and I tell her she needs to practice in all the gear she is going to compete in. With the rental hogus, she will practice in a standard non-electric hogu and be forced to wear something much heavier, most likely too large and ill-fitting when she goes to competition.
As for the socks, I have heard a lot about how they change scoring and techniques. My major problem with them at this point is that my daughter will be "required" to wear them next year at USAT tournaments. Currently she wears a child size 11. There is no way a men's shoe size 3 sock will fit her. I have hopes that we will encounter officials next year that realize how ridiculous it would be to require electronic socks be worn when LaJust doesn't make one that fits. However, it has been indicated that part of the issue with the disqualification of the Taiwanese athlete at the Asian Open (it has been reported that the old style sock fit her and the new style was too big).
I know that the issues about equipment being too big are not concerns for most practitioners, but it is annoying for those of us who have to deal with it. It isn't as if the USAT overlooked the issue of young competitors. The rules exclude 7 and under from wearing the socks.
Please understand that my perspective is that of a parent watching my 6 yo daughter compete (competing as a 7 y.o. under USAT rules). She used the LaJust hogu in Columbus for the Ohio State tournament.
We were lucky in that we did not have to pay a rental fee and hogus were provided. First they placed size 1 protectors on each girl. They both swam in them. My daughter typically wears a 00 hogu. Lajust lists Size 1 as their smallest size on their website. Someone took pity on the girls and came up with two size 0 hogus. They were still big and bulky but the girls managed. Luckily enough they were not required to wear the socks.
Next the officials adjusted the sensors in both hogus according to the girls' age and weight class. I am not sure if this was comical or sad. The official had both girls kick each other to show them how hard they would need to kick in order to score a point. Both girls had to kick each other repeatedly over and over again to the point where they almost knocked each other over. Finally, if the official held one girl up while the other kicked, a point would register. Needless to say this completely changed the nature of the competition.
In other tournaments, without the electronic vests, ring officials can make intelligent decisions and concessions with to help younger athletes compete and grow. Points can be scored based on the skill of the athletes involved rather than on whether one of them can kick harder than the other.
Next, I have read in some "official" USAT postings that all athletes would be required to purchase and bring their own electronic hogus to tournaments in order to compete. While this is of course a huge financial issue (especially for growing children) there is also the problem that while in non-electronic scoring matches USAT rules allow each competitor to wear a hogu that fits them, USAT rules require that each competitor wear the same size hogu when a the electronic hogus are worn. So, thank goodness for the rentals available, but this also brings up the possibility of having your own electronic hogu, showing up at a tournament and being required to use a rental in order to have the same size as your competitor.
I really despise the idea of rental equipment for athletes. There are days my daughter doesn't want to wear a piece of her sparring gear and I tell her she needs to practice in all the gear she is going to compete in. With the rental hogus, she will practice in a standard non-electric hogu and be forced to wear something much heavier, most likely too large and ill-fitting when she goes to competition.
As for the socks, I have heard a lot about how they change scoring and techniques. My major problem with them at this point is that my daughter will be "required" to wear them next year at USAT tournaments. Currently she wears a child size 11. There is no way a men's shoe size 3 sock will fit her. I have hopes that we will encounter officials next year that realize how ridiculous it would be to require electronic socks be worn when LaJust doesn't make one that fits. However, it has been indicated that part of the issue with the disqualification of the Taiwanese athlete at the Asian Open (it has been reported that the old style sock fit her and the new style was too big).
I know that the issues about equipment being too big are not concerns for most practitioners, but it is annoying for those of us who have to deal with it. It isn't as if the USAT overlooked the issue of young competitors. The rules exclude 7 and under from wearing the socks.
